Solubility of ammonium paratungstate in aqueous diammonium phosphate and ammonia solution and its implications for a scheelite leaching process

Scheelite could be digested with an aqueous diammonium phosphate and ammonia solution in an autoclave. However, unexpected ammonium paratungstate (APT) crystallisation and tungstophosphoric acid formation occasionally occurred. In order to provide a theoretical basis for the scheelite leaching process, the solubility of APT in solution was determined by the isothermal solution equilibrium method. The effects of initial ammonia and diammonium phosphate concentration as well as temperature on APT solubility and tungstophosphoric acid formation were investigated. Results showed that APT solubility increased with increasing ammonia concentration, diammonium phosphate concentration and temperature, while tungstophosphoric acid concentration in the leaching solution increased with decreasing ammonia concentration and increasing diammonium phosphate concentration. In order to verify the effects of these factors on the leaching of scheelite, scheelite digestion experiments using diammonium phosphate and ammonia solution were also carried out.