Purification and Comprehensive Recovery Metal Values from Zinc Hydrometallurgical Solution

The cost of removing impurities from zinc hydrometallurgy solution by zinc replacement is expensive. Moreover, valuable metals, such as copper and cobalt, are difficult to be recovered when they enter into the zinc slag in the zinc replacement. In this study, a novel process for purification and comprehensive recovery metal values from zinc hydrometallurgical solution has been developed. A slow-release precipitator has been designed. Copper in zinc leaching solution has been selectively separated by a slow-release mineralization process based on differences in solubility of zinc and copper sulfide. Almost 100% copper can be removed and the copper grade of precipitate can reach about 20%. We also designed a precipitator with CSS-group for selectively recovering cobalt from zinc leaching solution after copper removal. It indicated that cobalt removal efficiency is almost 100% with little zinc loss. The cobalt grade of precipitate can reach almost 14%. All the above results show that the developed approach can effectively remove copper and cobalt from zinc hydrometallurgy solution, significantly reduce zinc powder dosage and realize the comprehensive recovery of copper and cobalt, and thus improve the economic efficiency of zinc smelting.