Abstract:
LIX87QN diluted with kerosene (mostly aliphatic) was used to co-extract copper and nickel from ammoniacal carbonate solutions. The influence of equilibrium pH and extractant concentration (in the organic phase) on coextraction has been studied. It was observed that nickel extraction is very sensitive to equilibrium pH and that the extraction falls sharply beyond an equilibrium pH of similar to 9. For a typical solution containing about 3 kg/m(3) each of copper and nickel and 60 kg/m(3) of ammonium carbonate, conditions were established for the co-extraction, NH, removal, and selective stripping of nickel and copper. The percentage of extraction was similar to 100 for both copper and nickel. The percentage of nickel stripping was 99.2 and that of copper was similar to 100.