Rare Metals · 2014 · 20 citations · 10 references
Abstract A novel process of extracting niobium, yttrium, and cerium from a low‐grade niobium‐bearing ore by the roasting (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 ‐Na 2 SO 4 ‐H 2 SO 4 system was experimentally studied. The influences of various factors, such as roasting temperature, roasting time, mass ratio of agents‐to‐ore and particle size fraction on the extraction of valuable metals were comprehensively investigated. It is found that the roasting Na 2 SO 4 ‐H 2 SO 4 system is effective to extract the niobium, yttrium, and cerium. The obtained optimum conditions for the extraction of Nb, Y, and Ce are roasting temperature of 300 °C, roasting time of 3 h, mass ratio of Na 2 SO 4 :H 2 SO 4 :Ore of 0.5:1.0:1.0, and particle size fraction of −74 μm (~95 %). Under the optimum condition, the maximum recovery of Nb, Y, and Ce can reach 90.53 %, 92.15 %, and 98.04 %, respectively. All the results generated from this study will provide the fundamentals for Nb, Y, and Ce extraction from a niobium‐bearing ore with low‐grade.
10