Production of nickel–cobalt concentrate in rhenium-containing refractory alloy processing

Abstract

The results of electrochemical processing of the ZhS32-VI refractory alloy implemented in a galvanostatic mode in the nitric acid electrolyte are described. Experiments on the electrochemical dissolution of the same alloy in the galvanostatic mode using a nitric acid solution with a concentration of 100 g/L at various current densities are carried out. It is shown that its constituent components separate quantitatively: refractory metals such as niobium, tantalum, molybdenum, and tungsten concentrate in the anodic slime, while partially cobalt and rhenium, as well as most of the aluminum, chromium, and nickel, transfer into the electrolyte. The functional process diagram for processing of the ZhS32-VI alloy is proposed, in which the formation and separation of the main mass of nickel and cobalt are performed at the first stage with the formation of the metallic Ni–Co-containing sediment.