Process for the isolation and separation of tantalum and niobium

摘要

Tantalum and niobium are recovered from raw materials contg. both elements by: digestion (fusion) using exclusively HF; sepn. of Ta and Nb from accompanying elements; sepn. of Ta and Nb from each other as fluoro-complexes by solvent extn. of the fusion soln. using methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK); washing the loaded MIBK with exclusively water. The resultant aq. wash soln. is removed separately from the extn. operation.