Synopsis
The U.S. Bureau of Mines investigated an alternative process to smelting for the production of lead metal. The process eliminates sulfur dioxide generation and minimizes particulate lead emissions. The process involves ferric chloride leaching of galena concentrate to produce lead chloride, followed by molten-salt electrolysis of the lead chloride to yield lead metal and chlorine. The chlorine is used to regenerate ferric chloride in the leaching solution.
The process was tested on both a bench scale and a larger scale which had a capacity of 225 kg of lead metal per day. The large-scale leaching and electrolysis tests were performed in three 10-day and six 5-day campaigns, during a period spanning 28 mo. The study was carried out using a southeastern Missouri lead concentrate. Typical lead recovery was 98%. Process problems related to impurity buildup and control were studied. When copper and silver impurities were removed from the leaching solution, lead metal purity increased to 99.999%. Lead-in-air levels and lead-in-blood levels of operating personnel were monitored.
Large-scale electrolysis tests were performed in a 3,000-A cell with horizontal, flat plate electrodes. Electrolysis proved to be the most expensive step in the process because the energy requirement in the large cell was 1.32 kw·h/kg. Subsequently, the cell was operated with a more efficient electrode design, and the energy requirement was decreased to 0.66 kw·h/kg.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Dutrizac, J. E. The Chloride Processing of Lead Concentrates. CANMET Division Report MRP/MSL 84 41, 1984, 44 pp.
Dutrizac, J. E. MINTEK 50, L. F. Haughton, ed., Johannesburg, S.A., vol. 1, 1985, pp. 39–62.
Murphy, J. E., Haver, F. P., and Wong, M. M. Recovery of Lead From Galena by a Leach-Electrolysis Procedure. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 7913, 1974, 8 pp.
Haver, F. P., and Wong, M. M. Ferric Chloride-Brine Leaching of Galena Concentrate. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 8105, 1976, 17 pp.
Wong, M. M., Sandberg, R. G., Elges, C. H., and Fleck, D. C. Integrated Operation of Ferric Chloride Leaching, Molten Salt Electrolysis Process for Production of Lead. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 8770, 1983, 21 pp.
James, S. E., and Bounds, C. O. High Purity Lead From the Ferric Chloride Leaching of Complex Sulfides. Complex Sulfide Processing of Ores, Concentrates and By-products, ed. by A. D. Zunkel, R. S. Boorman, A. E. Morris, and R. J. Wesely, Metallurgical Society of AIME, 1985, pp. 441–453.
Demarthe, J. M., and Georgeaux, A. Hydrometallurgical Treatment of Lead Concentrates. Lead-Zinc-Tin’80, ed. by J. M. Cigan, T. S. Mackey, and T. J. O’Keefe, TMS-AIME, Warrendale, Pennsylvania, 1979, pp. 426–444.
Craigen, W. J. S., and Schnarr, J. R. Economic Incentives for the Production of Bulk Base Metal Sulfide Concentrates. CANMET Division Report MRP/MSL 85–130, 1985, 13 pp.
Haver, F. P., Elges, C. H., Bixby, D. L., and Wong, M. M. Recovery of Lead From Lead Chloride by Fused-Salt Electrolysis. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 8166, 1976, 18 pp.
Phillips, T. A. Economic Evaluation of a Leach-Electrolysis Process for Recovering Lead From Galena. Bureau of Mines Information Circular 8773, 1978, 23 pp.
Murphy, J. E., Eichbaum, B. R., and Eisele, J. A. Continuous Ferric Chloride Leaching of Galena. Mineral and Metallurgical Processing, vol. 3, No. 2, Feb. 1985, pp. 38–42.
Murphy, J. E., Chambers, M. F., and Eisele, J. A. Molten-Salt Electrolysis of Lead Chloride in a 3,000-Ampere Cell With an Improved Electrode Design. Paper in Molten Salts, ed. by M.-L. Saboungi, D. S. Newman, K. Johnson, and D. Inman, Electrochemical Society, 1985, 612 pp.
Dutrizac, J. E. Sulfate Control in Chloride Leaching Processes. Hydrometallurgy, vol. 23, 1989, pp. 1–22.
Herve, B. P., Eichbaum, B. R., Murphy, J. E., and Sandberg, R. G. Sulfur Extraction From Elemental Sulfur-Bearing Materials. Bureau of Mines Open File Report No. 93–85, 1985, 7 pp.
Carnahan, T. G., and Lucas, M. A. Weathering of a Base-Metal Sulfide Leaching Residue. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 8667, 1982, 11 pp.
Levin, E. M., Robbins, C. R., and McMurdie, H. F. Phase Diagrams for Ceramists, 1969 Supplement. American Ceramic Society, Columbus, Ohio, 1969, p. 332 (fig. 3254).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1990 The Institution of Mining and Metallurgy
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Murphy, J.E., Wong, M.M. (1990). Lead production from high-grade galena concentrates by ferric chloride leaching and molten-salt electrolysis. In: Gray, P.M.J., Bowyer, G.J., Castle, J.F., Vaughan, D.J., Warner, N.A. (eds) Sulphide deposits—their origin and processing. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0809-3_18
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0809-3_18
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-6851-2
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-0809-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive