Bioleaching Process for Copper Extraction from Waste in Alkaline and Acid Medium

Flotation wastes are becoming a valuable secondary raw material and source of many metals and semimetals worldwide with the possibilities of industrial recycling. The flotation tailings contain oxide and sulfide minerals that have not been sufficiently stabilized and form acidic mine waters, which in turn contaminate groundwater, rivers, and reservoi6sediments. An effective way to recycle these mine wastes is to recover the metals through leaching. While the focus is on acid bioleaching by iron- and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria, alkaline leaching, and the removal of iron-containing surface coatings on sulfide minerals contribute significantly to the overall environmental efficiency of leaching. For this study, static and percolate bioleaching of copper from flotation waste at the Bor copper mine in Serbia was investigated in alkaline and then acidic environments. The aim of the study was to verify the effect of alkaline pH and nutrient stimulation on the bioleaching process and element extraction. A sample was taken from a mine waste site, which was characterized by XRF analyses. The concentration of leached copper was increased when copper oxide minerals dissolved during alkaline bioleaching. The highest copper yield during alkaline bioleaching was achieved after 9 days and reached 67%. The addition of nutrients in acidic medium enhanced the degradation of sulfide minerals and increased Cu recovery to 74%, while Fe and Ag recoveries were not significantly affected. Combined bioleaching with alkaline media and iron- and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria in acidic media should be a good reference for ecological Cu recovery from copper oxide and sulfide wastes.

Recycling REEs from the Waste Products of Silius Mine (SE Sardinia, Italy): A Preliminary Study

The present research represents an approach toward the recycling of extractive waste inspired by circular economy and sustainability that is developed in accordance with Goal 12 of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals. A new procedure for the recovery of REEs from fluorite–barite–galena ores with calcite gangue from the Silius mine (Sardinia, Italy) is presented. The considered samples are waste materials of Silius mineralization, collected in the old processing plant of Assemini (near Cagliari). In this orebody, REE minerals consist of prevailing synchysite (a REE-bearing fluorocarbonate) and subordinate xenotime-Y (a Y-bearing phosphate). REE fluorocarbonates are extracted using 50% K2CO3 as the leaching solution, at 100 °C. Using a solution (mL)/sample (g) ratio of 25, about 10% of the total REE content of the considered sample is extracted within 1 h. At the laboratory scale, such alkaline leaching of REE from the waste materials allows the recovery of the CO2 produced as K2CO3 from concentrated KOH, in accordance with a circular flow. Further work is ongoing to scale up the process into a pilot plant, to prove that the method developed within this research can be economically feasible, socially suitable, and environmentally respectful.

Alkaline leaching of titanium from ilmenite of Irshansk deposit

X-ray spectral studies of the chemical composition of Irshansk ilmenite concentrates showed that it is leukoxenized mineral with a high (up to 79%) content of titanium oxide and inclusions of pseudorutile. The process of alkaline leaching of Ti4+ from ilmenite is investigated in the work. The study of the temperature effect on the reaction of ilmenite with potassium hydroxide at atmospheric pressure revealed that a temperature of 453 K is sufficient to obtain potassium titanate. A further increase in temperature does not provide a significant increase in the yield of water-soluble titanium. It is found that the optimal and sufficient ratio between ilmenite and potassium hydroxide is 1:2. An increase in the amount of potassium hydroxide in the reaction mixture is unsuitable, since it reduces the yield of soluble titanium and the final product will have a high alkalinity due to the presence of alkali which did not react. The main process of leaching with the formation of solid melt is completed in the first 30 minutes of the process. Infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction showed that potassium titanate (K2TiO3) is formed under the studied conditions of alkaline leaching of ilmenite.

Two-Stage Continuous Process for the Extraction of Silica from Rice Husk Using Attrition Ball Milling and Alkaline Leaching Methods

A two-stage continuous process was developed for improved silica extraction from rice husk. The two-stage continuous process consists of attrition ball milling and alkaline leaching methods. To find the optimum conditions for the continuous process, the effects of alkaline leaching parameters, such as the alkaline solution type and reaction conditions, on the silica extraction yield were investigated in a batch process. The use of NaOH showed a slightly higher silica yield than KOH. The optimum reaction conditions were found to be 0.2 M, 80 °C, 3 h, and 6% (w/v) for the reaction concentration, temperature, duration time, and solid content, respectively. Attrition ball milling was used to make micron-sized rice husk particles and to improve the fluidity of the rice husk slurry. The two-stage continuous process was performed using optimum conditions as determined based on the results of the batch experiment. The two-stage continuous extraction was stably operated for 80 h with an 89% silica yield. During the operation, the solid content remained consistent at 6% (w/v). The obtained silica was characterized using inductively coupled plasma–optical emission spectrometry (ICP–OES), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) method.

PROCESSING OF ZAGLIK ALUNITE ORE BY HEAP AND TANK LEACHING

The present work is continuation of our investigations on heap leaching, suggested for the first time. Various variants of alkaline leaching of alunite from alunite ore without preliminary roasting have been studied. In present work the parameters of heap and tank alkaline leaching of alunite ore have been determined. The proposed methods can also be used to extract aluminum from poor alunite rocks. At alunite was washed 17 times with 3% NaOH solution, the degree of weight loss was 30.65%, while with 14 times washing with 10% alkali solution, the weight loss was 47.82 %. The results obtained are also typical for percolation leaching. An increase in alkali concentration and temperature intensifies the leaching process. At a ratio of solid and liquid phases of 1:5, a stirring speed of – 700 cycles/min, and an alkali concentration of 110.9 g/l, at 800C within 60 minutes’ alunite dissolves up to 96% and goes into solution with accompanying components