Red mud is an industrial waste generated during alumina production containing residual minerals of bauxite ore. Significant metallic values with appreciable concentration make it a potential polymetallic source. The current red mud management involves storage in artificial ponds/dams or dry stacked in open areas, which poses an environmental risk, and disposal processes are costly. Recently, red mud is utilized for cement production; however, it results in the loss of valuable minerals, which could be strategically advantageous for resource-deficient nations. Red mud utilization for producing concentrate can significantly improve process efficiency of alumina production, reduce industrial liability and environmental impact. The globally generated red muds are compared according to the mineralogy, composition, and associated values. Hematite is the chief constituent in the red mud, with anatase, gibbsite, goethite, quartz, and desilication phases such as cancrinite, sodalite, and olivine in a significant amount. Red mud originated from karst bauxites containing higher rare-earth content as adsorbed ions on the mineral surfaces, isomorphous substitution, and discrete rare-earth minerals such as bastnaesite, xenotime, chuchite, and allanite. Scandium holds 95% of the rare-earth economic value in the red mud and is associated with hematite, goethite, and anatase. The paper presents a critical overview of the laboratory, pilot, and commercial processes employed to recover iron, aluminum, titanium, scandium, and REEs from various red muds. The response parameters such as alumina-to-silica ratio, iron grade, total rare-earth elements were used to determine the appropriate processing route for recovery of metals from red mud. An integrated process is proposed to recover metallic values from the red mud while ensuring minimal waste generation.

赤泥是氧化铝生产过程中产生的工业废料，含有铝土矿的残余矿物。具有可观浓度的显着金属价值使其成为潜在的多金属来源。目前的赤泥管理涉及在人工池塘/水坝中储存或在开放区域干堆，这会带来环境风险，并且处理过程成本高昂。最近，赤泥用于水泥生产；然而，这会导致宝贵矿物的流失，这对资源匮乏的国家来说可能具有战略优势。利用赤泥生产精矿可以显着提高氧化铝生产的工艺效率，减少工业责任和环境影响。根据矿物学、成分和相关值比较全球生成的赤泥。赤铁矿是赤泥中的主要成分，含有大量锐钛矿、三水铝矿、针铁矿、石英和脱硅相，如钙铁矿、方钠石和橄榄石。赤泥来源于含有较高稀土含量的岩溶铝土矿，作为矿物表面吸附离子，同晶置换，以及离散的稀土矿物，如氟碳铈矿、磷钇矿、赤铜矿和铝榴石。钪在赤泥中拥有 95% 的稀土经济价值，并且与赤铁矿、针铁矿和锐钛矿有关。本文对用于从各种赤泥中回收铁、铝、钛、钪和 REE 的实验室、中试和商业过程进行了重要概述。响应参数如铝硅比、铁品位、总稀土元素被用来确定从赤泥中回收金属的适当加工路线。建议采用集成工艺从赤泥中回收金属价值，同时确保产生最少的废物。