HYDROMETALLURGICAL PROCESS AND METHOD FOR RECOVERING METALS

摘要

A mineral processing facility is provided that includes a cogen plant to provide electrical energy and waste heat to the facility and an electrochemical acid generation plant to generate, from a salt, a mineral acid for use in recovering valuable metals.

主权项

1. A process, comprising:
(a) contacting a valuable metal-containing material with an acidic leaching solution to form a pregnant leach solution comprising a dissolved valuable metal; (b) recovering the dissolved valuable metal to form a valuable metal product and a byproduct salt solution derived from reaction of an acid component of the leaching solution with a base; (c) converting, by at least one of a chloralkali and bipolar membrane electrodialysis cell, the byproduct salt solution into the acid component and the base; (d) recycling the acid component, as part of the acidic leaching solution, to step (a); and (e) recycling the base to at least one of steps (a) and (b).