292results about "Alkali metal silicates" patented technology

The invention relates to a comprehensive utilization method of fluosilicic acid containing hydrogen fluoride, which comprises the following steps: 1) reacting a stock solution containing fluosilicic acid with a potassium fluoride raw material, and carrying out solid-liquid separation to obtain potassium fluosilicate and a hydrofluoric acid solution; 2) reacting potassium fluosilicate with a sodium hydroxide raw material, and carrying out solid-liquid separation to obtain a mixture of a potassium fluoride solution, sodium fluoride and silicon dioxide; and returning the potassium fluoride solution to the step 1) to be recycled as a potassium fluoride raw material. According to the scheme, hydrofluoric acid is prepared from fluosilicic acid containing hydrogen fluoride, sodium fluoride and water glass products are produced at the same time, no other byproduct waste is produced, and the raw material utilization rate is high. And meanwhile, the method has the advantages of low raw material cost, low equipment cost and low energy consumption cost, can generate remarkable economic benefits, and is suitable for popularization and application.

The invention discloses a spodumene concentrate resourceful treatment method which comprises the following steps: carrying out wet treatment on spodumene acid clinker to prepare lithium-removed filter residues and leachate; carrying out neutralization treatment and desulfurization treatment on the leachate to obtain a lithium-containing purified solution, gypsum and iron oxide red, and carrying out lithium extraction treatment on the lithium-containing purified solution to obtain a lithium salt and mirabilite; the lithium-removed filter residues are treated through a process combining a beneficiation method and a chemical method, and water glass, nano kaolinite, ceramsite aggregate and tantalum-niobium concentrate are obtained. According to the method, whole-process slag-free production of the spodumene concentrate is achieved, and meanwhile the lithium-containing compound with the high purity and the high quality is obtained; and various valuable products can be obtained.

The invention discloses a method for preparing high-modulus sodium silicate and co-producing white carbon black from rice hull ash. The method comprises the following steps: crushing the rice hull ash, and acidizing to obtain purified rice hull ash powder; reacting the purified rice hull ash powder with 5wt%-15wt% of caustic soda generated by bipolar membrane electrolysis to prepare a sodium silicate solution; carrying out neutralization reaction on the sodium silicate solution and 1-15 wt% of sulfuric acid solution under the assistance of ultrasonic waves, and filtering to obtain silicon dioxide silica gel and filtrate; washing and drying the silicon dioxide silica gel to obtain a white carbon black product; and carrying out electrolytic treatment on the filtrate through a bipolar membrane electrodialysis system, and respectively recycling the recovered alkali liquor and acid liquor. According to the method, resource utilization of the rice hull ash and cyclic regeneration of the reaction medium are realized, and a green production process is formed.

Provided is a silicon-based negative electrode active material, including M2Si2O5 and M2SiO3, where M includes one or more alkali metal elements; in an XRD pattern of the silicon-based negative electrode active material, a diffraction angle 2θ has a first diffraction peak ranging from 24° to 25°, and a half-peak width of the first diffraction peak is βA; the diffraction angle 2θ has a second diffraction peak ranging from 26° to 27°, and a half-peak width of the second diffraction peak is βB; and the silicon-based negative electrode active material satisfies 1.0≤βA / βB≤2.5.

The invention belongs to the technical field of carbon-coated lithium ferrous silicate, and discloses a preparation method and application of carbon-coated lithium ferrous silicate, the preparation method of carbon-coated lithium ferrous silicate comprises the following steps: S1, adding a surfactant into a silicon source to obtain a solution A; s2, sequentially adding an iron source and a lithium source into the solution A, and uniformly mixing to obtain a carbon-coated lithium ferrous silicate precursor; s3, carrying out high-temperature sintering on the carbon-coated lithium ferrous silicate precursor to obtain carbon-coated lithium ferrous silicate; the surfactant in the step S1 is a block type polyurethane surfactant, and a hydrophilic part structure in the block type polyurethane surfactant comprises polyethylene glycol PEG and 2, 2-dimethylolbutyric acid DMBA. According to the preparation method of the carbon-coated lithium ferrous silicate, the block type polyurethane surfactant is adopted in the step S1 and is not only used as a surfactant, but also used as a reducing agent and a carbon source, and a carbon coating layer of the prepared carbon-coated lithium ferrous silicate is uniform in thickness and excellent in electrochemical performance.

The invention relates to the technical field of sodium silicate production, and particularly discloses a method for preparing sodium silicate by dissolving fluorine-containing silicon dioxide with alkali lye, which comprises the following steps: step 1, adding fluorine-containing silicon dioxide, sodium carbonate and water into a reaction kettle with a stirrer and a heating device to obtain a mixed material; 2, fully and uniformly stirring the mixed material obtained in the step 1, heating the mixed material by using a reaction kettle, and controlling the reaction temperature and the reaction time for reaction; and 3, filtering and separating the reaction product obtained in the step 2 to obtain a sodium fluoride filter cake and a sodium silicate solution. Sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate are used for dissolving silicon dioxide in a liquid phase reaction to prepare sodium silicate, the process is green and environment-friendly, sodium carbonate in chemical production can be effectively utilized, energy is saved, consumption is reduced, and the environment is protected. The technical problems that in the prior art, the temperature is high in the reaction process, a large amount of heat needs to be consumed, and energy consumption is high are solved.

The invention provides a positive electrode active material, a preparation method thereof, a positive electrode plate containing the positive electrode active material, a full-tab battery cell and an electric device, and relates to the technical field of lithium ion batteries. The positive electrode active material is of a double-spherical particle structure with a glass-phase neck bridge at a contact neck part, each spherical particle comprises an active material body and a coating layer coating the active material body, and the active material body is lithium iron phosphate dispersed with Fe2P; the average thickness tsh of the coating shell layer is equal to 5 to 9 nm; the thickness tcheck of the glass phase neck bridge is 5-25nm, and the total content G of the glass phase in the positive electrode active material is 1.5-2.2 wt%; the volume average particle size of the positive electrode active material is 7-9 [mu] m. According to the positive electrode active material disclosed by the invention, through the cooperation of the coating shell layer, the embedded Fe2P nano second phase and the glass phase neck bridge, the comprehensive performance of a full-tab battery cell and an electric device can be effectively improved.

The invention discloses a solid sodium silicate preparation process based on segmented temperature control roasting, and relates to the technical field of inorganic chemical material preparation. The process comprises the steps of raw material proportioning, mixing homogenization, segmented temperature control roasting and post-treatment. By matching physicochemical reaction requirements in stages, the reaction is more stable and more thorough, the conversion rate is remarkably improved, and unreacted nuclei are basically eliminated. A quenching and slow cooling procedure is adopted, so that the product is ensured to have a high-whiteness and high-transparency glass body state, the internal stress is small, the mechanical strength is high, and the appearance quality and the physical property are remarkably improved; and by adjusting the temperature and time parameters of each stage, the requirements of different raw material specifications and production of products with different moduli can be flexibly met. By accurately controlling the temperature, time and atmosphere of each stage, the problems of non-uniform reaction and poor product quality in the traditional process are solved, and the preparation of solid sodium silicate with high conversion rate, high whiteness and low internal stress is realized.

The invention provides a positive electrode material and a preparation method thereof, a battery monomer, a battery device and a power utilization device. The positive electrode material comprises a sodium transition metal oxide and a silicate material located on the surface of the sodium transition metal oxide, the positive electrode material has the following chemical formula: NaxMyNzO2 / (aNa2O.nSiO2-XrOt.SiO2) b, M comprises one or more of Fe, In, Co, Mn, Ni and Cr, N comprises one or more of Cu, Li, Ti, Zr, K, Sb, Nb, Mg, Ca, Mo, Zn, W, Bi, Sr, Sn, Ga and Al, and X comprises one or more of Na, Li, K, Mg, Ca, Zn, Al, Cr, Sr, Sn and Sb; 0.58 < = x < = 1.05, 0 < y < = 1, 0 < = z < = 1, 0 < y + z < = 1, 1 / 3 < = r / t < = 2, 1 < = n / a, and 0 < b < = 0.2. The positive electrode material provided by the invention can improve the rate capability and the processability of the battery monomer.

The invention relates to a method for separating iron, vanadium and titanium dioxide in vanadium titano-magnetite or titanium concentrate through a wet method, and belongs to the technical field of chemical engineering. The method comprises the following steps: (a) mixing vanadium titano-magnetite or titanium concentrate with sulfuric acid with the concentration of 22-30wt.% to obtain mixed slurry; (b) treating the mixed slurry at 150-200 DEG C and 2-4 MPa under the condition that the Reynolds number is gt; reacting in a turbulent flow state of 4000, so that non-titanium elements are dissolved to generate sulfate; (c) carrying out solid-liquid separation on the reaction product in the step (b) to obtain a high-grade titanium-rich material and waste liquid; (d) the titanium-rich material reacts with a sodium hydroxide solution, silicon in the titanium-rich material is removed, and a sodium silicate solution is generated; and (e) reacting the silicon-removed titanium-rich material with a hydrochloric acid solution with the mass concentration of less than 15%, cleaning, carrying out solid-liquid separation, and calcining to obtain anatase or rutile titanium dioxide. According to the method, all iron, vanadium and titanium elements in the vanadium-titanium-iron concentrate and the titanium concentrate are recycled.

The invention relates to the technical field of preparation of novel bio-based materials, in particular to a preparation method for producing a rice hull-based high-purity high-modulus sodium silicate solution by taking rice hulls as raw materials. Rural solid waste rice hulls / grass are used as raw materials, combustion is carried out at the fixed low temperature of 700-750 DEG C, generated steam is used for supplying heat to the production or the park, and the combusted rice hull ash contains amorphous silicon dioxide gt; 90%; the method comprises the following steps: activating rice hull ash just out of a chamber and diluted hydrochloric acid (5-10%) to generate polyhydroxy surface modified silicon dioxide active seeds; the method comprises the following steps: dynamically mixing rice hull ash and a 25% NaOH solution according to a molar ratio of (3.25-4): 2, adding 3-7% of active seeds in batches at 105 + / -5 DEG C, and reacting for more than or equal to 3 hours; the high-purity sodium silicate solution with the modulus of 3.25-4.0 is finally obtained through pH segmented regulation (Mg < 2 + > is removed at the pH of gt and 12, and Ca < 2 + > is removed at the pH of 9.5-10) in combination with high-pressure refined filtration; the product is mainly used for preparing nano silicon dioxide, especially for preparing 5nm silicon dioxide dispersion liquid and high-purity electronic grade silicon dioxide as raw materials.

The invention discloses lithium orthosilicate, a preparation method and application thereof and a preparation method of lithium carbonate, and the preparation method of the lithium orthosilicate comprises the following steps: carrying out discharge treatment and pretreatment on a waste lithium battery to obtain waste positive electrode material powder; pressing the waste positive electrode material powder into a positive electrode material sheet; the positive electrode material sheet and a silicon dioxide sheet are stacked in an electric heating graphite boat, and the silicon dioxide sheet is located on the side, away from the electric heating graphite boat, of the positive electrode material sheet; the electric heating graphite boat is subjected to pulse heating treatment, the temperature of the pulse heating treatment ranges from 800 DEG C to 1000 DEG C, and the lithium orthosilicate is obtained. The transient high-temperature heating technology is adopted to excite gas-phase volatilization of lattice lithium in the waste lithium battery positive electrode material powder, and volatile lithium steam is directly used as a gas-phase reactant, so that gas-solid-phase rapid synthesis preparation of lithium orthosilicate is realized.

Methods of forming a soil amendment from calcium slag silicate include: (a) increasing content of sodium in a bentonite clay via ion exchange by reacting bentonite clay and a sodium salt to provide ion-exchanged sodium bentonite clay; (b) feeding carbon dioxide through a reactor containing a mixture of the calcium slag silicate and the sodium bentonite clay; wherein sodium ions of the sodium bentonite clay adsorb carbon dioxide and form sodium carbonate; (c) feeding calcium silicate through the reactor and reacting the calcium silicate with the sodium bentonite clay in a chain fashion to consume the sodium carbonate and the calcium silicate and form sodium silicate and calcium carbonate; (d) reacting the sodium silicate with the carbon dioxide to re-form sodium carbonate and form silicon dioxide; and (e) combining the generated calcium carbonate and silicon dioxide to form the soil amendment.

This invention discloses a method for extracting an alkaline solution from sodium silicate waste sludge and calcium carbide slag, a byproduct of acetylene production via calcium carbide hydrolysis. It relates to the field of industrial solid waste utilization technology and includes: (1) processing each batch of new sludge powder raw material using a countercurrent extraction process to obtain a concentrated leachate A rich in sodium carbonate and sodium silicate, and a final residue Z rich in silica; (2) subjecting the concentrated leachate A to ultrasonic treatment to separate and obtain a clear alkali metal salt solution B; (3) adding calcium carbide slag powder to the clear alkali metal salt solution B and performing a heating and stirring reaction to obtain a supernatant C containing sodium hydroxide; (4) heating and evaporating the supernatant C to concentrate and obtain a sodium hydroxide solution product. This invention can convert two types of waste residues into sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate solutions with clearly defined compositions and significant alkalinity. The purity of these solutions is sufficient to meet the application needs of industrial fields where the purity of the alkali solution is not high, thus broadening the pathways for high-value utilization of waste.

This invention belongs to the field of lithium-ion battery technology, specifically relating to a composite cathode material for lithium-ion batteries and its preparation method. The composite cathode material consists of three parts: a cathode matrix material, a lithium replenishment material, and a catalyst material. The preparation method is as follows: (1) preparing a composite material of the cathode matrix material and the lithium replenishment material in situ; (2) dispersing the catalyst material on the surface of the composite material and forming a stable interface layer between the catalyst material and the lithium replenishment material. Through the method of this invention: the lithium replenishment material has both surface modification of the cathode matrix material and lithium replenishment of the negative electrode, simultaneously improving the battery's initial efficiency and cycle stability; introducing the catalyst material onto the surface of the lithium replenishment material in situ fixes the free O generated by the Li release from the lithium replenishment material, alleviating the battery swelling phenomenon and further improving the battery's cycle stability and safety; moreover, the preparation process is simple, the raw materials are cheap and readily available, the production cost is low, and it is easy to promote industrial production.

Increase the utilization rate of silica in the production of alkaline silicate aqueous solution using rice husk ash as a raw material. [Solution] The method for producing an aqueous alkali silicate solution of the present invention includes repeating a cycle of preparing a slurry of an aqueous alkali silicate solution using rice husk ash as a raw material, separating the slurry into a residue and an aqueous alkali silicate solution, washing the residue with water, and adding the post-wash solution obtained by washing with water to the raw material for preparing the slurry in the next cycle.

This invention discloses a process for preparing solid sodium silicate based on controllable particle size water quenching, belonging to the field of inorganic silicate chemical technology. The specific steps are as follows: S1: raw material melting and homogenization; S2: controllable particle size water quenching; S3: solid-liquid separation and online classification; S4: deep drying and packaging. This invention achieves innovation and simplification of the production process: through a one-step "atomization-cooling" forming method, the high-energy-consuming crushing and screening processes in traditional processes are completely eliminated, shortening the process flow and reducing equipment investment and maintenance costs; it significantly improves the overall quality of the product: directly generating solid particles with high sphericity and smooth surface, the product has good flowability, stable bulk density, high whiteness, and no tendency to agglomerate during subsequent dissolution, with a faster dissolution rate and superior application performance.

The invention relates to a method for synergistically recycling a photovoltaic waste material and a waste lithium iron phosphate battery positive electrode material, and belongs to the technical field of recycling of photovoltaic waste materials and waste lithium iron phosphate. According to the method, the photovoltaic waste and the waste lithium iron phosphate battery positive electrode material are used as raw materials, and under the vacuum condition, silicon (Si) in the photovoltaic waste is used for reducing the waste lithium iron phosphate battery positive electrode material to generate lithium silicate slag (Li2SiO3 and Li2Si2O5), elemental phosphorus (P4) and ferrosilicon alloy (Si-Fe). According to the method, valuable components in the photovoltaic waste and the waste lithium iron phosphate battery positive electrode material are effectively utilized, and efficient separation and recycling of lithium, iron, phosphorus and silicon are achieved; and the recovery process is simple.

The invention belongs to the technical field of lithium batteries, and particularly relates to a silicon-carbon composite negative electrode material protected by an interface lithium conducting layer and a preparation method of the silicon-carbon composite negative electrode material. The silicon-carbon composite negative electrode material comprises a silicon-carbon inner core and an interface lithium-conducting sub-layer, the inner core is composed of a porous carbon base material and nano silicon, and the interface lithium-conducting sub-layer contains a lithium-conducting compound. The continuous interface lithium conducting layer is constructed on the silicon carbon surface in situ, so that the interface lithium ion transmission kinetics of the silicon carbon material is remarkably improved, and meanwhile, the interface layer can be used as a rigid mechanical protection layer, so that the mechanical stability of the interface lithium conducting layer is favorably maintained, and the volume expansion of the silicon carbon is favorably inhibited; therefore, the rate capability and the cycling stability of the lithium ion battery using the silicon-carbon material are remarkably improved; and meanwhile, the interface lithium conducting layer is beneficial to avoiding direct contact between silicon carbon and a solid electrolyte and avoiding side reaction, so that the cycling stability of a solid-state battery using the material is improved.

Relating to the field of anode materials, and an anode material, a preparation method thereof, and a battery provided. The anode material includes a silicon-based active material and a lithium silicate, and the anode material further includes Mg element, Al element, and P element, where the Mg element accounts a mass content of a% in the anode material, the Al element accounts a mass content of b% in the anode material, the P element accounts a mass content of c% in the anode material, and in the anode material, a, b and c satisfy the following relational expressions: 0.3≤(a+b) / c≤1.5, and 0.5≤a+b+c≤10. By introducing Mg, Al, and P elements, the anode material facilitates to form a lithium ion transport channel, improving rate of the anode material.

The invention provides an in-situ carbon-doped modified lithium ferrous silicate preparation method which comprises the following steps: S1, preparing phenolic resin / silicon dioxide composite hollow spheres by adopting resorcinol, formaldehyde and a silicon source, then adding an iron source and a lithium source for reaction, and synthesizing by adopting a hydrothermal method to obtain a modified lithium ferrous silicate precursor; and S2, calcining the modified lithium ferrous silicate precursor prepared in S1 in an inert gas atmosphere to obtain the in-situ carbon-doped modified lithium ferrous silicate material. According to the method, the phenolic resin / silicon dioxide composite hollow sphere precursor is prepared, a stable Si-C bond is formed in the precursor, and the in-situ carbon-doped modified lithium ferrous silicate material is prepared by taking the Si-C bond as a silicon source, so that compared with heteroatom-doped carbon layer modification, the method disclosed by the invention has the advantages that side reactions can be reduced, breakage of a carbon layer is avoided, and the service life of the lithium ferrous silicate material is prolonged. Modification is more uniform, the preparation process is simple, and the cost is lower.

The present invention relates to a lithium silicon oxide that suppresses gas generation when an aqueous slurry is applied, an anode including the same, and a lithium secondary battery including the anode. The present invention also provides a lithium silicon oxide that has peaks at 2θ positions of 23.8±0.5°, 24.3±0.5°, and 24.7±0.5° in an XRD pattern measured using non-monochromated CuKα radiation and satisfies Mathematical Formula 1, an anode including the same, and a lithium secondary battery including the anode.

The invention relates to sodium silicate production filtering equipment and a method thereof, and belongs to the technical field of filter press equipment and control methods thereof, the sodium silicate production filtering equipment comprises a main body frame, the main body frame comprises two parallel bearing steel beams, and two ends of the bearing steel beams are respectively connected with a head baffle and a tail baffle; the filter plate group is arranged between the two bearing steel beams and can slide along the bearing steel beams; the hydraulic pressing part is mounted on the tail baffle and is used for pushing a pressing plate to apply pressure to the filter plate group; the feeding pipeline is connected to the feeding port of the head baffle, and a feeding pump, an electromagnetic flowmeter and an inlet pressure sensor are sequentially arranged on the feeding pipeline; the pump power monitoring unit is installed on a power supply cable of the feeding pump and used for collecting the working current of a motor, and invalid intervention operation is avoided through an accurate decision-making mechanism.

Method for producing a chemically and physically stable, neutral, non-saline inorganic product from bauxite residues (1), comprising the steps of: (i) providing (1100) a washed and thickened bauxite residue (1), (ii) in a so-called acidification step (1200), reacting the washed and thickened bauxite residue (1) with a sufficient quantity of a monoprotic Bron sled acid (10) to achieve a final target pH between 5.5 and 8.5 at an addition rate such that the pH never drops below a value of 3.0, (iii) in a so-called separation step (1300), separating soluble reaction products from the remaining solids( 7), (iv) in a so-called post-acidification washing step (1400), washing the remaining solids (7) obtained in the separation step with a washing liquid (17). Said product (21) can be used as a growth medium or soil for growing plants, in pure form or in mixture with natural soil materials of geological or biological origin.

The present invention relates to the field of negative electrode materials and provides a negative electrode material, a manufacturing method thereof, and a battery. The negative electrode material includes a silicon-based active material and a lithium silicate, and further includes Mg, Al, and P, wherein the mass content of Mg in the negative electrode material is a%, the mass content of Al in the negative electrode material is b%, and the mass content of P in the negative electrode material is c%, and a, b, and c in the negative electrode material satisfy the relationship 0.3≦(a+b) / c≦1.5 and 0.5≦a+b+c≦10. The introduction of Mg, Al, and P into the negative electrode material provided by the present invention is beneficial to the formation of lithium ion transmission channels and can improve the rate performance of the negative electrode material.

A negative electrode active material for a secondary battery, the negative electrode active material containing silicon-containing particles, the silicon-containing particles containing an ion-conducting phase and a silicon phase dispersed in the ion-conducting phase, the silicon-containing particles having a pore diameter distribution in which the average pore diameter on a volume basis within the pore diameter range of 2-100 nm is 50-100 nm.

The present disclosure relates to a negative electrode material, a preparation method thereof, and a lithium ion battery. The negative electrode material includes an active material, the active material includes a framework structure and a silicon-oxygen material embedded in the framework structure, the framework structure includes a lithium silicate framework located inside the active material and a water-insoluble silicate framework located on the surface layer of the active material, the water-insoluble silicate framework and the lithium silicate framework are connected, and in the XRD pattern of the negative electrode material, the intensity of the strongest characteristic diffraction peak of the lithium silicate is I A and the intensity of the strongest characteristic diffraction peak of water-insoluble silicates is I B and I B / I A is 0.03≦I B / I A The negative electrode material and the preparation method thereof according to the present disclosure are simple to prepare, low-cost, and suitable for mass production. The prepared negative electrode material can improve processability, and has excellent electrochemical performance, cycle performance, and expansion inhibition performance, and can extend the service life of lithium-ion batteries.

Provided are a negative electrode active material which includes negative electrode active material particles which includes a silicon oxide (SiOx, 0<x≤2); and at least one lithium silicate selected from Li2SiO3, Li2Si2O5, and Li4SiO4 in at least a part of the silicon oxide. A signal generated in a region of 200 to 600 cm−1 according to a Raman spectrum is subjected to deconvolution into three peaks, which are set to peak A, peak B, and peak C from lowest to highest of an absolute value of a wavenumber. Also disclosed are a method of preparing the same, and a negative electrode and a lithium secondary battery including the negative electrode active material.

The invention belongs to the field of separation and purification, and particularly relates to a biomass reducing agent for preparing industrial silicon and a preparation method of the biomass reducing agent. Carrying out alkali treatment on the rice husk carbon precursor to prepare rice husk carbon containing sodium silicate, and separating to obtain the rice husk carbon and a sodium silicate solution; modifying the rice husk charcoal to convert residual sodium silicate into silicon dioxide, so as to obtain modified rice husk charcoal; performing hydroxylation modification on the straw carbon, then mixing with the modified rice husk carbon, putting into a sodium silicate solution, fully mixing, and forming, thereby obtaining the product. The strength of the biomass reducing agent disclosed by the invention is greatly improved, so that the biomass reducing agent can meet the production requirements of industrial silicon and can better replace charcoal, and resource utilization of agricultural and forestry wastes is realized.

The present invention provides a method (600a) and apparatus for producing an alkaline mixture comprising sodium silicate, which mixture is suitable for use as an alkaline activator for alkaline activated and geopolymer cements, but which may also be used, for example, to mineralize captured carbon dioxide. The method comprises comminuting (301) an ore of a target metal into fines, wherein the ore comprises a siliceous mineral and at least one of iron and manganese as the target metal. The siliceous mineral may comprise the target metal itself and / or it may be silica and / or another silicate mineral present as gangue. The ore is dehydrated and hydroxylated compounds contained therein are dehydroxylated (302). The ore thus treated is then reacted (601) in an inert atmosphere with an amount of liquid sodium in excess of the stoichiometric amount thereof required for a redox reaction between the liquid sodium and an oxide of the target metal from the ore, to precipitate out from the liquid sodium a solid phase comprising both the target metal in elemental form and other insoluble products comprising sodium oxide. The redox reaction is conducted at a temperature of at least 320 °Celsius to induce a reaction between the sodium oxide and silica derived from the siliceous mineral to produce sodium silicate, but also below a temperature at which the liquid sodium can react with the oxide of the target metal to produce a ternary oxide thereof. At least some of the liquid sodium having sodium silicate dissolved therein is then separated (305) from the solid phase and is reacted (602) with at least one of oxygen and water to produce a mixture comprising sodium silicate and at least one of sodium oxide and sodium hydroxide. The corresponding apparatus comprises a comminution device (such as a rock crusher or grinder), means for dehydrating and dehydroxylating the ore (such as a dryer), a gas-tight first reaction vessel for reacting the ore thus treated with the liquid sodium, a solid-liquid sodium phase separator, and a second reaction vessel for reacting the liquid sodium having sodium silicate dissolved therein with at least one of oxygen and water. The resulting alkaline mixture is therefore produced whilst extracting the target metal in elemental form from its ore. Thus the energy consumed is split between the production of these two co-products, making the method of the invention a low-energy method of producing an alkaline activator for alkaline activated and geopolymer cements. Both reactions (601, 602) are also significantly exothermic and at least some of the thermal energy from them may be recycled. The invention does not consume any carbon and is therefore at least carbon-neutral. On the other hand, it consumes the silica content of gangue mineral species and / or of siliceous minerals of the target metal in its ore, which have previously been treated as waste products. The amount of waste material produced when extracting the target metal from its ore is thereby reduced as well.