The effect of inorganic acids on reducing iron impurities during iron-rich laterite ore leaching

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Mining Engineering, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran

2 School of Mining Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The Recovery of nickel from lateritic ores as the main oxide resources has been always debated. Since it consists of 1.74% Ni, 0.14% Co and 40.8% Fe, co-dissolution of iron occurred by using common lixiviation like sulfuric acid. Therefore, some leaching agents should be sought due to promoting a high dissolution of nickel/cobalt and a negligible iron recovery. This research investigates the effect of using organic acids such as gluconic, lactic and citric acid along with sulfuric acid on recoveries of Ni/Co from an iron-rich laterite ore. The results showed that adding sulfuric acid to the optimal combined ratio of the organic acids (gluconic: lactic: citric= 1: 2: 3) to obtain the combined ratio of 6 : 1: 2: 3 (sulfuric: gluconic: lactic: citric acid), simultaneously increasing the temperature from 60 to 90 °C, and increasing the final combined concentration of the acids from 3.5 M to 5 M, significantly increased nickel and cobalt recoveries by 80.4 and 68.7%, respectively, and slightly increased iron extraction by 5.05% all when compared to using the optimal combined ratio of organic acids. The use of 5 M sulfuric acid alone as a leaching agent, at 90 ° C, resulted in an 81.11% increase in iron dissolution than the 6: 1: 2: 3 combination. The results obtained indicated that the reaction rate was controlled by the chemical reaction, and the activation energies of 42.71 kJ/mol for nickel and 84.57 kJ/mol for cobalt were consistent with this conclusion.

Keywords

References

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International Journal of Mining and Geo-Engineering
Volume 55, Issue 2
December 2021
Pages 191-199

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