Leaching of nickel and iron from Greek non-sulphide nickeliferous ores by organic acids (EN)

Tzeferis, PG (EN)

Agatzini-Leonardou, S (EN)

Several organic acids were tested and compared for their ability to solubilise nickel and iron from Greek laterite ores. The results were also compared with sulphuric acid leaching under the same conditions. Citric acid proved to be the most effective organic acid for nickel extraction, achieving recoveries up to 60%. In some instances, citric acid gave as high nickel yields as equimolar sulphuric acid under the same leaching conditions but with slower kinetics. It was, however, found that at specific low pH values, adjusted by the addition of sulphuric acid, the citric acid resulted in higher nickel recoveries than sulphuric acid of the same free acid concentration; the better performance was attributed to its strong chelating action under those conditions. Oxalic acid displayed remarkable selectivity in iron extraction, releasing more than 60% of it, but it could hardly dissolve any nickel. Lactic, formic, acetic and salicylic acids were relatively ineffective compared with sulphuric acid. Considerable variability in nickel and iron recoveries was observed when leaching with different laterite ores, due to their different mineralogical analyses. © 1994. (EN)

journalArticle (EN)

Laterite (EN)

Extractive metallurgy (EN)

Iron (EN)

pH effects (EN)

Dissolution (EN)

Leaching (EN)

Organic acids (EN)

Citric acid (EN)

Sulfuric acid (EN)

Ores (EN)

Oxalic acid (EN)

Organic Acid (EN)

Reaction kinetics (EN)

Chelation (EN)

Nickel (EN)

Metal recovery (EN)

Nickeliferous ores (EN)

Acetic acid (EN)

National Technical University of Athens

Digital Library of National Technical University of Athens | Dspace@NTUA

Κεντρική Βιβλιοθήκη Ε.Μ.Π.

Ιδρυματικό Αποθετήριο

Δημοσιεύσεις μελών Δ.Ε.Π. σε περιοδικά

Hydrometallurgy (EN)

1994 (EN)

http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/11265

10.1016/0304-386X(94)90031-0 (EN)

36 (EN)

3 (EN)

345 (EN)

0304386X (EN)

360 (EN)