Process: Separation by Ion Exchange Resins

Access a selective and cost-effective process that enables you to separate and purify your metals, even at trace levels.

Improve the purity of your metals with a hydrometallurgical process.
Eliminate impurities present in your leach solutions.
Recover and valorize strategic metals, including from by-products.
Reduce processing costs by replacing or complementing complex chemical steps.
Rely on a process adaptable to different metals and concentration ranges.

Implement a process based on ion-exchange resins that ensures selective and efficient metal separation.
Purify your leach solutions by eliminating undesirable elements that degrade metal quality.
Recover your target metals, even at trace levels.
Easily adapt the process to your needs thanks to three mastered IX technologies (RIP, fixed bed, CIX).
Optimize your processes using resins composed of fine particles that allow rapid exchanges and short equilibrium times.

Absorption capacity up to 500 mg/L

Process adaptable to various fields

Three IX technologies operated at CIME: RIP, fixed bed, CIX.
Wide concentration range treated: from a few mg/L up to 500 mg/L.
Flexible operation: from 100 mL/h to several L/h.
High-performance resins: fine particles for fast exchanges and short equilibrium times.
International experience: R&D trials and column sizing for the uranium plant in Kazakhstan and an industrial pilot in Mongolia.
Valorization of uranium recovered as a by-product from phosphates or sulfate/chloride effluents.
Recovery and valorization of strategic elements: rhenium, molybdenum, gold, uranium.
Wide applications: water treatment, decontamination of radioactive effluents, extraction of heavy metals (cadmium, chromium), fixation of ²²⁸Ra and production of ²¹²Pb.
Mastery of IX process development steps: batch tests (isotherms, continuous columns) followed by pilot-scale trials.
Development of new resins tailored to specific needs.

Challenges