Freeport Minerals Company

Michael O Nutt

Tadeusz K Wiewiorowski

Aqueous AlF.sub.3 enriched crystallization mother liquors contaminated with P.sub.2 O.sub.5 values and having less than 5% free acidity are treated with a material which provides bismuth ions in the mother liquor in amounts small enough to insure that the Bi/PO.sub.4 mole ratio remains below about 1.05. Under these conditions, the bismuth and P.sub.2 O.sub.5 react essentially quantitatively to form a BiPO.sub.4 precipitate by which the P.sub.2 O.sub.5 can be separated from the mother liquor. Bismuth can be regenerated from the BiPO.sub.4 and recycled for further use in the process.

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New Orleans, LA, United States of America

Michael O Nutt