WO2005073415A1 - Solvent extraction process for separating cobalt and/or manganese from impurities in leach solutions - Google Patents
Solvent extraction process for separating cobalt and/or manganese from impurities in leach solutions Download PDFInfo
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- WO2005073415A1 WO2005073415A1 PCT/AU2005/000088 AU2005000088W WO2005073415A1 WO 2005073415 A1 WO2005073415 A1 WO 2005073415A1 AU 2005000088 W AU2005000088 W AU 2005000088W WO 2005073415 A1 WO2005073415 A1 WO 2005073415A1
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- leach solution
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C22—METALLURGY; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS
- C22B—PRODUCTION AND REFINING OF METALS; PRETREATMENT OF RAW MATERIALS
- C22B23/00—Obtaining nickel or cobalt
- C22B23/04—Obtaining nickel or cobalt by wet processes
- C22B23/0453—Treatment or purification of solutions, e.g. obtained by leaching
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C22—METALLURGY; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS
- C22B—PRODUCTION AND REFINING OF METALS; PRETREATMENT OF RAW MATERIALS
- C22B3/00—Extraction of metal compounds from ores or concentrates by wet processes
- C22B3/20—Treatment or purification of solutions, e.g. obtained by leaching
- C22B3/26—Treatment or purification of solutions, e.g. obtained by leaching by liquid-liquid extraction using organic compounds
- C22B3/30—Oximes
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C22—METALLURGY; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS
- C22B—PRODUCTION AND REFINING OF METALS; PRETREATMENT OF RAW MATERIALS
- C22B3/00—Extraction of metal compounds from ores or concentrates by wet processes
- C22B3/20—Treatment or purification of solutions, e.g. obtained by leaching
- C22B3/26—Treatment or purification of solutions, e.g. obtained by leaching by liquid-liquid extraction using organic compounds
- C22B3/32—Carboxylic acids
- C22B3/326—Ramified chain carboxylic acids or derivatives thereof, e.g. "versatic" acids
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C22—METALLURGY; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS
- C22B—PRODUCTION AND REFINING OF METALS; PRETREATMENT OF RAW MATERIALS
- C22B47/00—Obtaining manganese
- C22B47/0018—Treating ocean floor nodules
- C22B47/0045—Treating ocean floor nodules by wet processes
- C22B47/0081—Treatment or purification of solutions, e.g. obtained by leaching
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- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
- Y02P—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS
- Y02P10/00—Technologies related to metal processing
- Y02P10/20—Recycling
Definitions
- the present invention relates to a process for separating cobalt and/or manganese from calcium and magnesium contained in an aqueous solution such as an aqueous leach solution, and for recovering the cobalt and/or manganese where desired.
- the world mineral industry is experiencing an unprecedented interest in metal extraction from laterite and sulphide ores through hydrometallurgical processes .
- the hydrometallurgical process involves grinding, leaching and solvent extraction (SX) , with recovery of product via precipitation or reduction processes .
- the intensity of the leaching process depends on the nature of the ore (mineralogy, grade), the distribution of the metal (s) to be recovered and the particle size reduction achieved during grinding.
- Leach solutions often contain copper, nickel, cobalt and zinc (and/or manganese) as metals to be recovered (target metals) , with calcium, magnesium, iron and aluminium (and manganese if not to be recovered) as impurity metals to be rejected.
- Iron (as ferric) and aluminium are often removed by precipitation at low pH (pH 2.5 - 5.0) prior to SX.
- Separations of industrial significance include : - the separation of cobalt (and optionally nickel) from manganese (and calcium and magnesium) , where manganese is to be rejected, and - the separation of manganese (and cobalt and nickel) from calcium and magnesium, where manganese is to be recovered.
- cobalt and optionally nickel
- manganese and cobalt and nickel
- Drawbacks of sulphide precipitation include:
- the drawbacks of the hydroxide precipitation process include :
- magnesia as precipitation agent (if used to prevent gypsum formation) adds cost to the operation.
- the present invention is generally based on the development of an organic solution of a carboxylic acid and a hydroxyoxime which is effective in shifting the pH isotherms of nickel, cobalt, copper, zinc, magnesium, manganese and calcium in such a way as to enable separation of certain groups of these elements from each other.
- the isotherms of the elements copper, zinc, nickel and cobalt are separated from the isotherm of manganese to allow effective separation of manganese from these elements.
- the isotherm of manganese is sufficiently separated from the isotherms of calcium and magnesium to allow effective separation of manganese from calcium and magnesium.
- a process for the separation of cobalt and/or manganese from impurity elements selected from one or more of calcium and magnesium contained in a leach solution comprising the step of subjecting the leach solution to solvent extraction using an organic solution of a carboxylic acid and a hydroxyoxime.
- a process for the separation of cobalt from manganese contained in a leach solution comprising the step of subjecting the leach solution to solvent extraction using an organic solution of a carboxylic acid and a hydroxyoxime.
- the organic solution may optionally further comprise a stabilizer.
- the present invention is a particular example of a more general process for separating one or more of nickel, cobalt and manganese from the impurity elements (manganese) calcium and magnesium contained in a leach solution, which process comprises the steps of subjecting the leach solution to solvent extraction using a carboxylic acid and a hydroxyoxime.
- the process of the invention that is the subject of this application is particularly suited to leach solutions containing low levels of nickel, since nickel has slow extraction and stripping kinetics in the absence of further additives.
- the solvent extraction step described above achieves very good separation of cobalt (and/or manganese) present in the leach solution from (manganese,) calcium, magnesium and chloride impurity elements which may be present, and good separation of cobalt from manganese if cobalt is to be recovered and manganese is to be rejected as an impurity element.
- the process comprises separation of zinc, copper, cobalt (and/or manganese) from impurity elements selected from one or more of calcium, magnesium (and manganese) contained in a leach solution, the process comprising the step of subjecting the leach solution to solvent extraction using an organic solution comprising a carboxylic acid and a hydroxyoxime.
- the organic solution further comprises a stabilizer .
- the elements cobalt and/or manganese extracted into the organic phase during solvent extraction are recovered therefrom.
- the recovery step may comprise bulk stripping of the element from the organic phase.
- the bulk stripping may optionally be combined with ion exchange to remove any minor amounts of impurity elements , such as zinc, copper and nickel to improve the purity of the recovered elements .
- Another optional process for improving the purity of the recovered element is sulphide precipitation. Sulphide precipitation is more suited to precipitation of any minor amounts of copper, zinc, cobalt and nickel present in the manganese recovered from stripping.
- the recovery step may comprise selective stripping of the organic phase to separate the manganese from the cobalt.
- the manganese may thereafter be recovered from the loaded strip liquor, and the cobalt recovered from the selectively stripped organic solution by bulk stripping.
- Figures 1 and 2 are graphs comparing extraction pH isotherms of metals using a comparative extraction system ( Figure 1) and the extraction system of one embodiment of the invention ( Figure 2) .
- Figure 3 is a graph showing the extraction kinetics of metals from a leach solution using the extraction system of one embodiment of the invention.
- Figure 4 is a graph showing the stripping kinetics of metals from a loaded organic phase from the extraction system of one embodiment of the invention .
- Figure 5 is a graph comparing stripping kinetics of cobalt using a comparative extraction system and the extraction system of one embodiment of the inventio .
- Figures 6 and 7 are graphs comparing extraction pH isotherms of metals using a comparative extraction system ( Figure 6) and the extraction system of one embodiment of the invention ( Figure 7) .
- Figure 8 is a graph showing the extraction kinetics of manganese from a leach solution using the extraction system of one embodiment of the invention.
- Figure 9 is a graph showing the stripping kinetics of manganese from a loaded organic phase from the extraction system of a one embodiment of the invention.
- Figure 10 a schematic flow chart of the steps of the process of one embodiment of the invention.
- Figure 11 is a schematic flow chart of the steps of the process of a second embodiment of the invention.
- Figure 12 is a schematic flow chart of the steps of the process of a third embodiment of the invention.
- Figure 13 is a schematic flow chart of the steps of the process of a fourth embodiment of the invention.
- At the core of the present invention is a synergistic solvent extraction step which effects extraction of a large proportion of the nickel, cobalt, copper, and zinc into an organic phase (to the extent that these elements are present) , with a large proportion of the calcium, magnesium, and chloride being rejected to the aqueous phase.
- the manganese can report to either the organic phase or the aqueous phase, as is chosen for a particular leach solution.
- the solvent extraction is conducted with a combination of carboxylic acid and a hydroxyoxime synergist, and optionally a stabilizer.
- the hydroxyoxime synergist is capable of increasing the pH gap, ⁇ pH 50 , between isotherms for nickel and cobalt and that for manganese, and between the isotherm for manganese and those for calcium and magnesium. This results in advantageous selectivity of nickel and cobalt and optionally manganese, over the impurities (manganese) , calcium, magnesium and chloride.
- the pH 50 value is the pH at which 50% metal extraction is achieved.
- ⁇ pHso is the difference between the pH 50 values for two metals , or the difference between the pH 50 values for the same metal under different extraction conditions .
- the carboxylic acid is 2-methyl, 2-ethyl heptanoicic acid (commercially available as Versatic 10) or a cationic exchange extractant having extraction characteristics similar to 2-methyl, 2-ethyl heptanoic acid could be used.
- Cationic exchange extractants have hydrogen ions which are exchanged with metal ions in the aqueous solution.
- carboxylic acid is used in its broadest sense to refer to any organic carboxylic acid.
- Carboxylic acids have the formula RCOOH, in which R represents any optionally substituted aliphatic or aromatic group, or combinations of these groups, including optionally substituted alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, or heteroaryl groups (and combinations thereof) .
- R represents a relatively bulky group containing at least 4 carbon atoms, and preferably between 4 to 18 carbon atoms.
- alkyl used either alone or in a compound word such as “optionally substituted alkyl” or “optionally substituted cycloalkyl” denotes straight chain branched or mono- or poly-cyclic alkyl, preferably Cl-30 alkyl or cycloalkyl, most preferably C4-18 alkyl.
- straight chain and branched alkyl examples include methyl, ethyl, butyl, isobutyl, tert-butyl, 1 ,2-dimethylpropyl, 1- methylpentyl , 5-methylhexyl, 4, 4-dimethylpentyl 1,2- dimethylpentyl, 1 , 3-dimethylpentyl, 1 , 1,2-trimethylbutyl, nonyl, 1- 2- or 3-propylhexyl, decyl, 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5- or 6-ethyloctyl , 1-, 2-, 3-, 4- or 5-propyloctyl, 1-, 2- or 3-butylheptyl, 2-hexyl 2-methyloctyl and the like.
- cyclic alkyl examples include cyclohexyl, cycloheptyl, cyclooctyl, cyclononyl and cyclodecyl and the like.
- the alkyl may optionally be substituted by any non-deleterious substituent .
- optionally substituted means that a group may or may not be further substituted with one or more groups selected from alkyl , alkenyl, alkynyl, aryl , halo , haloalkyl , haloalkenyl , haloalkynyl , haloaryl , hydroxy, alkoxy, alkenyloxy, aryloxy, benzyloxy, haloalkoxy, haloalkenyloxy, haloaryloxy, nitro, nitroalkyl, nitroalkenyl , nitroalkynyl , nitroaryl, nitroheterocyclyl , a ino, alkylamino, dialkylamino, alkenylamino , alkynylamino, arylamino, diarylamino, benzylamino, dibenzylamino, acyl, alkenylacyl, alkynylacyl,
- Suitable optional substituents will be chosen on the basis that the carboxylic acid have the desired extraction characteristics, and the substituents do not react with any other component of the mixture under the given extraction conditions .
- a hydroxyoxime is used as a synergist with the carboxylic acid in the solvent extraction step.
- a hydroxyoxime is a compound containing an oxime group and a hydroxy group.
- the groups are in an ⁇ -position with respect to each other.
- Such ⁇ -hydroxyoximes are chelating, whereas oximes are generally non-chelating and thus behave differently.
- the "oxime" functional group contains a carbon to nitrogen double bond, with the nitrogen atom being attached to an oxygen atom.
- the hydroxyoxime may be a C8-C26 hydroxyoxime.
- the hydroxyoxime is an aliphatic hydroxyoxime .
- the hydroxyoxime is of the formula: R ⁇ C CH R "
- R' and R" are each selected from an optionally substituted, straight chain, branched or cyclic alkyl, group containing from 2 to 12 carbon atoms .
- R" and R" are unsubstituted alkyl groups, most preferably a heptyl group.
- An example of such a compound is 5,8-diethyl-7-hydroxy-6-dodecanone oxime (the active component of a commercial agent LIX 63) . This has the following structure :
- the reagent mixture of carboxylic acid and hydroxyoxime may be susceptible to degradation, particularly with respect to the hydroxyoxime component.
- a suitable stabilizer may advantageously be used to slow any degradation reaction . Degradation may take place via a number of mechanisms, including oxidation and hydrolysis . Hence the stabilizer is suitably one that mitigates against oxidation and/or hydrolysis of the hydroxyoxime.
- Such stabilsers include, but are not limited to, esters (e.g. TXIB) , ethers, ketones, alcohols (e.g. isodecanol, TDA) and alkylphenols (e.g.
- alkylphenol encompasses all alkyl derivatives of phenol, and in particular those derivatives with one or more straight chain, branched or cyclic alkyl substituents.
- the leach solution subjected to the synergistic solvent extraction with the organic solution of carboxylic acid, hydroxyoxime and optionally a stabilizer may be any type of leach solution containing cobalt and/or manganese, together with impurity elements selected from one or more of calcium, magnesium, (manganese) and chloride, optionally together with copper and zinc.
- the leach solution is one containing little nickel .
- the leach solution suitably contains less than lOOppm nickel, or any other low level that does not warrant recovery for economic reasons .
- the nickel is suitably present in any amount of less than 50% of that of cobalt (for example, ⁇ 100ppm nickel, >200ppm cobalt) .
- the leach solution may contain the following levels of elements :
- Ca lppm - saturated, for instance between 0.5 - 0.7 g/L
- Mn 0.2 - 50 g/L, or 1-50 g/L
- Mg lppm - 100 g/L, or 2-100 g/L.
- the leach solution may for instance be a pregnant leach solution obtained from the pressure acid leaching of any suitable ore type, such as a laterite or sulphide ore. It may alternatively be a solution from bio-leach, atmospheric acid leach, oxidative leach, reductive leach, chloride leach or any combination of these leach processes. The steps involved in producing such leach solutions are well known in the art.
- the leach solution is preferably a solution that has been subjected to a preliminary iron and/or aluminium precipitation step to precipitate out iron and/or aluminium to leave an aqueous leach solution containing the target elements and impurity elements identified above .
- the leach solution may alternatively or further have been subjected to one or more additional treatment or processing stages .
- the solvent extraction step involves contacting an organic solvent containing the carboxylic acid, hydroxyoxime and optionally stabilizer with the (aqueous) leach solution.
- the organic solvent may be any suitable organic solvent known in the art. Kerosene is the most common solvent/diluent used for this purpose due to its low cost and availability. Shellsol 2046 is one specific example.
- the amount of carboxylic acid and hydroxyoxime (and stabilizer) in the organic solution used in the solvent extraction step will depend on the concentration of the
- the concentration would typically be in the range of from 0.1 to 2.0 M for carboxylic acid, with a preferred range of 0.1 to 1.0M, and 0.05 to 1.0 M for hydroxyoxime.
- the concentration of stabilizer may be in the range of from 0 to 0.1 M, typically 0.005 to 0.1 M.
- the pH of the aqueous phase is maintained in a range from 3.5 to 5.0 and more preferably 4.0 to 4.5 in the extraction step if manganese is to be rejected.
- the pH of the aqueous phase is maintained in a range from 5.5 to 7.0 and more preferably 5.8 to 6.3 in the extraction step if manganese is to be recovered.
- the temperature is preferably maintained in the range of from 10°C to 60°C, more preferably from 20 to 40°C. Whilst temperatures as low as 10°C are achievable, a temperature lower than 15°C results in high viscosity. At temperatures higher than 60°C there is a risk of increased evaporation and degradation of the organic phase.
- the aqueous to organic ratio (A/O) in the extraction step is most suitably 1:1, but may lie in the range from 10 : 1 to 1:10, and preferably 1:5 to 5:1.
- the aqueous to organic ratio maintained in the scrubbing step may lie within the range from 1:5 to 1:200, but preferably it is in the range of 1:5 to 1:20.
- the cobalt and/or manganese extracted into the loaded organic phase in the synergistic solvent extraction can be recovered in downstream processing stages .
- the organic phase from the synergistic extraction step of the invention is suitably subjected to scrubbing.
- the scrub solution may suitably be a process stream recycled from the process, and is preferably derived from an aqueous stream of a stripping stage (which may be a selective stripping stage) following the scrubbing stage.
- the organic phase containing cobalt and manganese is subjected to selective stripping to separate to a significant extent the cobalt and the manganese.
- the selective strip suitably involves contacting the organic phase from the synergistic extraction with an acidic aqueous solution to yield (a) a loaded strip liquor containing manganese and (b) a selectively stripped organic solution containing cobalt (and zinc, nickel and copper, if they were present in the organic phase from the synergistic extraction) .
- the acidic aqueous solution for the selective strip is suitably sulphuric acid solution, although other aqueous acid solutions known in the art (such as hydrochloric) may be used.
- the pH of the acidic aqueous solution is suitably in the range of about 4.0 to 5.0, depending on the level of separation desired. Most preferably, the pH is about 4.5.
- the synergistic extraction step of the present invention may be combined with different preliminary and following process steps for the development of processes suitable for the recovery of cobalt and/or nickel when different impurity elements may be present.
- cobalt can be separated from impurities contained in leach solutions without intermediate precipitation of the cobalt with other impurity elements and re-leaching of the precipitate to subsequently enable the removal of the impurities .
- the process does not include a precipitation step involving precipitation out of the target elements and re-leaching of the precipitate .
- Example 1 Extraction pH isotherms of metals with Versatic 10 / LIX63 synergistic system.
- the aqueous solution was a synthetic solution to simulate a typical laterite leach solution containing 3 g/L Ni , 0.3 g/L Co, 0.2 g/L Cu and Zn, 2 g/L Mn, 10 g/L Mg and 0.5 g/L Ca.
- the metal extraction pH isotherms with the 0.5 M Versatic 10 (carboxylic acid) alone were determined and plotted, as shown in Fig . 1.
- the metal extraction pH isotherms using the combination of 0.5 M Versatic 10 and 0.35 M LIX63 (hydroxyoxime) were also determined and plotted in Figure 2.
- the ⁇ pH 5 o( Mn -Ni) value for the 0.5 M Versatic 10 / 0.35 M LIX63 system was found to be 1.9 pH units and the ⁇ pH 50 ( Mn - c o ) value 2.5 pH units , indicating easy separation of nickel and cobalt from manganese, calcium and magnesium.
- the ⁇ pH 50 (ca-Mn) value for the 0.5 M Versatic 10 / 0.35 M LIX63 system was found to be 2.2 pH units , indicating easy separation of manganese from calcium and magnesium.
- Example 3 Stripping kinetics with Versatic 10 / LIX63 synergistic system.
- Tests were conducted to determine the stripping kinetics of the metals from the 0.5 M Versatic 10 / 0.35 M LIX63 system using a strip solution containing 5 g/L Ni and 10 g/L sulphuric acid (Fig. 4) .
- the stripping kinetics of copper, cobalt and zinc were fast.
- the stripping kinetics of nickel were slow, with only 18% of the nickel being stripped after 2 minutes of mixing.
- Example 4 - Stripping of cobalt from LIX63 alone and Versatic 10 / LIX63 systems.
- Cobalt (II) can poison hydroxyoxime reagents such as LIX63. This means that once cobalt (II) is extracted by hydroxyoxime reagents (and oxidises to Co(III)), it cannot be stripped with concentrated acids . Tests were conducted to see whether the new system results in cobalt poisoning of the extractant/synergist .
- Example 5 Extraction pH isotherms of metals with Versatic 10 / LIX63 system.
- the aqueous solution was a synthetic solution to simulate a typical waste laterite leach solution containing 1.46 g/L Mn, 17.6 g/L Mg and 0.54 g/L Ca.
- the extraction pH isotherms were determined for 0.5 M Versatic 10 alone and 0.5 M Versatic 10 / 0.2 M LIX63 systems and shown in Figs. 6 and 7, respectively.
- the pH50( Mn ) decreased from 6.9 to 5.6 pH units while the positions of isotherms of magnesium and calcium remained virtually unchanged.
- the extractions of manganese, calcium and magnesium were 17.9%, 2.84% (or 46 ppm) and 0.16% (or 82 ppm), respectively, for the Versatic 10 alone system while the extractions of manganese, calcium and magnesium were 87.3% , 2.41% (or 39 ppm) and 0.05% (or 26 ppm), respectively, for the Versatic / LIX63 system. This indicates that the selectivity of Versatic 10 for manganese over magnesium and calcium was very greatly improved.
- Example 7 Stripping kinetics with Versatic 10 / LIX63 system.
- the stripping kinetics of the manganese in the loaded 0.5 M Versatic 10 / 0.2 M LIX63 system were determined using a strip solution containing 60 g/L Mn and 35 g/L sulphuric acid and graphed in Fig. 9. As shown, the stripping kinetics of manganese were fast. Within 0.5 minutes, the system almost reached equilibrium with manganese extraction of 99%.
- the leach solution contains manganese and cobalt, as well as the impurity elements calcium and magnesium, but little or no copper, zinc or nickel.
- a suitable solution composition for this flow sheet may comprise Co > 200 ppm, Mn > 1 g/L, Ca ⁇ 50 g/L (Ca will be ⁇ 1 g/L in sulphate solutions) , Mg ⁇ 100 g/L, Cu, Zn and Ni ⁇ 100 ppm (or of no economic value) . It is noted that the flow sheet is not limited to such leach solutions, and the leach solutions may comprise different levels of the given elements , optionally together with further impurity elements .
- This leach solution is one that may have been subjected to preliminary neutralisation with limestone at pH 4.5 - 5.0 to precipitate impurity elements Fe (III), Al, Si and Cr .
- an organic solution of carboxylic acid (Versatic 10) , a hydroxyoxime (LIX 63) and a stabilizer (Ionol) in organic diluent Shellsol 2046 is contacted with the leach solution at pH 6 - 6.5 to obtain (a) an aqueous raffinate containing magnesium and calcium, and (b) a loaded organic solution containing almost all of the cobalt and manganese, and only minor levels of calcium and magnesium.
- the organic solution from the extraction step is subjected to scrubbing at pH 5.5 - 6 using a sulphate solution containing a small amount of manganese from the next step of stripping 1, resulting in (a) a scrubbed organic solution containing cobalt and manganese, and (b) a scrub liquor which is recycled to the synergistic solvent extraction step .
- the scrubbed organic solution is subjected to stripping 1 (selective strip) using a sulphuric acid solution at pH between 4.0 - 5.0 resulting in (a) a loaded strip liquor containing manganese, and (b) a stripped organic solution containing mainly cobalt and only a very small amount of manganese .
- the loaded strip liquor is sent to manganese recovery, with one stream returning to the previous scrubbing stage .
- SSX ST2 The scrubbed organic solution is subjected to stripping 2 using sulphuric acid solution at pH between 2.0 - 2.5.
- the cobalt recovered in this stripping stage is optionally subjected to zinc/copper/nickel ion exchange to enable removal of any zinc, copper and nickel impurities present.
- the zinc, copper and nickel is disposed of, and the cobalt is sent to cobalt recovery by any process known in the art.
- One example is cobalt precipitation using base or sulphide .
- Example 9 Process for separation and recovery of cobalt from leach solutions .
- An alternative solvent extraction process flow sheet was formulated for the recovery of cobalt from leach solutions containing impurity elements manganese, calcium and magnesium, with little or no copper, zinc or nickel.
- This flow sheet is shown in Figure 11.
- a typical solution composition for which this flow sheet could be applicable comprises Co > 200 ppm, Mn ⁇ 100 g/L, Ca ⁇ 100 g/L (Ca will be ⁇ 1 g/L in sulphate solutions) , Mg ⁇ 100 g/L, Cu, Zn and Ni ⁇ 100 ppm (or of no economic value) .
- this solution composition are possible.
- the plant leach solution (PLS) is adjusted to a pH between 4.0 - 5.0 and subjected to the synergistic solvent extraction (SSX) described in relation to Example 8 above.
- the organic phase contains the cobalt (as well as zinc, copper and nickel to the extent that these are present) and a minor level of manganese.
- the aqueous raffinate contains magnesium, calcium and manganese.
- Scrubbing is conducted as described above in relation to Example 8, at pH 3.5 - 4.5, yielding (a) a scrubbed organic solution containing principally cobalt, but also zinc, copper, and nickel in very low quantities if present at all in the plant leach solution, and (b) a scrub liquor which is recycled to the original synergistic solvent extraction stage to maximize cobalt recovery.
- the organic phase of the scrubbing step contains cobalt, and possibly zinc, nickel and copper, which is then subjected to stripping with sulphuric acid at pH between 2.0 and 2.5.
- the loaded strip liquor is sent to cobalt recovery (with one stream returning to the previous scrubbing stage) , optionally via ion exchange, with the organic phase returned to the synergistic solvent extraction .
- Example 10 Process for Separation and Recovery of Cobalt, Copper and Zinc.
- Figure 12 details a process flow sheet which is a variation on that illustrated in Figure 11, and described in Example 9 above .
- the process of Figure 12 is suitable for recovering copper, cobalt and zinc from leach solutions that contain impurity elements manganese, calcium and magnesium, with little or no nickel .
- a solution composition to which this process may suitably be applied contains the following: Cu > 500 ppm, Co > 200 ppm, Zn > 500 ppm, Mn ⁇ 100 g/L, Ca ⁇ 100 g/L (Ca will be ⁇ 1 g/L in sulphate solutions) , Mg ⁇ 100 g/L and Ni ⁇ 100 ppm (or of no economic value) .
- the plant leach solution is subjected to copper solvent extraction and copper electrowinning.
- the leach solution containing reduced levels of copper, and all other elements, is then subjected to iron and aluminium precipitation (Fe/Al PPT) by neutralising the leach solution with limestone to a pH of between 4.0 - 5.0 to precipitate iron and aluminium.
- Fe/Al PPT iron and aluminium precipitation
- the leach solution is then subjected to the synergistic solvent extraction, scrubbing and stripping as described in relation to
- the aqueous phases collected from scrubbing and stripping contain cobalt, zinc and minor levels of copper, together with any levels of nickel which may be present.
- the aqueous liquor is subjected to zinc solvent extraction to remove zinc therefrom for recovery. Thereafter, the cobalt (and nickel and copper) containing solution is subjected to nickel and copper ion exchange to enable nickel and copper removal and disposal. Thereafter, the cobalt is recovered.
- Example 11 Process for separation and recovery of manganese from leach solution .
- a new solvent extraction process flow sheet was developed for recovering manganese from leach solutions that contain the impurity elements calcium and magnesium, with little or no copper, zinc, cobalt or nickel. This is set out in Figure 13.
- a typical solution composition which may be subjected to this process may comprise Mn > 1 g/L; Ca ⁇ 50 g/L (Ca will be ⁇ 1 g/L in sulphate solutions) ; Mg ⁇ 100 g/L; Cu, Zn, Co and Ni ⁇ 100 ppm (or of no economic value) . Of course, variations in this solution composition are envisaged.
- the leach solution which may have been subjected to preliminary processing steps, is subjected to synergistic solvent extraction with the Versatic 10 / LIX 63 / Ionol synergistic system, with the aqueous phase adjusted to a pH between 6.0 - 7.0.
- the aqueous ra finate contains calcium and magnesium, and the organic phase contains manganese, with minor levels of calcium of magnesium.
- the organic phase is subjected to scrubbing using a scrub solution at pH between 6.0 - 6.5.
- the scrub solution is a stream of the manganese sulphate solution generated in a subsequent stripping stage.
- the organic phase from the scrubbing stage containing manganese is sent to stripping, and the aqueous scrub liquor is recycled to the synergistic solvent extraction stage.
- Example 12 Effect of stabilizer (Ionol) on degradation of hydroxyoxime (LIX63) in Versatic 10 / LIX63 system.
- This example shows how addition of an anti-oxidant stabilizer (Ionol) slows the rate of degradation of the hydroxyoxime LIX63 in the Versatic 10 / LIX63 extraction system.
- An organic extractant solution 25 mL containing 0.4M LIX63 and 0.5M Versatic 10 in Shellsol D70 diluant was loaded with a synthetic leach solution (50 mL) containing 0.5 g/L Ca, 9 g/L Na, 24 g/1 Mg, 45 g/L Mn, 0.2 g/L Co, 1 g/L Zn and 0.15 g/L Cu, at pH 4.5 and left to stand in a water bath at 25°C.
- a synthetic leach solution 50 mL
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Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
CA002554438A CA2554438A1 (en) | 2004-01-28 | 2005-01-28 | Solvent extraction process for separating cobalt and/or manganese from impurities in leach solutions |
US10/587,648 US20080038168A1 (en) | 2004-01-28 | 2005-01-28 | Solvent Extraction Process For Separating Cobalt And/Or Manganese From Impurities In Leach Solutions |
AU2005209326A AU2005209326B2 (en) | 2004-01-28 | 2005-01-28 | Solvent extraction process for separating cobalt and/or manganese from impurities in leach solutions |
AP2006003707A AP1851A (en) | 2004-01-28 | 2005-01-28 | Solvent extraction for seperating cobalt and/or mananese from impurities in leach solutions |
Applications Claiming Priority (6)
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AU2004900457A AU2004900457A0 (en) | 2004-01-28 | A novel process to recover nickel and cobalt from aqueous solutions by synergistic solvent extraction | |
AU2004900457 | 2004-01-28 | ||
AU2004904165 | 2004-07-27 | ||
AU2004904165A AU2004904165A0 (en) | 2004-07-27 | A solvent extraction process for separating cobalt and/or manganese from impurities in leach solutions | |
AU2004906242 | 2004-10-29 | ||
AU2004906242A AU2004906242A0 (en) | 2004-10-29 | Solvent extraction process for separating cobalt and/or manganese from impurities in leach solutions |
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WO2005073415A1 true WO2005073415A1 (en) | 2005-08-11 |
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PCT/AU2005/000088 WO2005073415A1 (en) | 2004-01-28 | 2005-01-28 | Solvent extraction process for separating cobalt and/or manganese from impurities in leach solutions |
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US (1) | US20080038168A1 (en) |
AU (1) | AU2005209326B2 (en) |
CA (1) | CA2554438A1 (en) |
WO (1) | WO2005073415A1 (en) |
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WO2013077168A1 (en) * | 2011-11-24 | 2013-05-30 | 国立大学法人九州大学 | Cobalt extractant and cobalt extraction method |
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JPWO2021215520A1 (en) * | 2020-04-23 | 2021-10-28 |
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WO2014091805A1 (en) * | 2012-12-12 | 2014-06-19 | 国立大学法人九州大学 | Nickel extraction method |
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JPWO2021215520A1 (en) * | 2020-04-23 | 2021-10-28 | ||
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JP7164763B2 (en) | 2020-04-23 | 2022-11-01 | Jx金属株式会社 | Method for producing mixed metal solution and method for producing mixed metal salt |
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Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
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CA2554438A1 (en) | 2005-08-11 |
US20080038168A1 (en) | 2008-02-14 |
AU2005209326B2 (en) | 2010-08-19 |
AU2005209326A1 (en) | 2005-08-11 |
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