Environmental-FriendlyProcess for Recovering Copperand Nickel from Jinchuan Tailings by Silica-Based Selective Adsorbents.

Contaminationof heavy metals from mill tailings is a global problem.China’s Jinchuan Group Limited has stored approximately onebillion tons of mill tailings which contain toxic levels of copper,nickel, and other metal compounds. To solve the problem, this workextended the principle of hydrometallurgical extraction to the recoveryof copper/nickel from Jinchuan tailings and designed an environmental-friendlyrecovering process. Synergetic leaching by sulfuric acid and ferricion was proposed to achieve the efficient leach of copper, nickel,and other metals in Jinchuan tailings. Novel silica-based 2-aminomethylpyridineand iminodiacetic acid functionalized adsorbent were used to selectivelyrecover copper and nickel from the leachate of Jinchuan tailings,respectively. The stable adsorption capacity on semi-industrial scaleoperation after 700 continuous adsorption-regeneration runs promisesthe achievement of copper and nickel recovery from Jinchuan tailings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]