Decomposition of scheelite concentrate with hydrochloric acid

Salt Disintegration of White Tungsten Ore

White tungsten ore is a type of tungsten ore containing large amounts of wolframite. As the name suggests, its white color mainly comes from its abundant quartz content, and the main ore of tungsten minerals are wolframite and scheelite. In the production technology of tungsten concentrate, the dissolution of this ore is the key step. At present, the commonly used salt or acid decomposition method for the extraction of white tungsten ore has certain advantages and disadvantages.

Salt dissolution technology has always been one of the main ways for tungsten ore extraction. The process of salt dissolution mainly includes two steps. First, the ore is crushed and screened. Then add quartz sand, ordinary salt and HCL mixture into the drum and stir. The content of the salt solution is generally 6 to 7%. This process can remove SIO2 and CaO impurities in the ore. After the salt solution is processed, the tungsten ore mud is obtained, so as to enrich the tungsten concentrate.

In the production process of white tungsten ore, the leaching efficiency of dissolution salt has the biggest influence on the recovery rate of tungsten concentrate. Generally speaking, for that the recovery rate can reach more than 90%, the leaching efficiency was over 95%. The theoretical analysis shows that the leaching efficiency of salt is higher than that of acid when treating WO containing germanium arsenic compounds.

However, in the dissolution of white tungsten ore, salt dissolution has certain disadvantages. During the process of salt leaching, the material is easy to agglomerate, and the particle size of the leached material is also required to be controlled. And this process consumes a lot of salt, so it is necessary to clarify and dehydrate the salt solution repeatedly.

In addition, the impurities of WO are very sensitive to salt. In the process of leaching, the dissolved impurities will corrode the equipment and pipes, resulting in the shortening of service life of equipment and some of the risk of malfunction. The treatment of low-grade ore also requires a lot of salt and dilute acid, which increases the cost of tungsten ore extraction.

Salt dissolution is an effective and convenient method for tungsten ore extraction. It has high leaching efficiency and simple equipment process, which can effectively and quickly dissolve the tungsten from the ore. The method has obvious advantages in handling some special properties of the ore and extracting tungsten concentrate under certain process conditions. In the actual production process, the attention should be paid to the controlling the impurities in the ore and adjusting the process parameters properly to ensure the leaching efficiency, so that the extraction of tungsten concentrate can be more effective and efficient.

White Tungsten Ore Acid Leaching

Tungsten ore extraction is commonly conducted in acid leaching, while alkaline leaching is rarely used. Acid leaching is the most widely used leaching method because of the low cost and good leaching results. White tungsten ore, which typically consists of scheelite (CaWO4) in non-ferrous metal ore, is usually leached using hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid and/or potassium hydroxide as a leaching agent.

First, the tungsten ore must be crushed and milled into very fine particles (about 0.1 millimete or less) for efficient leaching. The ore is then mixed with the acid or alkaline leaching agent, heated and stirred for several hours in a leaching vessel. The leaching agent and the ore particles react with each other, while the valuable minerals remain unchanged. During the reaction, the acid or alkaline components are gradually consumed, producing insoluble tungsten compounds. The insoluble compounds are then removed and the remaining solution, containing soluble compounds of tungsten and other minerals, is passed through a filter to separate the ore particles from the solution. The tungsten containing liquid is then collected in a storage tank for further processing.

In the second stage of leaching, the remaining tungsten compound, generally in the form of a sulfate or oxide, is dissolved from the insoluble material in a separate leaching vessel. This compound is then purified and crystallized to generate a pure tungsten sulfide or oxide, depending on the type of ore and leaching agent used. The leaching process can be repeated to achieve a higher degree of purity. Once the product is sufficiently pure, it can be sold to specialized companies who refine it into tungsten bars and other products.

White tungsten ore acid leaching is an efficient and cost-effective method of extracting tungsten ore. By combining the proper leaching agents, temperatures and process times, high purity tungsten compounds can be produced with minimal waste generation. This important ore extraction process helps to supply various industries with the necessary tungsten raw materials for a wide range of products.