Analytics/Secondary recovery
Secondary recovery
Gallium, germanium, scandium, cobalt and the magnet rare earths are rarely mined for themselves. They sit in red mud ponds, gypsum stacks, zinc-smelter residues and copper tailings, already mined and crushed. A new mine has taken 16.5 years on average from discovery to first production (IEA); reprocessing skips the discovery and drilling.
How it works
- Choose the mineral: gallium, germanium, scandium, cobalt, the magnet rare earths and more.
- Choose the country: India or South Africa, or all countries.
- Choose the waste source: red mud, phosphogypsum, zinc residues or copper tailings and slag.
- See the named sites, the known recovery route, who has done it, and the plants nearby.
Waste sources covered
- Bauxite red mud: Scandium, Gallium
- Phosphogypsum stacks: Neodymium, Praseodymium, Dysprosium, Terbium
- Zinc flue dust and jarosite: Germanium, Indium, Cadmium, Gallium
- Copper flotation tailings and slag: Cobalt, Nickel, Molybdenum, Selenium, Tellurium
Title before chemistry
Touching a historical dump can transfer its acid-drainage liability to whoever reprocesses it. Each case names the framework that governs retreatment rights in its jurisdiction.
What the numbers are
Plants come from the 1,984-site facility register, with India and South Africa re-checked in September 2026. Legacy stocks are large and medium past producers among 76,602 USGS records. Neither register carries tailings assays, so no grade is shown that a source did not state.
Value a by-product
Run the numbers in the by-product model.