12 results about "Lixiviant" patented technology

A method for recovering metals from waste materials includes steps of contacting a waste material feed stream with a first lixiviant adapted to leach copper and other base metals from the waste material feed stream and provide a treated waste material feed stream, recovering copper metal from the first lixiviant, contacting the treated waste material stream with a second lixiviant adapted to leach noble metals from the treated waste material feed stream and recovering gold from the second lixiviant.

A method of recovering copper from a feed material includes steps of: leaching the feed material with a lixiviant adapted to leach the copper from a feed material feed stream in a leaching circuit having a plurality of leaching vessels V1, Vn in series, establishing a countercurrent flow in the leaching circuit, simultaneously grinding the feed material in the feed material feed stream during the leaching in at least one of the plurality of leaching vessels and recovering the copper from the lixiviant.

A method for operating a system for in-situ mining in a rock formation in an area of interest includes: receiving a lixiviant at a first well extending downward, injecting the lixiviant into a permeable layer of the rock formation via the first well to dissolve a target material to form a solution containing the lixiviant and the target material, and applying an electric field to at least one of the lixiviant or the solution by the first well as a first electrode and a second well as a second electrode, receiving the solution via the second well extending downward, and pumping the solution, via the second well, to a processing plant to separate the target material from the lixiviant, wherein one or both of the injecting the lixiviant or the applying the electric field are changed according to a timing sequence during an operational period of the in-situ mining.

The present disclosure is directed to a process for recovering copper and cobalt from copper and cobalt-containing sulfide ores and concentrates, particularly relatively low grade cobalt bearing sulfide ores and concentrates. The process comprising floating a material comprising non-sulfide gangue minerals and copper-containing sulfidic minerals, cobalt-containing sulfidic minerals, and iron pyrite; contacting a lixiviant with a separated portion to form a pregnant leach solution comprising ferric iron and sulfuric acid and at least most of the copper and cobalt in the sulfidic minerals; treating the pregnant leach solution, by ion exchange and / or solvent extraction to form a rich solution comprising at least most of the copper and a raffinate, removing at least most of the copper and ferric iron to form a purified raffinate, and recovering at least most of the cobalt.

Systems and methods for horizontal wells for in-situ mining are provided. A system for in-situ mining includes: an injection well including: a first vertical portion (VP) extending downward from a ground surface, the first VP receiving a lixiviant, and a first horizontal portion (HP) connected to the first VP and extending horizontally through the ground, the first HP receiving the lixiviant from the first VP, and injecting the lixiviant into the ground to dissolve a target material forming a solution, and a production well including: a second HP extending horizontally parallel to the first HP through the ground, the second HP receiving the solution from the first HP, and a second VP connected to the second HP and extending upward to the ground surface, the second VP: receiving the solution from the second HP, and pumping the solution to a processing plant to separate the target material from the lixiviant.

A method for operating a system for in-situ mining in a rock formation in an area of interest includes: receiving a lixiviant at a first well extending downward, injecting the lixiviant into a permeable layer of the rock formation via the first well to dissolve a target material to form a solution containing the lixiviant and the target material, and applying an electric field to at least one of the lixiviant or the solution by the first well as a first electrode and a second well as a second electrode, receiving the solution via the second well extending downward, and pumping the solution, via the second well, to a processing plant to separate the target material from the lixiviant, wherein one or both of the injecting the lixiviant or the applying the electric field are changed according to a timing sequence during an operational period of the in-situ mining.

The present invention proposes a method for extracting silver from refractory silver-bearing rhodochrosite ore, comprising the following steps: crushing and finely grinding the silver-bearing rhodochrosite ore, followed by mineral phase reconstitution with an acid and a chloride additive to obtain slurry 1; subjecting slurry 1 to solid-liquid separation to obtain a filtrate and a residue; subjecting the residue to a leaching reaction with a lixiviant to obtain slurry 2; subjecting slurry 2 to solid-liquid separation to obtain a silver-containing leachate and a leaching residue; and adding a reducing agent to the silver-containing leachate to carry out a displacement reaction to obtain a silver concentrate containing metallic silver. The present invention utilizes mineral phase reconstitution to disrupt the crystal structure of the iron-manganese carbonate mineral, exposing the encapsulated silver, increasing the contact area with the lixiviant, promoting ion diffusion, and ultimately achieving efficient silver leaching, significantly improving the silver leaching rate.

The present invention provides a method for recovering rare earths from fine-particle sedimentary claystone-type rare earth ore, belonging to the field of rare earth processing technology. The method comprises the following steps: first, crushing and grinding the fine-particle sedimentary claystone-type rare earth ore, mixing it with a calcining agent, and calcining it to obtain a calcined rare earth ore; then, leaching the rare earths from the calcined rare earth ore with a lixiviant to obtain a rare earth-rich mother liquor; then, precipitating and removing impurities from the rare earth-rich mother liquor to obtain an aluminum-rich precipitate and a decontaminated rare earth-rich mother liquor; finally, precipitating rare earths from the decontaminated rare earth-rich mother liquor to obtain a rare earth-rich precipitate, which is then calcined to obtain mixed rare earth oxides. This method provides a complete process flow from raw rare earth ore to rare earth oxide products, resulting in high-purity rare earth oxide products.

A method of recovering a metal, the method comprising: physically processing the material; curing the material; contacting the material with an alkali and / or oxidizing agent; contacting the material with a lixiviant to form a pregnant leach solution; and separating the metal from the pregnant leach solution. The method may further comprise agglomerating the material. The alkali may comprise a carbonate, sodium hydroxide, or a combination thereof. The method may further comprise regenerating the sodium hydroxide. The metal may be a precious metal.

The present invention provides an electrolytic recovery apparatus for electrolytically recovering antimony from a solution containing antimony, the electrolytic recovery apparatus comprising: an electrolytic cell configured to accommodate the solution; at least one cathode disposed within the electrolytic cell; at least one anode disposed within the electrolytic cell; and at least one diaphragm separating a cathode-side region including the at least one cathode from an anode-side region including the at least one anode. The present invention also provides a method for electrolytically recovering antimony, the method comprising: (A) a leaching step of leaching an antimony-containing raw material with a lixiviant to produce a leachate containing antimony; and (B) an electrolysis step of introducing the leachate into the aforementioned electrolytic recovery apparatus to electrodeposit antimony.

Systems and methods for horizontal wells for in-situ mining are provided. A system for in-situ mining includes: an injection well including: a first vertical portion (VP) extending downward from a ground surface, the first VP receiving a lixiviant, and a first horizontal portion (HP) connected to the first VP and extending horizontally through the ground, the first HP receiving the lixiviant from the first VP, and injecting the lixiviant into the ground to dissolve a target material forming a solution, and a production well including: a second HP extending horizontally parallel to the first HP through the ground, the second HP receiving the solution from the first HP, and a second VP connected to the second HP and extending upward to the ground surface, the second VP: receiving the solution from the second HP, and pumping the solution to a processing plant to separate the target material from the lixiviant.

A method for reducing copper from Cu(II) to Cu(I) comprises the step of reacting an Fe(II) reducing agent with Cu(II) in basic conditions. The method may be carried out in basic solution, for example ammoniacal solution. The method has particularly utility in the context of solutions which have been produced by the selective leaching of copper over other metals from elemental copper-containing mixtures into basic lixiviants and, in particular, into ammoniacal lixiviants.