Abstract
Global concern for environmental protection has grown over the years. Coal fly ash is an abundant solid waste produced from coal combustion in coal-fired power stations; however, the conventional methods used for its disposal can pose environmental and health issues. Coal fly ash has promising applications in recovering metals such as aluminum, iron, magnesium, calcium, and rare earth elements. This work presents an overview of recent research regarding mathematical model development to predict valuable element recovery during coal fly ash leaching processes. The optimization of a hydrometallurgical process is an essential step in the design of a mineral processing plant. The decision-making process is generally simplified by generating models that treat data for preliminary feasibility studies. Given the current economic situation, characterized by a drop in metal prices, reducing of costs and improving efficiency would contribute to the cost-effectiveness of mineral processing plants. The development and success of the suggested model is prone to add value to the extraction of metals from coal fly ash and the beneficiation value chain.