Back to results
US 11,142,809 B2Granted
Systems and processes for recovering scandium values from laterite ores
AssigneeScandium International Mining Corporation
InventorWillem P. C. Duyvesteyn
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method is provided for extracting scandium values from a scandium bearing laterite ore. The method includes providing a portion of a scandium bearing laterite ore having an average particle size of no more than 200 mesh, leaching the ore to produce a leachate, and recovering scandium values from the leachate.
Claims27
A method for extracting scandium values from a scandium bearing laterite ore, comprising:
- providing a portion of a scandium bearing laterite ore having an average particle size of no more than 200 mesh;
- leaching the ore, thereby producing a leachate, wherein leaching the ore involves subjecting the ore to high pressure acid leaching (HPAL) with an acid, and further comprising forming a slurry out of the ore prior to leaching the ore;
- and
- recovering scandium values from the leachate;
- wherein the method further comprises performing, during the HPAL process, the steps of
- (a) periodically determining an in situ concentration of the acid during the HPAL process, and
- (b) reducing the in situ concentration of the acid when the determined concentration exceeds 100 g/L.
4 more elements
A method for extracting scandium values from a scandium bearing laterite ore, comprising:
- (a) providing a scandium-bearing laterite ore having an average particle size of no more than 200 mesh;
- (b) forming a slurry out of the ore;
- (c) leaching scandium from the ore, thereby generating a scandium bearing leachate;
- (d) recovering scandium values from the scandium bearing leachate, thereby producing a scandium bearing leachate and an acidic raffinate;
- and
- (e) using the acidic raffinate from a first iteration of steps (b)-(c) to form the slurry out of the ground ore in a second iteration of steps (b)-(c).
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.