Claims
- 1. A process for increasing the amount of germanium recovered from supergene ore, comprising the steps of:
- a) crushing the supergene ore;
- b) converting the crushed ore to pulp;
- c) subjecting the pulp obtained in step b) to a magnetic separation which separates a magnetic fraction consisting essentially of an iron hydroxide phase containing the germanium from a non-magnetic fraction;
- d) retaining the separated magnetic fraction;
- e) subjecting the retained magnetic fraction of step d) to a second crushing step and to a second magnetic separation step which separates a second magnetic fraction consisting essentially of the iron hydroxide phase containing the germanium from a second nonmagnetic fraction; and
- f) retaining the second magnetic fraction for subsequent extraction of the germanium from the second magnetic fraction.
- 2. The process of claim 1, wherein the supergene ore is crushed to a diameter.sub.80 of between 50 and 500 micrometers.
- 3. The process of claim 1, wherein the supergene ore is crushed to a diameter.sub.80 of about 200 micrometers.
- 4. The process of claim 1, wherein the magnetic separation is carried out under a magnetic field of between 0.5 and 5 Tesla.
- 5. The process of claim 1, further comprising the steps of subjecting the nonmagnetic fraction separated in step c) to a second magnetic separation under a higher field than in the first magnetic separation which separates a second magnetic fraction consisting essentially of the iron hydroxide phase containing the germanium from the non-magnetic fraction; and retaining the second magnetic fraction for subsequent extraction of the germanium from the second magnetic fraction.
- 6. The process of claim 1, wherein the conversion step of step b) is preceded by a screening step to separate smaller particles from larger particles of the crushed ore; and subjecting only the larger particles to the conversion and magnetic separation steps.
- 7. The process of claim 6, wherein the screening step separates the particles into the smaller and larger particles whose particle sizes are respectively less than and greater than 40 micrometers.
- 8. The process of claim 1, wherein the ore is crushed by a wet method in a ball mill.
- 9. The process of claim 8, wherein the ore is crushed with a solids concentration of between 50 and 65%.
- 10. The process of claim 1, wherein the pulp subjected to the magnetic separation step contains from 50 to 500 grams of ore per liter.
- 11. The process of claim 1, wherein the pulp subjected to the magnetic separation step contains from 150 to 200 grams of ore per liter.
- 12. A process for increasing the amounts of germanium and gallium recovered from supergene ore, comprising the steps of:
- a) crushing the supergene ore;
- b) converting the crushed ore to pulp;
- c) subjecting the pulp obtained in step b) to a magnetic separation which separates a magnetic fraction consisting essentially of an iron hydroxide phase containing the germanium and a jarosite phase containing the gallium from a non-magnetic fraction;
- d) retaining the separated magnetic fraction;
- e) subjecting the retained magnetic fraction of step d) to a second crushing step and to a second magnetic separation step which separates a second magnetic fraction consisting essentially of the iron hydroxide phase containing the germanium and the jarosite phase containing the gallium from a second non-magnetic fraction; and
- f) retaining the second magnetic fraction for subsequent extraction of the germanium and the gallium from the second magnetic fraction.
- 13. The process of claim 12, wherein the ore is crushed to a diameter.sub.80 of between 50 and 500 micrometers.
- 14. The process of claim 12, wherein the ore is crushed to diameter.sub.80 of about 200 micrometers.
- 15. The process of claim 12, wherein the magnetic separation is carried out under a magnetic field of between 0.5 and 5 Tesla.
- 16. The process of claim 12, further comprising the steps of subjecting the nonmagnetic fraction separated in step c) to a second magnetic separation under a higher field than in the first magnetic separation which separates a second magnetic fraction consisting essentially of the iron hydroxide phase containing the germanium and the jarosite phase containing the gallium from the non-magnetic fraction; and retaining the second magnetic fraction for subsequent extraction of the germanium and the gallium from the second magnetic fraction.
- 17. The process of claim 12, wherein the conversion step of step b) is preceded by a screening step to separate smaller particles from larger particles of the crushed ore; and subjecting only the larger particles to the conversion and magnetic separation steps.
- 18. The process of claim 17, wherein the screening step separates the particles into the smaller and larger particles whose particle sizes are respectively less than and greater than 40 micrometers.
- 19. The process of claim 12, wherein the ore is crushed by a wet method in a ball mill.
- 20. The process of claim 19, wherein the ore is crushed with a solids concentration of between 50 and 65%.
- 21. The process of claim 12, wherein the pulp subjected to the magnetic separation step contains from 50 to 500 grams of ore per liter.
- 22. The process of claim 12, wherein the pulp subjected to the magnetic separation step contains from 150 to 200 grams of ore per liter.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 541,801, filed Jun. 21, 990, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
3754713 |
Kienast et al. |
Aug 1973 |
|
4511461 |
Kruyer |
Apr 1985 |
|
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
69403 |
Jun 1976 |
JPX |
1475715 |
Apr 1989 |
SUX |
Non-Patent Literature Citations (2)
Entry |
Annual Report, Musto Exploration Ltd., 1983. |
Mining Journal, Dec. 2, 1983, pp. 395-396. |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
541801 |
Jun 1990 |
|