Outokumpu Oy

Lars-Goran Bjorkqvist

Jussi K Rastas

Kauko J Karpale

Jens R Nyberg

Raija-Leena Gisler

Simo S Liukkonen

Zinc, copper and cadmium are recovered from their ferrites by subjecting the ferrites to a sulfuric acid bearing solution in the presence of potassium, sodium or ammonium ions under atmospheric conditions at 80.degree.-105.degree. C. to precipitate the iron present in the ferrites as jarosite, separating at least a portion of the jarosite-bearing solid material from the solution before recycling the solution to a neutral leach, from which a copper and cadmium bearing solution is recovered and to which acid and calcine are also fed, feeding the solid obtained from the neutral leach to the said ferrite treatment stage classifying the solid obtained from the neutral leach into a finer and coarser fraction, feeding the finer fraction to the ferrite treatment stage, comminuting the coarser fraction by grinding, leaching or milling and recycling the comminuted fraction to the process.

Process for the recovery of zinc, copper and cadmium in the leaching of

A hydrometallurgical process for the treatment of a raw material which contains oxides and ferrites of zinc, copper and cadmium is disclosed, wherein the raw material is neutral leached by means of a sulfuric-acid-bearing solution to leach the oxides without substantial dissolving of the ferrites, a ferrite-bearing residue is separated, and a sulfuric-acid-bearing or ferrisulfate-bearing solution is mixed with the residue in order to leach the ferrite and to precipitate the iron in the form of jarosite in the presence of alkali or ammonium ions under atmospheric conditions at 80.degree.-105.degree. C., and the solid phase is separated from the solution. The sulfuric-acid-bearing or ferrisulfate-bearing solution is added to the ferrite-bearing residue in such an amount that approximately 50-60% of the ferrite dissolves and its iron is precipitated as jarosite, and the slurry of the solid phase is treated at such elevated pressure and temperature that the zinc of the solid phase is converted to zinc sulfate and the iron to hematite in accordance with the following reaction:

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Espoo, Finland

Lars-Goran Bjorkqvist