The effect of sulphur on tungsten recovery from scheelite concentrates by alkali fusion

Bülent Şirin, Ercan Açma, Cüneyt Arslan, Okan Addemir

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3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A low-grade scheelite concentrate, obtained from Uludag Tungsten Plant (Bursa, Turkey), was used in this study. It contained approximately 35% WO3, 5.2% Sand 27% Fe. The optimum conditions of alkali fusion were: a temperature of 900°C, twice the stoichiometrically required Na2CO3, and 1 h treatment time. Tungsten was dissolved with a maximum efficiency at the end of 1 h of leaching with water at a solid/liquid weight ratio of 1/5 at 80aC under continuous stirring. A dissolution efficiency of 97% was obtained when the sulphur content of scheelite concentrate was decreased to 0.7% by roasting in a rotary furnace operating at 750°C and with 100% excess amount of air, while only 78% of tungsten dissolution efficiency could be reached when the original scheelite concentrate was not roasted prior to the alkali fusion. Phase analyses showed that the sulphur in concentrate has formed a matte phase as Na3FeS3 and confined some part of the tungsten as CaWO4, during the alkali fusion, and decreased its dissolution efficiency.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)313-318
Number of pages6
JournalCanadian Metallurgical Quarterly
Volume33
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 1994

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