3561 Effects of acid and reductants on iron salts’ leaching of the copper-cobalt oxide ore
A case of Zebesha Mine in Zambia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17159/Abstract
Although the traditional Cu-Co oxide ore leaching method (acid-reductive) effectively extracts Cu and Co from Cu-Co oxide ore, hydrometallurgical improvements are still being researched. One of the alternative leaching methods the authors recently studied used FeSO4·7H2O and Fe2(SO4)3 as lixiviants. The present study investigated the effects of H2SO4 and Na2S2O5 addition on Zebesha Cu-Co oxide ore leaching using the above-mentioned lixiviants, aimed to improve leaching recoveries. The ore (<150 µm) was leached at ambient temperature for 2 hours and the X-ray fluorescence technique was used for analysis. Co, Mn and Ni leaching recoveries increased with the increase in Na2S2O5, the highest being about 80% Co at 150 kg/t Na2S2O5 in FeSO4·7H2O, but Cu recovery remained below 5% Cu. On the contrary, using Fe2(SO4)3, about 88% Cu recovery was highest at 50 kg/t Na2S2O5, then slightly decreased to 79% Cu at 150 kg/t Na2S2O5. H2SO4 increased leaching recoveries for both lixiviants. About 60 kg/t H2SO4 increased Cu recovery to 92% in Fe2(SO4)3, while Co, Ni and Mn recoveries remained below 40%. Nevertheless, in FeSO4·7H2O, cobalt leaching recovery was highest, and increased from 40% to 84% Co. Na2S2O5 was best in FeSO4·7H2O for cobalt extraction although manganese and nickel were co-extracted, whereas H2SO4 was best in Fe2(SO4)3 for the extraction of copper.
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