Alloy treatment method

Abstract

The present invention pertains to an alloy treatment method for obtaining a solution containing nickel and/or cobalt from alloys containing nickel and/or cobalt and copper, such as waste lithium-ion batteries, the method comprising: a leaching step S1 in which an acid solution is added to the alloys in the presence of a sulfurizing agent to perform a leaching treatment and obtain a leachate and a leaching residue; and a cementation step S2 in which a reducing agent and a sulfurizing agent are added to the resulting leachate to perform a copper-removal treatment for sulfurizing at least copper contained in the leachate and obtain a post-copper removal solution and a copper-removed residue, wherein the copper-removed residue obtained through the copper-removal treatment in the cementation step S2 is repeatedly subjected to the leaching step S1 and subjected to a leaching treatment together with the alloys.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.