Abstract
The development of materials has enabled pressure hydrometallurgy to advance from its earliest documented applications, the alkaline leaching of bauxite by Karl Josef Bayer in 1892, followed by the Giles and Giles patent (1919) for batch-wise alkaline digestion and extraction of tungsten. It was however the mid-20th century before the development of duplex stainless steel and nickel alloys, titanium alloys, elastomeric membranes and refractory materials enabled pressure leaching technology to expand to a range of acidic and oxidative processes for treating a variety of ores, concentrates and matte for the recovery of uranium (Beaverlodge), nickel and cobalt (Moa Bay, Rustenburg), zinc (Hudson Bay, Trail) and copper (Bagdad). Further development of titanium alloys, polymers, ceramics and thermal spray coatings in this century has led the commercialization of continuous, high capacity, high pressure acid leaching and pressure oxidative leaching processes for economic extraction of base metals from laterite ores and polymetallic sulphide ores.
With an exponential growth in demand for materials from low-carbon footprint, environmentally responsible production sources, there is an ever greater need now to develop high performance, cost-effective, and recyclable materials to enable construction of the next generation of hydrometallurgical facilities for extraction and production of EV battery chemicals and precursors, copper, and rare earth elements. This presentation will cover the major milestones in material development from 1900 – present, and then address what is on the horizon for material technology development.