## 5 Conclusions
FTIR spectra of the sorbents (MC-UR and MC-UR/S) before (raw) and after five cycles of sorption and desorption, and after conditioning with 0.2 Al HCl. Table S3. Elemental analysis of the sorbents. Table S4. Uptake kinetics for Ce(III) sorption using the MC, MC-UR, and MC-UR/Sorbents--parameters of the models. Table S5. Ce(III) sorption isotherm using MC--parameters of the models. Table S6. Ce(III) sorption isotherm using MC-UR--parameters of the models. Table S7. Ce(III) sorption isotherm using MC-UR/S--parameters of the models. Table S8. Comparison of Ce(III) sorption properties with alternative sorbents. Table S9. Composition of the ore. Table S10. Pre-treatment of ore leachate--concentrations (mg L\(-\)1) of the selected metals. Table S11. Composition of ore leachate, raffinate (including metal recovery efficiency, RE (%)) and residue of adsorption onto MC-UR/S at different pHeq values. Table S12a. Reminder of the equations used for modeling the uptake kinetics. Table S12b. Reminder of the equations used for modeling the sorption isotherms. Figure S1. SEM image for the MC-UR/S sorbent. Figure S2. TEM images of the MC (a), MC-UR (b), and MC-UR/S (c) sorbents. Figure S3. VSM analysis of the MC-UR/S sorbent. Figure S4. TGA analysis of the MC (a), MC-UR (b), and MC-UR/S (c) sorbents. Figure S5. DrTG analysis of the MC (a), MC-UR (b), and MC-UR/S (c) sorbents. Figure S6. Effect of pH 5 on the FTIR spectrum of MC-UR (compared with the reference sorbent and Ce-loaded MC-UR). Figure S7. Effect of pH 5 on the FTIR spectrum of MC-UR/S (compared with the reference sorbent and Ce-loaded MC-UR/S). Figure S8. Effect of acidic conditions (0.2 M HCl solution) on the FTIR spectrum of MC-UR (compared with the reference sorbent and MC-UR after the fifth sorption desorption). Figure S9. Effect of acidic conditions (0.2 M HCl solution) on the FTIR spectrum of MC-UR (compared with the reference sorbent and MC-UR after the fifth sorption desorption). Figure S10. Determination of pHPZC for the MC, MC-UR, and MC-UR/S sorbents. Figure S11. Ce(III) speciation diagram. Figure S12. pH variation during Ce(III) sorption using the MC, MC-UR, and MC-UR/S sorbents. Figure S13. Distribution ratio as a function of pHeq (log10 plot) for Ce(III) sorption using the MC, MC-UR, and MC-UR/S sorbents. Figure S14. Effect of pHeq on the distribution ratio (log10 unit) using the MC-UR (a) and MC-UR/S (b) sorbents from the sorption tests on the multicomponent equimolar solutions. Figure S15. Selectivity tests for Nd(III) sorption using the MC-UR (a) and MC-UR/S (b) sorbents with the multicomponent equimolar solutions--effect of pHeq on SCNd/metal. Figure S16. Correlation of the sorption with the Shannon ionic radius for the metal sorption in multicomponent solutions at different pH values. Figure S17. Correlations between the sorption capacities and ionic index for the sorption of metal ions from the multi-component equimolar solutions using MC-UR (a) and MC-UR/S (b). Figure S18. Ce(III) desorption for the metal-loaded MC, MC-UR, and MC-UR/S sorbents. Figure S19. Geological map of the studied area. Figure S20. Distribution of main elements in the different compartments of the pre-treatment of leachates. Figure S21. Effect of pH on the metal recovery and sorption capacity for the selected elements from ore affiliate using MC-UR/S--sorption capacities (qeq), maximum sorption efficiency (R(%) at optimum pHeq, i.e., 4.87), and reference initial metal concentration in the raffinate. Figure S22. Metal recovery from ore affiliate using the MC-UR/S sorbent--effect of pHeq on the distribution ratio (log10 plot). Figure S23. Molar distribution of main elements in the raffinate (a) and the residue of the sorption step at pHeq 4.87 (b). Figure S24. Effect of pH on the selectivity coefficients for the metal sorption from ore affiliate--(a) SCCe/metal and (b) SCCe/metal. **Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, E.G., Y.W., A.A.-H.A.-R. and M.F.H. ; methodology, E.G., Y.W., A.A.-H.A.-R., M.S.K., and M.F.H. ; software, M.S., X.Y. and A.A.-H.A.-R.; validation, M.S., Y.W.