Amax Incorporated

John D Bruno

Dale K Huggins

Eddie C Chou

John M Laferty, Jr

Helen S Leaver

Ben W Wiegers

Nickel and cobalt contained in aqueous sulfate solution are separately recovered by counter-current solvent extraction using a cobalt-selective organic extractant while scaling of equipment and cobalt recycle are minimized by controlling aqueous pH at the extraction, scrubbing and stripping stages to maximize cobalt loading and selectivity of the extractant while loading scale-causing ions such as calcium and magnesium in the extractant and removing them from the circuit with the aqueous cobalt strip solution.

Solvent extraction of cobalt (II) from sulfate solutions with cobalt

A hydrometallurgical process is provided for the recovery of molybdenum values from a molybdenum disulfide concentrate containing copper. The process comprises forming an aqueous slurry of finely divided molybdenum concentrate of carbonates and hydroxides of alkali metals, and pressure leaching the slurry in the presence of oxygen at an elevated temperature and pressure for a time sufficient to effect conversion of the contained molybdenum values to alkali metal molybdate and provide a residue containing copper oxide or basic copper carbonate from which copper is later recovered. The molybdenum values are recovered from solution by solvent extraction and the solvent thereafter stripped of the molybdenum as ammonium molybdenum using ammonium hydroxide. The molybdenum is recovered as crystals of ammonium molybdate by crystallization, e.g., by evaporating the stripping solution.

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Golden, CO, United States of America

John D Bruno