Recovering Lead Metal from Lak Mine Lead Concentrate by Ferric Chloride Leaching

Dr. Ezatollah Mozaffari^1,*, Majid Mohseni² and Elham Abaie³

^1,*Assistant Prof., Imam Khomeini International University, University Blvd., Qazvin, Iran

^2,3Research Scholar, Imam Khomeini International University, University Blvd., Qazvin, Iran

Lead concentrate from Lak lead mine in Iran was processed via leaching method. In this method some of the undesirable conditions such as long term melting and roasting and sulfur gas emission prevailing in the conventional pyrometallurgical lead extraction method are omitted. Therefore, it is more environmentally friendly to produce lead by leaching method. The use of ferric chloride and sodium chloride as leaching reagents at various temperatures was examined. It has been shown that 99.8% lead and 82.2% silver can be extracted from sulfide concentrates. According to this research, the optimum conditions for Lak mine concentrate are: Ferric Chloride: 45gm/lit, Sodium Chloride: 200gm/lit. temperature: 70^°C and the leaching time: between 9 to 12 minutes.

Keywords: Leaching method, Sulfur emission, Lead concentrate.

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