Patent · US Expired

Process for recovering rare earth metal from oxide ore by concentration and separation

US5756056A · kind A · utility

8Cited by
7References
15Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateNov 13, 1996
Grant dateMay 26, 1998
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 13, 2016

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY02P10/20
  • WIPO fieldMaterials, metallurgy
  • WIPO sectorChemistry

Abstract

A process for recovering scandium economically with high efficiency by concentration and separation from an oxide ore containing nickel and a small amount of scandium as well as a large amount of iron and/or aluminum comprises the steps of acid leaching the oxide ore under a high-temperature, high-pressure oxidative atmosphere while restraining leaching of the iron and/or aluminum, thereby selectively leaching substantially all nickel and scandium from the ore, recovering the nickel from the resulting leaching solution as a precipitated sulfide while not precipitating the scandium as a sulfide but leaving the total amount thereof in the solution, and then adjusting the pH of the solution with a precipitant to recover the scandium from the solution as a high-concentration scandium hydroxide or carbonate by concentration and separation.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.