Recovery of gold from the secondary resources by novel electrochemical reactors realized with additive manufacturing

Gold mining is very expensive industry and therefore opportunities resulting in low cost gold production are needed, which is spurring the utilization of secondary resources such as tailings and e-waste for gold recovery. In this project, new electrochemical reactor designs for this purpose are investigated. Additive manufacturing (AM, 3D-printing) will be effectively utilized in the construction of the cell components including especially electrodes. Electro-efficiency of the recovery systems are maximized in order to increase the sustainability of the novel processes. The expected main result is an environmentally friendly closed-loop gold recovery system that provides a viable option for any valuable/critical metal recycling from the secondary resources. Also, important information will be achieved from the utilizing AM technology in the production of complex geometries utilizing different starting materials.