Cobalt Cathode Production from Zinc Plant Residue in Pilot Scale

Mohsen Valizadeh Holagh, Davood Moradkhani, Behzad Sedaghat

In this paper the production of cobalt cathode, using hydrometallurgical process from zinc plant residue in pilot scale is discussed. The pilot was set up for a period of 2 months. Pilot test results have been reported during 15 days. The cobalt filter cake produced in the zinc production plants in Iran contains 0.32 % cobalt, 2.65 % manganese and 20.44 % zinc. The cobalt cathode production process consists of 6 stages: 1) Zinc Washing, 2) Reductive-acidic leaching, 3) Zinc solvent extraction, 4) Precipitation of Co as carbonate, 5) Acidic dissolution of CoCO3, 6) Co electrowinning. The average purity of produced cobalt cathode was 99.984 %. Applying the mentioned method, average recovery of the cobalt cathode production was achieved 73.23 %. The mass balance of flows was achieved during pilot tests. The cobalt plant basic engineering design was done according to pilot mass balance.