Chloride assisted hydrometallurgical extraction of metal
AssigneeCominco Engineering Services Ltd.
InventorDavid L. Jones
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Abstract
A process for the extraction of a metal from an ore or concentrate comprises subjecting the ore or concentrate to pressure oxidation in the presence of oxygen and an acidic solution containing halogen ions and a source of bisulphate or sulphate ions, such as H.sub.2 SO.sub.4. The metals which can be extracted by the process comprises copper as well as non-cuprous metals such as zinc, nickel and cobalt. During pressure oxidation the metal may be precipitated as an insoluble basic salt, such as basic copper sulphate, or substantially completely solubilized and precipitated later as the basic metal salt.
Claims18
A process for the extraction of a non-cuprous metal from a metal ore or concentrate, comprising the step of subjecting the ore or concentrate to pressure oxidation in the presence of oxygen and an acidic solution containing halogen ions and a source of bisulphate or sulphate ions to form a solution of said non-cuprous metal, wherein said source of bisulphate or sulphate ions is selected from the group consisting of sulphuric acid and a metal sulphate which hydrolizes in said acidic solution.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.