Method for selective precipitation of iron, arsenic and antimony

1. A method for separation of at least one contaminant from at least one base metal of an acidic polymetallic solution containing at least one base metal and at least one contaminant, the at least one base metal comprising at least one of: cobalt, nickel, copper and zinc, the at least one contaminant comprising at least one of: iron, arsenic and antimony, the method comprising:

1) oxidation of the at least one contaminant to maximum valency using an oxidizing agent;

2) addition of an ammonium salt as a complexing agent in a stoichiometric amount prior to

3) neutralization of the solution, and then

4) filtration to remove the at least one contaminant thus selectively precipitated from the solution and recovery of a barren solution and of the at least one base metal.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the acidic polymetallic solution is one of: a hydrochloric acid solution and a sulfuric acid solution.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the acidic polymetallic solution has a pH in a range between about 0.5 and about 1.5.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ammonium salt is one of:

ammonium sulfate and ammonium chloride.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said neutralization comprises increasing the pH to a value in a range between about 2.5 and about 3.5.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said neutralization comprises increasing the pH to a value in a range between about 2.8 and about 3.2.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein said neutralization comprises using one of: ammonium hydroxide, ammonia, calcium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide and magnesium hydroxide.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising treating the barren solution, after the recovery thereof, with lime and recovering a solution of ammonium salts.

9. A method for separating a base metal from a solution of oxides of the base metal associated with a contaminant, the base metal comprising at least one of: Cu, Co, Ni, and Zn, and the contaminant comprising at least one of: iron, arsenic and antimony, the method comprising:

acid leaching the solution at atmospheric pressure and reflux temperature;

recovering a filtered leachate;

oxidizing the contaminate in the leachate to maximum valency using an oxidizing agent;

adding an ammonium salt as a complexing agent in a stoichiometric amount depending on a composition of the leachate; and

increasing the pH of the leachate after the ammonium salt is added; thereby selectively precipitating the contaminant from the leachate with the base metal maintained in solution therein;

wherein said acid leaching the solution uses one of: i) a hydrochloric acid solution and ii) a sulfuric acid solution at a pH lower than about 1.5;

said adding an ammonium salt comprises adding one of: i) ammonium chloride, ii) ammonium sulfate, and iii) ammonium acetate; and

said increasing the pH comprises increasing the pH to a range between about 2.5 and about 3.5.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein said oxidizing the contaminant in the leachate comprises using chlorine Cl 2 as an oxidizing agent.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein said oxidizing the contaminant in the leachate comprises using one of: hypohalite, hydrogen peroxide H 2 O 2 and oxygen.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein said increasing the pH comprising increasing the pH to a range between about 2.8 and about 3.2.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein said oxidation of the contaminant uses chlorine.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein said oxidation of the contaminant uses one of: hypohalite, hydrogen peroxide and oxygen.