Abstract Cobalt (Co) is a transition metal featuring unique physical properties which makes its use critical for many high-tech applications such as high strength materials, magnets and most importantly, rechargeable batteries. The bulk of world cobalt output usually arises as a by-product of extracting other metals, mostly nickel (Ni) and copper (Cu), from a wide variety of deposit types mostly Cu-Co sediment-hosted deposits, but also Ni-Co laterites, Ni-Cu-Co sulphides or hydrothermal and volcanogenic deposits. Significant differences in ore properties (geochemistry, mineralogy, alteration and physical properties) exist between cobalt-containing deposits, as well as within a single deposit, which can host a range of ore types. Variability of cobalt ores makes it challenging to develop a single extraction or treatment process that will be able to accommodate all geometallurgical variation. Overall, there is a lack of fundamental knowledge on cobalt minerals and their processability. The recovery efficiency for cobalt is generally low, in particular for processes involving flotation and smelting, leading to significant cobalt losses to mine tailings or smelter slags. This paper starts by reviewing the main geometallurgical properties of cobalt ores, with a particular focus on ore mineralogy which exerts a significant control over ore processing behaviour and cobalt extraction, such as the oxidation state, i.e. oxide or sulphides which drives the selection of the processing route (leaching vs flotation), and the associated gangue mineralogy, which can affect acid consumption during leaching or flotation performance. The main processing routes and associated specific geometallurgical aspects of each deposit type are presented. The paper concludes on the future cobalt prospects, in terms of primary and secondary resources, cobalt processing and sustainable cobalt sourcing for which further research is needed.

中文翻译：

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钴矿地质冶金：综述

摘要 钴 (Co) 是一种具有独特物理性质的过渡金属，这使其在许多高科技应用中的使用至关重要，例如高强度材料、磁铁以及最重要的可充电电池。世界钴产量的大部分通常是从各种矿床类型中提取其他金属（主要是镍 (Ni) 和铜 (Cu)）的副产品，主要是铜钴沉积物，但也有镍钴红土、镍铜钴硫化物或热液和火山成因矿床。含钴矿床之间的矿石性质（地球化学、矿物学、蚀变和物理性质）存在显着差异，同一矿床可容纳多种矿石类型。钴矿石的可变性使得开发能够适应所有地质冶金变化的单一提取或处理工艺具有挑战性。总体而言，缺乏关于钴矿物及其可加工性的基础知识。钴的回收效率普遍较低，尤其是涉及浮选和冶炼的工艺，导致钴大量流失到尾矿或冶炼炉渣中。本文首先回顾了钴矿石的主要地质冶金特性，特别关注矿石矿物学，它对矿石加工行为和钴提取有显着的控制，例如氧化态，即驱动加工选择的氧化物或硫化物路线（浸出与浮选），以及相关的脉石矿物学，这会影响浸出或浮选过程中的酸消耗量。介绍了每种矿床类型的主要加工路线和相关的特定地质冶金方面。该论文总结了未来钴的前景，包括初级和次级资源、钴加工和可持续钴采购，需要进一步研究。