DETAILED ACTION Claims 1-11 are pending and under consideration in this action. Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis ( i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action: A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made. Claim s 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US20190017144 (“ Awazu ”) in view of Karshigina , et al. "Recovery of rare earth metals and precipitated silicon dioxide from phosphorus slag." Minerals Engineering 77 (2015): 159-166 (“ Karshigina ”) . Regarding claim 1 , Awazu teaches a method for recovery of specific metals from a mixture that contains a silicate material (see e.g. paragraph [0004]). Specific metals that are recovered includes a variety of rare earth metals, as well as calcium (see e.g. Table 2). The method of Awazu comprises the step of forming an alkali silicate by alkali fusion on the mixture containing silicon and other metals (see e.g. paragraph [0005], describing the reaction of a molten alkali hydroxide with the treatment material, which is an alkali fusion reaction). Awazu teaches that the silicon is removed by leaching and separating the alkali silicate using water (see e.g. paragraphs [0023]-[0024] describing that the metal elements form a precipitate that is filtered for separation from the alkali silicate, which is the same as leaching the alkali silicate out of the treatment material; as well as paragraph [0123], describing that the process uses water as the solvent). Awazu further teaches that the metal elements, thus separated from most of the silicon, are then leached into an acid solution (see e.g. paragraph [0053]). As shown in the examples of Awazu , the process results in the rare earth metals and calcium in the solution, and thus Awazu teaches recovering the calcium and rare earth metal leached into the acid solution (see e.g. Table 3). The examples of Awazu use rare earth containing ore as the treatment material rather than slag (see e.g. paragraph [0169]). However, Awazu makes clear that the method can work with any metal and silicon containing product, including those from industrial uses such as slag (see e.g. paragraph [0097]). Karshigina teaches a method for recovering rare earth metals from slag that is a mixture containing rare earth metals and silicon (see e.g. Karshigina at Table 1). The metals included in the slag of Karshigina are similar to those in the ore of Awazu (compare Table 1 of Karsh i gina to Table 2 of Awazu , showing both contain large amounts of silicon as well as iron, calcium, and the rare earth metals). Karshigina teaches that recovery of rare earth metals from slag is important in response to an increase in demand for rare earth metals (see e.g. page 160, first column, second full paragraph, starting “Phosphorus slag also…”). Given the teaching in Awazu that the method can be used with industrial metal mixtures, prior to the effective filing date it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to apply the separation method of Awazu to the phosphorus slag of Karshigina in order to recover the rare earth metals from slag, as suggested by Karshigina . Regarding claim 2 , Awazu teaches that the step of forming the alkali silicate comprises mixing an alkali metal salt with the treatment material and then performing heat treatment to react the silicon and alkali metal salt (see e.g. paragraphs [0043]-[0044]). Regarding claim 3 , Karshigina teaches that the slag contains scandium (see e.g. page 161, first column, first full paragraph, starting “Figs 1-3 show…”). Regarding claim 4 , Awazu teaches that the alkali metal salt can be sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide (see e.g. paragraph [0037]). Regarding claim 5 , Awazu teaches that the weight ratio of alkali metal salt to the treatment material is between 1 : 0.1 to 10, which includes the claimed range (see e.g. paragraph [0045]). Specific examples of Awazu include a 1:1 or 1:2 ratio (see e.g. Table 1). Regarding claim 6 , Awazu teaches that the temperature during the heat treatment can be 450 °C, which is within the claimed range (see e.g. paragraph [0172]). Regarding claim 7 , Awazu teaches that the alkali metal salt is sodium or potassium hydroxide, and as such, the alkali silicate would comprise sodium or potassium silicate (see e.g. paragraph [0037]). Regarding claim 8 , Awazu teaches that the alkali metal salt is sodium or potassium hydroxide, and as such, the alkali silicate would comprise sodium or potassium silicate (see e.g. paragraph [0037]). As acknowledged in the instant specification, the sodium silicate product from alkali fusion with sodium hydroxide is a crystalline water soluble compound that is dissociated in distilled water (see e.g. instant specification at paragraphs [0069]-[0071]). Awazu teaches that the alkali silicate is separated by filtration, which is a solid-liquid separation (see e.g. paragraph [0124]). Regarding claim 9 , Awazu teaches that the acid can be hydrochloric, sulfuric, or nitric acid, which are inorganic acids (see e.g. paragraph [0131]). Regarding claim 10 , in a specific example, Awazu teaches using 1 M HCl for the acid leaching (see e.g. paragraph [0179]). Regarding claim 11 , Awazu teaches that the acid leaching is performed at room temperature for 2 days (see e.g. paragraph [0179]). However, Karshigina teaches that acid leaching from the slag material can be accomplished at 90 °C for 1 hour, both of which are within the claimed ranges (see e.g. page 163, paragraph bridging first and second columns, starting “The disintegration of…”). Accordingly, prior to the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to perform the acid leaching at 90 °C for 1 hour because Karshigina teaches that this is sufficient and it is a faster method for leaching. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT ERIC S SHERMAN whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (703)756-4784 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT Monday-Friday 8:30-5:00 ET . Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT Anthony Zimmer can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)270-3591 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. 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