Abstract
Gypsum is a waste product of the iron precipitation stage of cobalt purification in many cobalt extraction plants. Most cobalt producers either landfill the gypsum or sell it cheaply to cement manufacturers. The gypsum contains residual cobalt which can be extracted through sulphuric acid leaching but the cost of the sulphuric acid is prohibitive. Leaching using recycled acidic liquors like nickel eluate offers an economical alternative. This study investigated the technical feasibility of leaching gypsum with nickel eluate, which is an acidic waste stream from the nickel ion exchange plant at the specific cobalt producer. This study also established the optimum pH and solids concentration for nickel eluate leaching. Nickel eluate leaching tests and sulphuric acid leaching tests were conducted on a one-factor-at-a-time experimental design basis. pH and pulp densities were varied while temperature, time and agitation speed were kept constant. Cobalt recoveries from the two sets of tests were compared. In both cases the mean recoveries were ≥90%. Thus, on the basis of high cobalt recoveries, nickel eluate leaching of cobalt from gypsum is highly feasible despite a significant difference at the 5% level in cobalt recoveries from leaching with sulphuric acid. Optimum cobalt recoveries for both tests occurred at a pH of 0.5 and 50% solids. Nevertheless, it is advisable to leach at a pH of 1 and 30% solids to limit costs, corrosion of equipment and the toll on the agitators in the leaching tanks due to high pulp viscosity.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Gupta CK (2006) Chemical metallurgy principles and practice. Wiley, Mumbai
Ghosh A, Ray HS (1991) Principles of extractive metallurgy. New Age International, New York
Dutta SK, Lele AB, Chokshi YB (2018) Extractive metallurgy—processes and applications. PHI, Delhi
Baba AA, Adekola F, Toye EE et al (2009) Dissolution kinetics and leaching of rutile ore in hydrochloric acid. J Miner Mater Charact Eng 8:787–801
Gupta CK, Mukherjee TK (1990) Hydrometallurgy in extraction processes, vol II. CRC Press, Bombay
Ventor R, Boylett M (2009) The evaluation of various oxidants used in acid leaching of uranium. Hydrometallurgy Conf 2009:445–455
Meshram P, Abhilash Pandey BD et al (2016) Comparison of different reductants in leaching of spent lithium ion batteries. J Miner Met Mater Soc 68:2613–2623
Mwema MD, Mpoyo M, Kafumbila K (2002) Use of sulphur dioxide as reducing agent in cobalt leaching at Shituru hydrometallurgical plant. J S Afr Inst Min Metall 4:1–4
Wadsworth ME (1987) Leaching—metals applications. In: Rousseau RW (ed) Handbook of Separation Process Technology. Wiley, New York
Huang HH (2016) The Eh-pH diagram and its advances. Metals 6:23
Stuurman S, Ndlovu S, Sibanda V (2014) Comparing the extent of the dissolution of copper-cobalt ores from the DRC Region. J S Afr Inst Min Metall 114:347–353
Garcia EM, Santos JS, Pereira EC et al (2008) Electrodeposition of cobalt from spent Li-ion battery cathodes by the electrochemistry quartz crystal microbalance technique. J Power Sources 185:549–553
Othusitse N, Muzenda E (2015) Predictive models of leaching processes: a critical review. In: 7th international conference on latest trends in engineering & technology, Pretoria. http://dx.doi.org/10.15242/IIE.E1115039
Singer PC, Stumm W (1970) Acidic mine drainage: the rate-determining step. Science 167:1121–1123
de Andrade Lima LRP (2004) A mathematical model for isothermal heap and column leaching. Braz J Chem Eng 21:435–447
Razavi-Tousi S, Szpunar JA (2016) Modification of the shrinking core model for hydrogen generation by reaction of aluminum particles with water. Int J Hydrogen Energ 41:87–93
Sidborn M, Casas J, Martínez J et al (2003) Two-dimensional dynamic model of a copper sulphide ore bed. J Hydromet 71:67–81
Naderi H, Abdollahy M, Mostoufi N et al (2011) Kinetics of chemical leaching of chalcopyrite from low grade copper ore: behavior of different size fractions. Int J Miner Metall Mater 18:638–645
Takacova Z, Havlik T, Kukurugya F et al (2016) Cobalt and lithium recovery from active mass of spent Li-ion batteries: theoretical and experimental approach. Hydrometallurgy 163:9–17
Fan X, Xing W, Dong H et al (2013) Factors research on the influence of leaching rate of nickel and cobalt from waste superalloys with sulfuric acid. Int J Nonferr Metall 2:63–67
Çoruh S, Elevli S, Geyikçi F (2012) Statistical evaluation and optimization of factors affecting the leaching performance of copper flotation waste. Sci World J 2012:758719
Stopić S, Friedrich B, Anastasijević N (2003) Experimental design approach regarding kinetics of high pressure leaching processes. J Metall 9:273–282
Chen W, Ho H (2018) Recovery of valuable metals from lithium-ion batteries NMC cathode waste materials by hydrometallurgical methods. Metals 8:321
Zhang W, Cheng Y (2007) Manganese metallurgy review. Part I: leaching of ores/secondary materials and recovery of electrolytic/chemical manganese dioxide. Hydrometallurgy 89:137–159
Hannis S, Bide T, Minks A (2009) Cobalt. Brit Geol Sur. https://www.bgs.ac.uk/mineralsuk/statistics/mineralProfiles.html. Accessed 27 Sept 2018
Seo SY, Choi WS, Kim MJ et al (2012) Leaching of a Cu-Co ore from Congo using sulphuric acid and hydrogen peroxide leachants. J Min Metall Sect B 49:1–7
Wang Y, Zhou C (2002) Hydrometallurgical process for recovery of cobalt from zinc plant residue. Hydrometallurgy 63:225–234
Liu W, Rao S, Wang W et al (2015) Selective leaching of cobalt and iron from cobalt white alloy in sulfuric acid solution with catalyst. Int J Miner Process 141:8–14
Ma L, Nie Z, Xi X (2013) Cobalt recovery from cobalt-bearing waste in sulphuric and citric acid systems. Hydrometallurgy 136:1–7
Aaltonen M, Peng C, Wilson BP et al (2017) Leaching of metals from spent lithium-ion batteries. Recycling 2:20
Moradkhani D, Sedaghat B, Khodakarami M et al (2014) Recovery of valuable metals from zinc plant residue through separation between manganese and cobalt with N-N reagent. Physicochem Probl Miner Process 50:735–746
Klein B, Laskowski JS (2000) Rheological measurements on settling suspensions: characterization of a cyanide leach pulp. Miner Process Extr Metall Rev 20:41–55
Dalvi AD, Bacon WG, Osborne RC (2004) The past and the future of nickel laterites. PDAC 2004 International Convention. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.732.7854&rep=rep1&type=pdf. Accessed 20 Dec 2018
Flett DS (2004) Cobalt-nickel separation in hydrometallurgy: a review. Chem Sustain Dev 12:81–91
Azimi G, Papangelakis VG, Dutrizac JE (2007) Modelling of calcium sulphate solubility in concentrated multi-component sulphate solutions. Fluid Phase Equilibr 260:300–315
Lee JY, Kumar JR, Jeon HS et al (2013) Up-gradation of MoO3 and separation of copper, iron, zinc from roasted molybdenum ore by a leaching process. Braz J Chem Eng 30:391–397
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the University of Namibia’s Faculty of Engineering and IT for availing their lab facilities. We also appreciate the financial, technical and material support from personnel at the copper and cobalt producer.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Mwenya, C., Mashingaidze, M.M. (2019). Leaching of Cobalt from Gypsum Using Nickel Eluate. In: Ramasami, P., Gupta Bhowon, M., Jhaumeer Laulloo, S., Li Kam Wah, H. (eds) Chemistry for a Clean and Healthy Planet. ICPAC 2018. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20283-5_31
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20283-5_31
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-20282-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-20283-5
eBook Packages: Chemistry and Materials ScienceChemistry and Material Science (R0)