Leaching of Wolframite-Cassiterite Concentrate for

Brannerite Removal
911metallurgist.com/leaching-wolframite-cassiterite-concentrate-brannerite-removal/

Jorge February 18, 2019

Climax recovers a heavy mineral concentrate by passing the rougher tailings from
molybdenite flotation over Humphrey spirals. This concentrate is floated using xanthate
at pH 4 to remove sulfides, principally pyrite. The tails from the pyrite float are then
cleaned of quartz, feldspar and light minerals by tabling. Amine flotation follows at pH
1.5 and 75°C to float monazite. The present circuit at Climax dries the monazite flotation
tailings and utilizes high intensity cross-belt magnetic separation to generate a high
grade wolframite concentrate and a low-grade cassiterite product, both of which are
contaminated with the mineral brannerite. (UO, TiO, UO2)TiO3.

Electron probe examination shows that neither the wolframite nor the cassiterite are
associated with uranium mineralization; uranium occurs almost entirely as liberated
particles of brannerite. Manganese and iron are associated not only with the wolframite,
but with each other as high manganese steel carried over from the crushing and
grinding circuit.

Important variables in the sulfuric acid leaching of brannerite are particle size,
temperature, quantity of sulfuric acid and oxidant added, type of oxidant, percent
solids, and leaching time. Grinding of the monazite tails was not advisable, because it
would adversely affect subsequent magnetic separation of wolframite from cassiterite.
Leach temperature was limited to 70°C to avoid deterioration of the rubber liners on
tanks and impellers.
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Leaching at 70° C with 310 lb H2SO4/ton extracted uranium more than four times as
fast as did leaching at 50°C using either NaClO3 or MnO2 as an oxidant. The high
apparent activation energy indicates that diffusion through a liquid boundary layer is
not rate controlling.

The acid leach medium must not be too strong; very high proton concentration inhibits
the oxidation of U(IV) to U(VI). At 45 percent solids, acid concentration was never
strong enough to hinder U3O8 dissolution; the more acid added, the more U3O8
extracted. Addition of increasing quantities of either NaClO3 or MnO2 to a sulfuric acid
leach of monazite flotation tailings results in increasingly effective U3O8 solubilization.

If either NaClO3 or MnO2 is to be an effective oxidant for U(IV), at least 0.5 g/l iron
should be present in the solution. Ferric iron is the active species in this oxidation
process. The more refractory the uranium ore, the more important it becomes to leach
at high Fe /Fe ratios. Climax monazite flotation tailings contain 2% metallic iron which
dissolves during the fifteen minutes after the acid is added, before NaClO3 addition.

There was concern that leaching might impair the magnetic separation of the
wolframite from the cassiterite. Monazite flotation tailings were batch leached for
brannerite removal, dried, and passed through the rougher section of the Climax Mill
cross-belt separation circuit as in present plant practice. Results showed that leaching
prior to magnetic separation improved both WO3 grade (71 vs 67%) and WO3 recovery
(98 vs 95%) however, the SnO2 assay of the concentrate rose from 0.5 to 1.1 percent.

Since acid chlorate leaching meets the product criteria and does not interfere with
subsequent magnetic separation, a plant was built to handle 8 TPD solids at 56% WO3.
The pregnant liquor will be sold to a local uranium processor.

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