Recovery of nickel and cobalt from laterite leach solutions using direct solvent extraction: Part 1 — selection of a synergistic SX system

The separation of nickel and cobalt from impurities such as manganese, magnesium and calcium using solvent extraction with Versatic 10 was largely improved by the addition of a synergistic reagent LIX63 (an α-hydroxyoxime) or 4PC (a pyridine carboxylate ester). With the organic systems containing Versatic 10 alone, the separation factors of nickel and cobalt over manganese were 6 and 15 respectively. When 4PC was added to the system, these increased to 147 and 1870 respectively, and with LIX63, they were even higher at 534 and 7720 respectively. This indicates that the synergistic solvent extraction (SSX) system with Versatic 10 and LIX63 performed very well and better than that with Versatic 10 and 4PC.The SSX system consisting of 0.5 M Versatic 10, 0.45 M LIX63 and 1.0 M TBP in Shellsol D70 performed the best among the systems tested containing LIX63. After a single contact, the extraction of Ni and Co was 99.6% and 96.9%, respectively. Only 6 mg/L Mn, 8 mg/L Mg and 1 mg/L Ca were found in the loaded organic solution. The manganese scrub efficiency was 97.7% at pH 5.3, resulting in a scrubbed organic solution containing only 0.8 mg/L Mn. Over 99% nickel, cobalt and manganese were stripped at pH 2.0, indicating easy stripping of these metals.The SSX system consisting of 0.5 M Versatic 10 and 1.0 M 4PC in Shellsol D70 performed the best among the systems tested containing 4PC. After a single contact, the extraction of Ni and Co was 99.4% and 89.4%, respectively. Some 200 mg/L Mn, 10 mg/L Mg and 48 mg/L Ca were found in the loaded organic solution. The manganese could not be scrubbed at the tested pH range of 5.4-6.0. Very fast Ni and fast Co stripping kinetics were observed, however, the Mn stripping kinetics were very slow. After 2 min of stripping, only 1.22% Mn was stripped.It is concluded that the SSX system containing 0.5 M Versatic 10, 0.45 M LIX63 and 1.0 M TBP performed much better than the SSX system containing 0.5 M Versatic 10 and 1.0 M 4PC in terms of both manganese and calcium behaviour in extraction, scrubbing and stripping.