A Sustainable Low-Temperature Roasting and Water Leaching Process for Simultaneously Extracting Mn, Cu, Co, and Ni from Ocean Manganese Nodules

Ocean manganese nodules are rich in Mn, and also contain the strategic metals Cu, Co, and Ni. In this study, a sustainable low-temperature roasting and water leaching process for simultaneously extracting Mn, Cu, Co, and Ni from ocean manganese nodules was proposed. The results show that the primary...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of sustainable metallurgy Vol. 8; no. 4; pp. 1948 - 1960
Main Authors Ju, Jinrong, Feng, Yali, Li, Haoran, Ma, Ruiyu, Wang, Ben
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cham Springer International Publishing 01.12.2022
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Ammonium sulfate
Copper
Earth and Environmental Science
Environment
Leaching
Low temperature
Manganese nodules
Metal sulfates
Metallic Materials
Nickel
Nodules
Research Article
Roasting
Sulfation
Sustainable Development
Valuable metals
Water leaching
Mineral phase conversion
Ocean manganese nodules
Ammonium sulfate roasting
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Summary:Ocean manganese nodules are rich in Mn, and also contain the strategic metals Cu, Co, and Ni. In this study, a sustainable low-temperature roasting and water leaching process for simultaneously extracting Mn, Cu, Co, and Ni from ocean manganese nodules was proposed. The results show that the primary mineral phase of iron-manganese oxides in the ocean manganese nodules reacted with ammonium sulfate during the roasting process, converting it to (NH 4 ) 2 Mn 2 (SO 4 ) 3 , MnSO 4 , and NH 4 Fe(SO 4 ) 2 . As the primary mineral phase was destroyed, Cu, Co, and Ni dispersed in the other host minerals could be released to react with ammonium sulfate and form metal sulfates. The sulfation reaction was completed at the roasting temperature of 380 ℃, the mass ratio of ammonium sulfate to ocean manganese nodules of 1.25:1, and the roasting time of 90 min. The roasted slag was then leached with pure water and the leaching efficiencies for Mn, Cu, Co, and Ni reached 95.87%, 83.53%, 75.02%, and 87.04% under the liquid-to-solid ratio of 5:1, the leaching temperature of 40 ℃, and leaching time of 30 min. The ammonium sulfate roasting-water leaching technology is a promising process, and the roasting temperature of 380 ℃ is much lower than that of pyrometallurgical techniques proposed in other studies, resulting in significant energy savings for the process. Graphical Abstract
ISSN:2199-3823
2199-3831
DOI:10.1007/s40831-022-00623-8