METHOD OF PROCESSING UNDERWATER IRON-MANGANESE ORES Russian patent published in 2002 - IPC

FIELD: hydrometallurgy of nonferrous metals. SUBSTANCE: method of processing iron-manganese ores containing other nonferrous metals involves crushing, leaching of nonferrous metals and manganese with sulfuric acid solution of sulfur dioxide, and successive precipitation from leaching solution of copper, nickel-cobalt, and manganese concentrates. Precipitation of copper concentrate is effected by adding manganese metal powder to solution at Mn/Cu ratio 1.7:3.4 and pH 1.5- 2.5. Precipitation of nickel-cobalt concentrate is effected by adding manganese metal and sulfur powders to solution at Mn/(Ni+Co) ratio 1.3: 2.8 and S/(Ni+Co) ratio 1.0:1.8, at pH 2.0-5.0. Precipitation of manganese concentrate is performed with aqueous ammonia and ammonium carbonate solution at pH 7.0-10.0. Solution remaining after manganese concentrate precipitation is processed to recover ammonium carbonate. Method enables processing underwater different- makeup manganese ores with high recovery of nonferrous metals avoiding involvement of high-temperature and autoclave processes. Principal reagents are regenerated or reused as commercial products, which results in reduction of their consumption. Nonferrous metal concentrates are appropriate for further processing utilizing standard techniques. Manganese concentrates are characterized by high manganese (nearly 60%) and low phosphorus (less than 0.01%) levels and are suitable for smelting of all types of ferroalloys. EFFECT: enhanced process efficiency. 2 tbl