Cobalt and copper recovery from the ancient flotation tailings by selective sulfation roast - leaching process

The ancient flotation tailings from Lefke, Cyprus, have a potential for non-ferrous metals such as cobalt and copper from more than 9.5 million tons of reserves containing 0.38% Cu, 0.032% Co, and 22.6% Fe. Recovery of cobalt and copper from these tailings can provide great benefits from economic an...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ozer M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Belgrade, Technical Faculty, Bor 2019-01-01
Series:Journal of Mining and Metallurgy. Section B: Metallurgy
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/1450-5339/2019/1450-53391900043O.pdf
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832572697216811008
author Ozer M.
author_facet Ozer M.
author_sort Ozer M.
collection DOAJ
description The ancient flotation tailings from Lefke, Cyprus, have a potential for non-ferrous metals such as cobalt and copper from more than 9.5 million tons of reserves containing 0.38% Cu, 0.032% Co, and 22.6% Fe. Recovery of cobalt and copper from these tailings can provide great benefits from economic and environmental perspectives. While the ancient tailings were kept long time in storage in dumps, the characteristics of the material has become different from the common Co and Cu bearing ores. In order to extract these valuable metals, a process involving combination of roasting and leaching was applied in this study. Since this process responded to recovery to some extent, an innovative technique of using Na2SO4 as a promoter during roasting was proposed. Utilizing of Na2SO4 did not provide only higher metal extractions, but also resulted in high selectivity. In the scope of the study, following the determination of the mineralogy and chemical composition of the tailings, certain processes such as direct leaching and sulfation roasting with/without additives before leaching were applied. Since low metal extractions were obtained from direct leaching, a selective sulfation process was applied on the tailings before leaching in order to produce a pregnant solution containing higher amounts of Co and Cu metals by reducing the iron concentration. When sulfation roasting was performed without any additive, the desired selectivity could not be provided, since the sample was considerably oxidized under the atmospheric conditions in the past. Therefore, the usage of Na2SO4 as an additive with the amount of 25% at a roasting temperature of 700єC was tested. Consequently, Na2SO4 improved the sulfation and resulted in higher cobalt (90.1%) and copper (71.2%) recovery during leaching. Beside this, an improvement with a selective sulfation was obtained by combined effect of Na2SO4 addition and temperature, and the iron extraction decreased from 26.1% to 3.9%.
format Article
id doaj-art-89347f3b1d14432497939427de7de971
institution Kabale University
issn 1450-5339
2217-7175
language English
publishDate 2019-01-01
publisher University of Belgrade, Technical Faculty, Bor
record_format Article
series Journal of Mining and Metallurgy. Section B: Metallurgy
spelling doaj-art-89347f3b1d14432497939427de7de9712025-02-02T08:34:57ZengUniversity of Belgrade, Technical Faculty, BorJournal of Mining and Metallurgy. Section B: Metallurgy1450-53392217-71752019-01-0155331532410.2298/JMMB190304043O1450-53391900043OCobalt and copper recovery from the ancient flotation tailings by selective sulfation roast - leaching processOzer M.0Istanbul Technical University, Mining Faculty, Mineral Processing Engineering Department, Maslak, IstanbulThe ancient flotation tailings from Lefke, Cyprus, have a potential for non-ferrous metals such as cobalt and copper from more than 9.5 million tons of reserves containing 0.38% Cu, 0.032% Co, and 22.6% Fe. Recovery of cobalt and copper from these tailings can provide great benefits from economic and environmental perspectives. While the ancient tailings were kept long time in storage in dumps, the characteristics of the material has become different from the common Co and Cu bearing ores. In order to extract these valuable metals, a process involving combination of roasting and leaching was applied in this study. Since this process responded to recovery to some extent, an innovative technique of using Na2SO4 as a promoter during roasting was proposed. Utilizing of Na2SO4 did not provide only higher metal extractions, but also resulted in high selectivity. In the scope of the study, following the determination of the mineralogy and chemical composition of the tailings, certain processes such as direct leaching and sulfation roasting with/without additives before leaching were applied. Since low metal extractions were obtained from direct leaching, a selective sulfation process was applied on the tailings before leaching in order to produce a pregnant solution containing higher amounts of Co and Cu metals by reducing the iron concentration. When sulfation roasting was performed without any additive, the desired selectivity could not be provided, since the sample was considerably oxidized under the atmospheric conditions in the past. Therefore, the usage of Na2SO4 as an additive with the amount of 25% at a roasting temperature of 700єC was tested. Consequently, Na2SO4 improved the sulfation and resulted in higher cobalt (90.1%) and copper (71.2%) recovery during leaching. Beside this, an improvement with a selective sulfation was obtained by combined effect of Na2SO4 addition and temperature, and the iron extraction decreased from 26.1% to 3.9%.http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/1450-5339/2019/1450-53391900043O.pdfflotation tailingscobaltcopperroastingselective sulfationsodium sulfate
spellingShingle Ozer M.
Cobalt and copper recovery from the ancient flotation tailings by selective sulfation roast - leaching process
Journal of Mining and Metallurgy. Section B: Metallurgy
flotation tailings
cobalt
copper
roasting
selective sulfation
sodium sulfate
title Cobalt and copper recovery from the ancient flotation tailings by selective sulfation roast - leaching process
title_full Cobalt and copper recovery from the ancient flotation tailings by selective sulfation roast - leaching process
title_fullStr Cobalt and copper recovery from the ancient flotation tailings by selective sulfation roast - leaching process
title_full_unstemmed Cobalt and copper recovery from the ancient flotation tailings by selective sulfation roast - leaching process
title_short Cobalt and copper recovery from the ancient flotation tailings by selective sulfation roast - leaching process
title_sort cobalt and copper recovery from the ancient flotation tailings by selective sulfation roast leaching process
topic flotation tailings
cobalt
copper
roasting
selective sulfation
sodium sulfate
url http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/1450-5339/2019/1450-53391900043O.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT ozerm cobaltandcopperrecoveryfromtheancientflotationtailingsbyselectivesulfationroastleachingprocess