SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR RECOVERY OF COBALT METAL AND IONIC COBALT
Various embodiments provide a method comprising electrowinning a first portion of a conditioned cobalt bearing solution to yield cobalt metal, subjecting a second portion of a conditioned cobalt bearing solution to a first ion exchange to yield a second conditioned cobalt bearing solution, performing cobalt selective solution extraction on the second conditioned cobalt bearing solution to yield a refined cobalt containing liquid and, precipitating a cobalt salt by adding a precipitating agent to a first portion of the refined cobalt containing liquid.
1 . A method comprising:
electrowinning a first portion of a conditioned cobalt bearing solution to yield cobalt metal;
subjecting a second portion of a conditioned cobalt bearing solution to a first ion exchange to yield a second conditioned cobalt bearing solution;
performing cobalt selective solution extraction on the second conditioned cobalt bearing solution to yield a refined cobalt containing liquid; and,
precipitating a cobalt salt by adding a precipitating agent to a first portion of the refined cobalt containing liquid.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the precipitating agent comprises sodium carbonate.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the ion exchange removes manganese from the conditioned cobalt bearing solution.
4 . The method of claim 1 , forwarding a second portion of the refined cobalt containing liquid to a cobalt gypsum precipitation process.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the electrowinning comprises a bagged anode process.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the electrowinning comprises a free anode process.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the electrowinning comprises depositing cobalt metal rounds on a masked cathode.
8 . A system comprising:
an electrowinning cell configured to electrowin a first portion of a conditioned cobalt bearing solution to yield cobalt metal;
an ion exchange column configured to subject a second portion of a conditioned cobalt bearing solution to a first ion exchange to yield a second conditioned cobalt bearing solution;
a solution extraction circuit configured to perform cobalt selective solution extraction on the second conditioned cobalt bearing solution to yield a refined cobalt containing liquid; and,
a precipitation vessel configured to contain a cobalt salt formed by addition of a precipitating agent to a first portion of the refined cobalt containing liquid.
9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the precipitating agent comprises sodium carbonate.
10 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the ion exchange column further comprises resin configured to remove manganese from the conditioned cobalt bearing solution.
11 . The system of claim 8 , further comprising a channel configured to forward a second portion of the refined cobalt containing liquid to a cobalt gypsum precipitation process.
12 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the electrowinning cell comprises a bagged anode.
13 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the electrowinning cell comprises a free anode.
14 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the electrowinning cell comprises a masked cathode for the deposition of cobalt metal rounds.