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Cations stress on low-grade nickel sulfide ore oxidation leaching

阳离子胁迫下低品位硫化镍矿的氧化浸出行为

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Abstract

The effects of cations stress of magnesium ion and sodium ion on the low-grade nickel sulfide ore oxidative leaching in simulated sulfuric acid solutions were investigated. This study was performed in two courses, including the effect of the cations on the valuable metals leaching efficiencies of the nickel ore and its influences on the electrochemical oxidation behavior of the nickel ore. The leaching results present that parts of magnesium-containing gangues and ferrous sulfide are preferentially dissolved into lixivium, and the leaching efficiencies of Ni and Cu decreased much related to the leached concentrations of Mg2+ increased. The results of electrochemical measurements show that the oxidation leaching of the low-grade nickel sulfide ore is controlled by the intermediates oxidative diffusion. Mg2+, as well as Na+, affects the transformations of the Fe3+/Fe2+ couple and sulfur-containing species, and those cations are apt to be attracted by the anions and directionally adhere to the negative active site of the metal sulfide surface, causing an increase in the electrochemical activities, which facilitates the electron transfer between the ore and leaching mediums. By comparative study of the role of Mg2+ and Na+, it is found that Mg2+ negatively affects the oxidative diffusion of the intermediates through promoting the generation of a compact film, which lowers the metals leached efficiencies, and the unfavorable effect of Na+ tends to be the coupled effect of the leached Mg2+ and Fe3+.

摘要

本文模拟研究了镁离子和钠离子胁迫对低品位硫化镍矿氧化浸出的影响. 主要研究阳离子对有价值金属的浸出效率的影响以及含镍硫化矿石的电化学氧化行为. 浸出试验结果表明, 部分含镁脉石和含亚铁硫化物会优先溶解在浸出液中, 浸出过程中 Ni 和 Cu 的浸出效率下降与 Mg2+ 的浸出浓度增加相关性较大. 电化学研究结果表明, 低品位硫化镍矿的氧化浸出受中间产物氧化扩散的控制. Mg2+ 和 Na+ 影响 Fe3+ /Fe2+ 电对和含硫物质的转化, 这些阳离子易受硫化矿物表面阴离子吸引并定向粘附在金属硫化物表面荷负电的活性位点, 从而增加界面电子转移的电化学活性, 促进矿石与浸出介质之间的电子转移. 通过比较 Mg2+ 和 Na+ 的作用, 发现 Mg2+ 通过促成致密钝化膜的形成, 降低了金属矿物的浸出效率, 对反应中间产物的氧化扩散不利, 而 Na+ 的不利影响往往是与优先被浸出的 Mg2+ 和 Fe3+ 协同作用引起.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ENFI Research Institute, China ENFI Engineering Co., Beijing, 100038, China

    Jin-xing Kang  (康金星), Xin Wang  (王鑫), Ya-yun Wang  (王亚运), Zhao-bo Liu  (刘召波), Guo-qiang Han  (韩国强), Zhi-guo Liu  (刘志国) & Chuan-long Wang  (王传龙)

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  1. Jin-xing Kang  (康金星)
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Contributions

KANG Jin-xing, WANG Xin and WANG Ya-yun provided the methodology, conducted the tests, wrote original draft, and revised and edited the manuscript. LIU Zhao-bo and HAN Guo-qiang revised the manuscript, and provided financial support. WANG Chuan-long, and LIU Zhi-Guo revised and edited the manuscript. All authors replied to reviewers’ comments and revised the final version.

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Correspondence to Jin-xing Kang  (康金星).

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Projects (2019M650972, 2017M621034) supported by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation

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Kang, Jx., Wang, X., Wang, Yy. et al. Cations stress on low-grade nickel sulfide ore oxidation leaching. J. Cent. South Univ. 27, 3278–3289 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11771-020-4546-0

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