Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department

Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering

Suez University

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1 22 March 2020
Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

Leaching (or Lixiviation)

Seldom is an ore directly brought in contact with a reacting
solution, the ore has to be first crushed and ground to suitable
fineness.

This increases the surface area of particles and, therefore, the

reaction rate.

In some cases, some preliminary chemical treatments may be

necessary.

For example, some sulphide ores are rendered soluble through

oxidizing or chloridizing roasting. 2
Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

Roasting of zinc sulphide may be written as:

ZnS (s) + 3/2 O2 (g) = ZnO(s) + SO2 (g)

ZnS (s) + 2 O2 (g) = ZnSO4(s) + SO4 (s)

ZnO and ZnSO4 are easily dissolved by sulphuric acid.

The following is an example of chloridizing roasting.

MgO (s) + C (s) + Cl2 (g) = MgC12 (s) + CO (g)

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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

The leaching reagent should be inexpensive and it should be

possible to regenerate it.

For economical operation, it is also necessary that the reagent

should be selective and of sufficient strength.

It should dissolve the ore minerals rapidly without attacking

the gangue minerals and thus being consumed unnecessarily.

The choice of a leaching agent depends on the following

factors.
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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

1- Chemical and physical character of the material to be

leached

2- Cost of the reagent

3- Corroding action of the reagent and the materials of

construction required

4- Selectivity of the leaching agent for the desired constituent

to be leached

5- Ability to be regenerated.
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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

Selectivity of the reagent and its cost are most important

factors.

Selectivity of the agent toward a particular mineral in an ore

depends on several factors including concentration of the
leaching agent, temperature and contact time.

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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

Leaching Reagents
The common categories of leaching reagents are as follows.

Water: Some compounds, e.g., CuSO4, ZnSO4, most

compounds of alkali metals (Na, K, Li,….) dissolve in water
readily.

Heating always accelerates leaching. Some poor grade copper

sulphide ores transform slowly into water soluble sulphate
under atmospheric condition and can be recovered by simple
leaching.
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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

In commercial practice, however, plain water is rarely

employed as a solvent.

Acids: Mineral acids, chiefly sulphuric acid, are the most

common leaching reagents.

Minerals are attacked more strongly when acids are hot and
concentrated.

The action of sulphuric acid is often sufficiently strong to

make fine grinding unnecessary. 8
Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

Acid leaching has one special advantage if the metal is

subsequently recovered by electrolysis.

During electrolysis, the acid consumed in leaching is

regenerated.

Bases: Several bases, viz. NaOH solution or NH4OH, are

routinely employed in many leaching operations.
While bauxite is leached by hot concentrated NaOH solution
under pressure, ammonia solution is used in the leaching of
native copper, copper ores, NiS and Cu2S.
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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

The leaching reactions may be represented by the following

equations:

A12O3 (s) + NaOH (aq.) = 2NaA1O2 (aq.) + H2O (aq.)

Cu2(OH)2 CO3 (s) + (NH4)2 CO3 (aq.) + 6NH4OH (aq.) =

2Cu(NH3)4 CO3 (aq.) + 8H2O (aq.)

NiS (s) + 2O2 (g) + 6NH4OH (aq.) = Ni(NH3)6 SO4 (aq.) +

H2O (aq.) 10
Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

Aqueous salt solutions: The most important example of a

salt solution as a leachant is seen in the dissolution of gold
during its extraction from veins in silica rocks and other ore
bodies.

Gold is dissolved by a solution of NaCN. The reaction is:

4Au(s) + 8NaCn (aq.) + O2 (g) + 2H2O (aq.) = 4NaAu

(CN)2 (aq.) + NaOH (aq.)
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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

There are some other types of leaching reactions where

minerals are dissolved only partially.

For example, when CaWO4 is leached by carbonates, there is

an exchange of radical which leads to the formation of a new
insoluble solid phase (CaCO3), but tungsten is taken into
solution.

CaWO4 (s) +CO32-(aq.) = CaCO3 (s) + WO42- (aq.)

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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

Some leaching reactions are aided by addition of secondary

reagents which help dissolution through oxidation or reduction
reactions.

Two examples are as follows :

Oxidation:
CuS (s) + 2Fe3+ (aq.) = Cu2+ (aq.) + 2Fe2+ (aq.) + S (s)

Reduction:
MnO2 (s) + SO2 (g) = Mn2+ (aq.) + SO42- (aq.) 13
Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

In most cases, the valuable minerals are taken into solution by

leaching.

However, there may also be processes where the gangue

minerals are first leached out leaving the valuable metals in
the solid residue which, after separation, are leached again.

Thus during alkali leaching of monazite (a complex phosphate

ore of thorium and which also contains uranium and rare
earths), the gangue minerals are leached out first.
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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

The solid residues left contain the metallic values.

Preparatory grinding for leaching is generally carried out in

presence of water to minimize dust losses.

The resulting product is called pulp with composition usually

varying from 40 to 70 percent solids.

Very effective leaching is often carried out by agitating pulp

with the leaching agent.
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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

In small leaching tanks, agitation is done by mechanically

driven paddles.

For larger scale agitation leaching, compressed air is used in

special tanks.

These tanks, called Pachuca vats may be 4 m in dia. and 15 m

high with a conical bottom and are made of wood or rubber
lined steel.

In such a tank, the compressed air is introduced through a

central vertical tube. 16
Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

Schematic diagram
of Pachuka tank

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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

A concentric central vertical tube, open at both ends, is also

provided to cause circulation of material up the tube and down
the outer annular space to keep solids in suspension.

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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

Leaching techniques
There are several variations in the actual leaching techniques
adopted for commercial exploitation of ore deposits.

In situ leaching employs water circulation through actual ore

bodies and collects the solution.

Heap leaching places ore above ground level in large heaps

which are left exposed to atmospheric moisture, natural rain or
water sprays. 19
Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

The solution formed percolates through the ore.

More common techniques employ leaching in tanks.

In Vat (or percolation leaching), the ore is placed in a tank

equipped with a false bottom covered with a filtering medium.

The solvent percolates through the ore bed.

Tanks may have a capacity of upto 10000 tonnes and are

usually arranged so that a counter current system is employed.
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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

The type of leaching depends upon:

• The chemical properties and concentration of the solvent.

• The structure and physicochemical properties of the solid.
• The solubility of the compounds of the leached substance
under the given conditions.

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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

In-situ leaching
In-situ leaching is also called "solution mining".

The process initially involves drilling of holes into the ore

deposit .

Explosives or hydraulic fracturing are used to create open

pathways within the deposit for solution to penetrate into .

Leaching solution is pumped into the deposit where it makes

contact with the ore .
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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

The solution is then collected and processed .

The Beverley uranium deposit is an example of in-situ

leaching.

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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University In-situ leaching

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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

In-situ leaching 25
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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

In-situ leaching
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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

In-situ leaching
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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

In-situ leaching
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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

Heap leaching
In heap leaching processes, crushed (and sometimes
agglomerated) ore is piled in a heap which is lined with an
impervious layer .

Leach solution is sprayed over the top of the heap, and

allowed to percolate downward through the heap .

The heap design usually incorporates collection sumps which

allow the "pregnant" leach solution (i.e. solution with
dissolved valuable metals) to be pumped for further
processing. 29
Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University
Heap leaching

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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University
Heap leaching

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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

Heap leaching 33
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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

Heap leaching 34
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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

Heap leaching 35
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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

Heap leaching 36
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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

Vat or percolation leaching

Vat leaching involves contacting material, which has usually
undergone size reduction and classification, with leach
solution in large tanks or vats .

Often the vats are equipped with agitators to keep the solids in
suspension in the vats and improve the solid to liquid contact .

After vat leaching, the leached solids and pregnant solution are
usually separated prior to further processing
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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University
Vat leaching

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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University
Vat leaching

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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016
 Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering
Suez University

THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION

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Hydrometallurgy, 3rd Year Students, WS 2015/2016