Study of Conditions for the Associated Extraction of Vanadium and Gallium During Alkaline Leaching of Raw Alunite Ore

Abstract

Alunite ore containing a significant amount of aluminum, iron oxide, titanium dioxide, and other valuable components (Ga – 0.003 wt%, V – 0.0315 wt.%) is the main raw material for the production of alumina and promising raw material for the production of gallium and vanadium. This paper studies the dynamics of the distribution of gallium and vanadium in the liquid phase during the dissolution of raw alunite in an alkaline solution are studied. The results have showed that alkali concentration, leaching temperature, liquid-to-solid ratio have a significant effect on the degree of extraction of these elements from solution. It has been found that when raw alunite ore is leached with a 5% NaOH solution (S:L=1:6) for 2 hours, the degree of extraction of Ga and V is, respectively, 50.2 and 59.23% of their total content in the rock