Recovery of valuable metals from lepidolite by atmosphere leaching and kinetics on dissolution of lithium

The lepidolite located in Yichun, Jiangxi Province, China, was adopted to investigate the recovery of alkali metals and leaching kinetics of lithium with sulphuric acid solution under atmospheric pressure. The results show that the recoveries of alkali metals were achieved under the leaching conditions: mass ratio of lepidolite with particle size less than 180 μm to sulphuric acid 1.2, leaching temperature 411 K, liquid-solid ratio 2.5∶1, and leaching time 10 h. Under the selected conditions for leaching experiment, the leaching rates of lithium, potassium, rubidium and caesium are 94.18%, 93.70%, 91.81% and 89.22%, respectively. The X-ray diffraction analysis for leaching residue indicates that no insoluble product forms during leaching. The chemical compositions of leaching residue reveal that trace iron, manganese and calcium disappear after acid leaching. The kinetics of leaching process for lithium follows shrinking core model of mixed control and the apparent activation energy is 17.21 kJ/mol. The reaction orders with respect to sulphuric acid concentration and liquid-solid ratio are determined to be 2.85 and 1.66, respectively. A semi-empirical rate equation was obtained to describe the leaching process. The kinetic analysis shows that the leaching process is controlled by diffusion through the insoluble layer of the associated minerals.

Low-temperature phase transitions of sodium aluminate solutions

A series of low-temperature phase transitions of sodium aluminate solutions were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Raman spectroscopy. The results indicate that NaOH concentration is a primary impact factor for the binary eutectic point and ice melting temperature of sodium aluminate solutions with low NaOH concentration. In addition, the phase transition process of sodium aluminate solutions with low NaOH concentration from 123.15 to 283.15 K is divided into four steps: non-crystal to crystal, ternary eutectic reaction, binary eutectic reaction and ice melt. The projection phase diagram of NaOH-Al(OH)3-H2O system at low temperature was plotted, in which the ternary eutectic temperature for sodium aluminate solutions is 183.15 K.

Removal of Metallic Impurities from Off-Grade Copper Concentrate in Alkaline Solution

The removal of metallic impurities from off-grade copper concentrate was investigated in alkaline solution with H2O2. The analysis results of XRD and SEM-EDS revealed the oxidative mechanisms of all sulfides. The influence of various parameters of alkaline leaching were investigated including concentrations of sodium hydroxide and hydrogen peroxide, liquid to solid ratio, leaching time and temperature. The results showed that the removal rate of Mo, As and Zn were increased with increasing leaching time and H2O2 concentration, and that the removal rate of Mo, As and Zn were firstly increased and then slightly decreased with increasing liquid to solid ratio, temperature and NaOH concentration, respectively. More than 95% Mo, 94% As, and 94 % Zn are removed from the off-grade concentrate under the optimum conditions, while only 1.7% Cu is dissolved. These optimum conditions were sodium hydroxide 1.5 mol/L, hydrogen peroxide 1.0 mol/L, temperature 50°C, liquid to solid ratio 5/1 mL/g and leaching time 5 h.