Hydrometallurgy. Hydrometallurgy is a collection of techniques for obtaining metals from their ores. It falls within the field of extractive metallurgy involving the use of aqueous chemistry for the recovery of metals from ores, concentrates, and recycled or residual materials. In the simplest terms, Hydrometallurgy can be seen as a discipline that strives to dissolve metals from their ores and then purifies the dissolved metals. Since hydrometallurgy goes beyond manipulating minerals and works at atomic level, it is the only extractive metallurgy discipline that can purify metals to the maximum extent. Hydrometallurgy can do this by manipulating interrelated aqueous and multiphase chemical equilibria by controlling the chemical potential governing these equilibria. This means that hydrometallurgical processes are very complex, requiring a thorough understanding of the chemistry of each element in the process in order to achieve optimum solubilisation and purification. The value proposition of the Hydrometallurgy Division is to bring research knowledge to responsible exploitation of mineral wealth. The Division therefore aims to provide the best technical solutions in support of the minerals industry in South Africa in particular, but also related industries. Besides extensive chemistry and process engineering expertise, the Hydrometallurgy Division at Mintek has particular expertise in pressure leaching, precipitative purification, electrowinning, solvent extraction, ion exchange and process modelling. This forms an excellent base for the Division to develop innovative solutions for complex hydrometallurgical and refining problems in support of the mandate of Mintek. Since hydrometallurgical processing is often complicated by other factors such as cost, market dynamics, process equipment and environmental impact, the “best” process solutions are not necessarily determined by the chemistry of the process only. This is where the Hydrometallurgy Division at Mintek has traditionally excelled in bringing the basic chemistry understanding of a system together with these external factors to develop the optimal solution for the processing of a specific ore or concentrate. Extensive process and industry knowledge is incorporated into state of the art digital process twins to carry out techno-economic evaluations of the various process options so that the optimal process or product can be selected for potential application. This approach in the Hydrometallurgy Division has led to t...
Hydrometallurgy. Hydrometallurgy is a collection of techniques for obtaining metals from their ores. It falls within the field of extractive metallurgy involving the use of aqueous chemistry for the recovery of metals from ores, concentrates, and recycled or residual materials. In the simplest terms, Hydrometallurgy can be seen as a discipline that strives to dissolve metals from their ores and then purifies the dissolved metals. Since hydrometallurgy goes beyond manipulating minerals and works at atomic level, it is the only extractive metallurgy discipline that can purify metals to the maximum extent. Hydrometallurgy can do this by manipulating interrelated aqueous and multiphase chemical equilibria by controlling the chemical potential governing these equilibria. This means that hydrometallurgical processes are very complex, requiring a thorough understanding of the chemistry of each element in the process in order to achieve optimum solubilisation and purification. Besides extensive chemistry expertise, Mintek has particular expertise in pressure leaching, precipitative purification, electrowinning, solvent extraction, ion exchange and process modelling. This forms an excellent base for the development of innovative solutions for complex hydrometallurgical and refining problems. Good science alone is unfortunately not always enough since in practice, hydrometallurgical processing is often complicated by other factors such as cost, market dynamics, process equipment and environmental impact. This means that the “best” process solutions are not necessarily determined by the chemistry of the process only. This is where Mintek has traditionally excelled in bringing the basic chemistry understanding of a system together with these external factors to develop the optimal solution for the processing of a specific ore or concentrate. Extensive process and industry knowledge is incorporated into state of the art process simulations to carry out techno-economic evaluations of the various process options so that the optimal process or product can be selected for potential application. This approach has led to the development of numerous innovative products and processes in support of the mining and minerals industry in South Africa.
