Pressure Leaching of Niobium and Tantalum from Columbo-Tantalites

M. DEL C. RUIZ; M. RODRIGUEZ; J. GONZÁLEZ; J. RIVAROLA

MINERALS, METALS & MATERIALS SOCIETY

B. Mishra, published

Lugar: California; Año: 1999 p. 525 - 533

The extraction of Nb and Ta from a columbo-tantalite of San Luis, Argentina, is being studied by using a pressure reactor and HF as leaching agent. The reagents and products have been characterized by several techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS), X-ray fluoroscence (XRF), X-ray difracction (XRD), surface area (BET) and size particle analysis. Experimental results have shown that the extraction ofniobium and tantalum increases with increasing temperature, reaction time and acid concentration. For particle size between +80 and -355 mesh no significant changes are detected. concentration.