Co-extraction and selective stripping of copper and nickel using LIX87QN

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 co-extraction 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 ∼ 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 3 removal, and selective stripping of nickel and copper. The percentage of extraction was ∼ 100 for both copper and nickel. The percentage of nickel stripping was 99.2 and that of copper was ∼ 100.