5.1.

Acid leaching (TRL 9)

There are several commercial projects to recover cobalt from tailings using this method, mostly
involving sulfuric acid leaching. Some companies in the Democratic Republic of Congo (the
DRC) have attempted to recover cobalt and copper from flotation tailings in Kakanda and
Kolwezi (Ferron, 2013). The Kolwezi project was reported by Pryor and Lunt (2003) to
potentially be the lowest-cost producer of cobalt due to its high grade (1.49% Cu and 0.32% Co)
and no cost needed for mining or comminution. There are 3 million tons per year of tailings,
capable of producing 42,000 tpa Cu and 7,700 tpa Co at overall recovery of 93% Cu and 76%
Co. The flowsheet is presented in Figure 9, showing two-stage atmospheric sulfuric acid leaching
capable of 96.4% Cu and 80.1% overall leach efficiency. The leaching is done under reducing
environment by adding SO2 since most of the cobalt is in the higher oxidation state (+3). Copper
is recovered immediately after leaching using hydroxyoxime extractant, while the cobalt
recovery requires an Fe, Mn, Al, Zn removal circuit prior the final solvent extraction. Final
product of >99.9% Cu and Co cathode will be obtained after an electrowinning step.

Figure 1. Flowsheet of tailings treatment in the Kolwezi project (Pryor and Lunt, 2003)

Reminex also approached this method to process their flotation tailings with 0.4% Co in their
Bou Azzer operation, Morocco (Ferron, 2013). A plant following the flowsheet in Figure 10 was
started in 1997.
 Figure 2. Flowsheet of tailings treatment at Bou Azzer, Morocco (Ferron, 2013)

Commercial applications
Commercial bioleaching usually takes the form of heap/dump and agitated tank leaching. A
commercial-scale heap bioleaching was developed in the Peko Mine, Tennant Creek, Australia to
process 4 million tons of refractory tailings (McEwan et al., 2014). Cobalt, copper and gold were
expected to be recovered while remediating the site by speeding up the weathering process. This
is achieved through introducing additional chemolithotrophic bacteria, aeration and periodic
irrigation. Furthermore, the tailings can then be used as an inert fill to rehabilitate a nearby open
cut mine. The oxidation process solubilizes 50% to 60% of the contained cobalt and copper and
renders 65% to 87% of the contained gold recoverable by conventional cyanidation techniques
(McEwan and Ralph, 2002).
Other known commercial applications utilize agitated tank due to its superior leaching
efficiency, both in its recovery and time. However, this method requires significant capital
investment and a more complex engineering, thus the grade of the resource should be high
enough for this process to be profitable.

Table 1. Benefits and challenges for acid and bio-leaching

Method Benefits Challenges
Acid  High cobalt extraction  Requires complex design and control of
leaching efficiency (>90%) the system
 Faster leaching process  Requires high temperature
 Requires additional acid due to

Bioleaching  Less complex design and
control of the system
 Less chemical cost needed
(only 20% of acid leaching)
due to acid generating
bacteria
 Applicable to sulfides
subsequent neutralization process
(higher chemical cost)
 Not applicable to sulfides
 Less cobalt extraction efficiency
(<80%)
 Slower leaching process
 Larger land area needed
 More risk of contaminating nearby
water and soil