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Beneficiation of Niobium and Tantalum from Tantalite Ore Using Physical and Chemical Processes

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Emerging Trends in Chemical Sciences (ICPAC 2016)

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Abstract

The extraction of niobium and tantalum from two tantalum-niobium ore materials obtained from Mozambique, using a combination of magnetic separation, acid leaching, solvent extraction and ion exchange methods was investigated. One sample consisted mainly of manganotantalite while the other of ferrotantalite. The magnetic separation procedure removed 61.8(2)% Fe2O3 and 46.4(4)% TiO2 from the ferrotantalite and 8.9(3)% Fe2O3 and 8.8(7)% TiO2 from manganotantalite. H2SO4 leaching removed 62.3(6)% U3O8 and 61.1(3)% ThO2 from manganotantalite and 73.6(2)% U3O8 from ferrotantalite. Ammonium bifluoride dissolution and subsequent H2SO4 5-methyl-2-hexanone (MIAK) extraction proved to be the most efficient procedure for separation and isolation of a high purity tantalum oxide. The optimal conditions for Ta separation were 4.0 M H2SO4 aqueous solution and organic:aqueous ratio (O/A) = 1:1. Stripping was accomplished using double distilled water. Recoveries of 100.8(3)% Ta2O5 and 0.20(3)% Nb2O5 for manganotantalite, and 100.50(9)% Ta2O5 and 0.67(6)% Nb2O5 for ferrotantalite were obtained in the strip solutions. Nb was isolated from the mineral matrices using Dowex Marathon anion exchange resin. Recoveries of 100.2(4)% and 94.5(4)% Nb2O5 for manganotantalite and ferrotantalite samples respectively were obtained in the 6.0 M HCl elution, while the other elements were eluted with 4.0 M HCl. The entire process resulted in a total loss of approximately 13% for both Nb2O5 and Ta2O5 with approximately 96% purity for both metal oxides. Average recoveries of 97.8(7)% Ta2O5 and 1.4(6)% Nb2O5 were obtained in the Ta rich product while 0.8(4)% Ta2O5 and 94.4(5)% Nb2O5 were obtained in the Nb rich product.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Research Fund of the University of the Free State, the National Research Foundation of South Africa, Necsa and the New Metals Development Network (NMDN) of the Advanced Metals Initiative (AMI) of the Department of Science and Technology of South Africa (DST) for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, 9300, South Africa

    M. Nete & W. Purcell

  2. The South African Nuclear Energy Corporation SOC Ltd. (Necsa), P.O. Box 582, Pretoria, 0001, South Africa

    M. Nete

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  1. M. Nete
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  2. W. Purcell
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Correspondence to M. Nete .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Chem., Fac. of Science, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius

    Ponnadurai Ramasami

  2. Dept. of Chem., Fac. of Science, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius

    Minu Gupta Bhowon

  3. Dept. of Chem., Fac. of Science, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius

    Sabina Jhaumeer Laulloo

  4. Dept. of Chem., Fac. of Science, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius

    Henri Li Kam Wah

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Nete, M., Purcell, W. (2018). Beneficiation of Niobium and Tantalum from Tantalite Ore Using Physical and Chemical Processes. In: Ramasami, P., Gupta Bhowon, M., Jhaumeer Laulloo, S., Li Kam Wah, H. (eds) Emerging Trends in Chemical Sciences. ICPAC 2016. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60408-4_16

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