Electro-oxidation process for molybdenum concentrates

Sodium hypochlorite was used to treat the standard molybdenum concentrates; the oxidization conditions for sodium hypochlorite were investigated, and the electro-oxidation process was performed. The results indicate that in the suitable conditions, such as temperature around 25 degrees C, NaCl concentration 4.0 mol/L, mass ratio of ore slurry liquid to solid (m(L)/m(S)) 20, electric charge per gram Mo 0.522 C, pH value of original slurry 8, anodic current density 700 A (.) m(-2) (cell potential 2.7 - 2.9 V), the Mo leaching rate and the current efficiency reach 98% and 36%, respectively. In order to overcome some shortages of the electro-oxidation process, such as low current efficiency, low Mo concentration in the leaching solution, ultrasonic was adopted to intensify the leaching process. The results show that the Mo leaching rate exceeds 98%, current efficiency increases from 36% to 50% and the Mo concentration in the leaching solution reaches about 60 g/L at low m(L)/M-S of 8 and low electric charge of 0.373 degrees C.