Journal
MINERALS
Volume 12, Issue 1, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/min12010084
Keywords
precipitants; iron precipitation; zinc concentrate; oxidation
Funding
- INNOVA CORFO Project [15VEIID45774]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Autoclave leaching of zinc concentrate is an environmentally friendly process. Ca(OH)(2) is recommended as a reagent for iron removal and high zinc recovery.
Autoclave leaching of zinc concentrate (Sphalerite) is an environmentally friendly process compared to roasting, which discharges pollutants into the atmosphere. Due to the amount of iron in the final product, a study is proposed to evaluate different reagents for eliminating iron from the autoclave outcome, minimizing Zn losses. The colloid formation, zinc losses, iron removal, phase separation stage characteristics (sedimentation and filtering), and reagent costs were used to evaluate six-iron precipitating reagents: CaO, Na2CO3, CaCO3, NaOH, MgO, and Ca(OH)(2). CaO shows 99.5% iron removal and 87% zinc recovery. Although CaO was one of the reagents with significant zinc recovery, it presented operational difficulties in the filtration stage due to the high viscosity of the mixtures. Finally, Ca(OH)(2) is the reagent recommended due to its ease of use, zinc yield recovery, electrowinning efficiency, and iron precipitate filtration rate. Zinc recovery was above 80%, while the iron concentration in the solution was below 50 ppm.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available