Amax Incorporated

Phillip K Davis

Richard A Ronzio

Robert C Ziegler

Helen S Leaver

Henry Freiser

An organic liquid extractant of at least one oxime, selected from the group consisting of ketoximes and .alpha.-hydroxyoximes dissolved in an organic solvent, useful in separating nickel from cobalt in process solutions or in recovering both nickel and cobalt from process solutions, is treated with a salt of hydroxylamine at intervals to maintain the activity of the oxime in the extractant. The organic extractant can also contain sulfonic acids to facilitate treatment of more acid process solutions and is treated with a hydroxylamine salt to regenerate oxime degraded by the highly acid process solutions, the extractant itself and the concentrated acidic stripping solutions.

Regeneration of organic extractants containing .alpha.-hydroxyoximes

A process for producing a high purity ammonium heptamolybdate and/or ammonium dimolybdate product by which a particulated molybdenum oxide concentrate is purified to remove contaminating metal cations, whereafter it is leached with an ammoniacal leach solution to extract the molybdenum trioxide constituent therein as soluble ammonium molybdate compounds. The resultant ammoniacal leach solution is thereafter concentrated at an elevated temperature, whereafter at least a portion thereof is adjusted to provide an ammonia-to-molybdenum trioxide mol ratio ranging from about 0.86:1 to about 1.25:1, and the adjusted solution thereafter is cooled to effect a precipitation of ammonium heptamolybdate crystals which are separated and recovered, and the balance of the cooled solution is recirculated for admixture with additional ammoniacal leach solution. A portion of the concentrated ammoniacal leach solution can be further concentrated by evaporation to effect crystallization of ammonium dimolybdate which is separated and recovered.

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Boise, ID, United States of America

Phillip K Davis