Hydrometallurgy 133 (2013) 126–132

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Hydrometallurgy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/hydromet

Manganese extraction by sulfur-based reduction roasting–acid leaching from

low-grade manganese oxide ores
Yuanbo Zhang, Zhixiong You ⁎, 1, Guanghui Li, Tao Jiang ⁎, 1
School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In recent years, the comprehensive utilization of low-grade manganese oxide ores has received much atten-
Received 26 August 2012 tion due to the shortage of high-grade manganese ore resources. In this study, low-grade manganese oxide
Received in revised form 13 December 2012 ores were treated by reduction roasting using chemically pure sulfur as a reductant. Then, the roasted
Accepted 2 January 2013
samples were subjected to sulfuric acid leaching to extract manganese (Mn). The effects of roasting temper-
Available online 9 January 2013
ature, roasting time, S/Mn mole ratio, sulfuric acid concentration, leaching temperature, stirring rate, leaching
Keywords:
time and liquid-to-solid ratio on the Mn and Fe leaching were discussed. The leaching efficiencies of 95.6%
Manganese oxide ores for Mn and 14.5% for Fe were obtained under the following optimized conditions: 550 °C of roasting temper-
Sulfur ature, 10 min of roasting time, 0.50 of S/Mn, 1.0 mol/L of sulfuric acid concentration, 25 °C of leaching
Reduction roasting temperature, 200 r/min of stirring rate, 5 min of leaching time and 5:1 of liquid-to-solid ratio.
Leaching © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Manganese is widely used in steel production, nonferrous metal-
lurgy, chemical industry, dietary additives, cells and fine chemicals,
and other applications (Hazek et al., 2006). Hence, many efforts
have been applied to develop an economic and efficient process to
recover manganese from low-grade manganese oxide ores because
the major manganese mineral in the ores is manganese dioxide,
which is insoluble in dilute sulfuric acid and alkaline media. It is es-
sential to convert manganese dioxide into low-valence manganese
(II) compounds before the leaching.
Conventional pyro-metallurgical processes for utilizing manga-
nese oxide ores are characterized by high production costs and ener-
gy consumption, low productivity, and environmental pollution. The
reductants used for reduction roasting include coals, graphite or CO
(Welham, 2002; Zhang et al., 2010), pyrite (Li et al., 2000), ammoni-
um sulfite or ammonium chloride (Sahoo and Rao, 1989), and corn-
stalk (Cheng et al., 2009). There are also some directly reductive
leaching methods using diverse reducing agents in the leaching solu-
tions, such as pyrite (Li et al., 2007), aqueous sulfur dioxide (Kanungo
and Das, 1988; Naik et al., 2000), metallic iron (Bafghi et al., 2007)
and iron(II) sulfate (Vu et al., 2005), hydrogen peroxide (Jiang et al.,
2004; Nayl et al., 2011), organic biomass reductants (Hariprasad et
al., 2007; Su et al., 2008; Tian et al., 2010) and some biological
bacteria (Mehta et al., 2010; Xin et al., 2011). The main problems
with these hydrometallurgical processes are the purification of Mn
from the leaching solution, high production cost, low leaching effi-
ciency, etc.
As reported, chemically pure manganese dioxide can be re-
duced by sulfur at the relatively lower temperature of 300–400 °C
(Abou-El-Sherbini, 2002). Using sulfuric acid as the leaching agent,
manganese can be leached from the roasted products. However, MnS
is formed during the roasting and harmful H2S gas is unavoidable
when the roasted products are leached in the acid solution.
In the present work, chemically pure sulfur is used as a reductant
for reduction roasting followed by acid leaching to extract manganese
from the low-grade manganese oxide ores. A thermodynamics analy-
sis of reduction roasting in the Mn–S–O system is first carried out,
revealing that the intermediate products, MnS, is unstable and can
react with other high valence manganese oxides (MnO2, Mn2O3 or
Mn3O4) when the roasting temperature is above 480 °C. The effects
of the roasting and leaching parameters on the leaching efficiencies
of Mn and Fe are then investigated. The Mn leaching efficiency of
95.6% is obtained under the optimized conditions, whereas the Fe
leaching efficiency is only 14.5%. There is no harmful H2S gas generat-
ed during the following acid leaching process.
2. Materials and methods

2.1. Materials
⁎ Corresponding authors at: Biology Building, No. 320, School of Minerals Processing
& Bioengineering, Central South University, 410083 Changsha, Hunan, China.
Tel.: + 86 731 88877656; fax: + 86 731 88830542.
Low-grade manganese oxide ores used in this study were obtained
E-mail addresses: yzx445474096@126.com (Z. You), jiangtao@csu.edu.cn (T. Jiang). from Hunan Province, China. The sample was crushed, ground and
1
Both corresponding authors contribute equally to this paper. screened to 80% passing through 0.074 mm in advance. The chemical

0304-386X/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.hydromet.2013.01.003
 Y. Zhang et al. / Hydrometallurgy 133 (2013) 126–132 127

Table 1 where γ is the leaching efficiency, %; m0 is the weight of reduced

Main chemical compositions of the manganese ores (wt.%). product, g; α is the Mn/Fe grade of reduced product, %; m1 is the
Mn TFe Al2O3 SiO2 CaO MgO S P Li LOIa weight of leached residue, g; and β is the Mn/Fe grade of leached
residue, %.
21.10 10.69 6.90 31.62 2.25 0.12 0.15 0.089 0.0056 12.15
a
LOI: loss on ignition.
2.3. Mn content analytical method

composition of the ore material is given in Table 1, which shows that
the total manganese grade of the sample is only 21.10%. The XRD
pattern of the sample, presented in Fig. 1, indicates that manganese
mainly existed in the form of lithiophorite ((Al, Li)MnO2(OH)2) and
that the main gangue minerals are hematite (Fe2O3) and quartz
(SiO2). The purity of the chemically pure sulfur used as a reductant
is above 99%, and the particle size of sulfur is 100% passing through
0.074 mm. The chemical phase analysis of manganese reveals that
the sample ore is mainly composed of manganese dioxide (MnO2,
95.74%), including small amounts of manganese carbonate (MnCO3,
2.51%) and manganous silicate (MnSiO3, 1.75%).
2.2. Experimental procedure
The ground manganese ores and chemically pure sulfur were
together put into a sealed stainless steel reactor after being thorough-
ly mixed. They were then roasted at given temperature for certain
period in an electrically heated muffle furnace. The experimental
schematic diagram is presented in Fig. 2. After that, the roasted
samples staying in the sealed reactor were cooled to room tempera-
ture in air. Finally, the cooled samples were discharged from the
reactor.
In each leaching test, 10 g of the cooled samples was put and
leached in a beaker with certain sulfuric solution, which was placed
into a water bath. After the leaching process was finished, the
leaching solutions were filtered. Then, the leached residues were
washed three times with distilled water and dried for chemical anal-
ysis. Fe content in the reduced product and leaching residue is
analyzed by means of ISO 9507, and Mn content analytical method
is shown in Section 2.3. All of the leaching liquids are prepared for
ICP analysis to evaluate the manganese balance. The leaching tests
in the aqueous solution aim to evaluate MnSO4 content generated
during the reduction roasting, as MnSO4 is solvable in water.
The leaching efficiency of Mn/Fe can be calculated as follows:
 
m 
¼ 1− 1  100%
m0 
Mn content in the reduced product and leaching residue is
detected by way of chemical analysis. About 0.2 g sample is weighed
and put into a 250 mL conical flask, then, 5 mL sulfuric acid (wt. 50%)
and 20 mL phosphoric acid (density 1.70 g/cm 3) are added. After
that, the conical flask is heated on an electric hot plate and kept
generating white smoke for 3–5 min. The temperature of the solution
is kept between 220 °C and 240 °C. The flask is shaken fully so that
Mn compounds react completely after 2–3 g solid NH4NO3 is added
in quick succession. After the solution cools to about 70 °C, 50 mL dis-
tilled water is added in order to dissolve Mn salts and dilute the solu-
tion. In the end, normality ammonium ferrous sulfate standard
solution is applied for the titration of the obtained solution, using
o-aminobenzoic acid (wt. 0.2%) as an indicator. Then, the Mn content
of the sample is calculated by the following formula:
V  C  54:94
Mnð% Þ ¼
10m
where V is the volume of ammonium ferrous sulfate consumed during
the titration, mL; C is the normality of ammonium ferrous sulfate stan-
dard solution, 0.01 mol/L for the leaching residues and 0.05 mol/L for
the reduced products; 54.94 is the amount of substance of Mn, g/mol;
m is the actual weight of ore sample for chemical analysis, g.
3. Chemical principle of sulfur-based reduction roasting
As well known, the melting point of sulfur is 114 °C, while the
boiling point of it is 445 °C. The main chemical reactions between
manganese oxides and chemically pure sulfur during the roasting
under the anaerobic condition are shown in Table 2. ΔGTθ − T equa-
tions of the possible reactions in the Mn–S–O system are also listed
in Table 2 and Fig. 3.
As shown in Fig. 3, MnO2 can be directly reduced by liquid sulfur
to MnO and MnSO4 (Eq. (1)) or converted to Mn2O3, releasing SO2
(Eq. (2)). Mn2O3 is then reduced to Mn3O4 (Eq. (3)), which will be
reduced to MnS and MnSO4 if liquid sulfur exists (Eqs. (4), (5)). The
manganese oxides are changed from high-valence to low-valence
compounds during the reduction roasting process according to

1000

900
- Quartz
800
- Hematite
700 - lithiophorite
Intensity(counts)

600

500

400

300

200

100
10 20 30 40 50 60 70
2θ/°

Fig. 1. XRD pattern of the sample manganese ores.

128 Y. Zhang et al. / Hydrometallurgy 133 (2013) 126–132

Thermocouple

Electrically Heated Muffle Furnace

Sealed Stainless Steel Reactor Protection Cover

Thermal Insulation Material

Silicon Carbide Heating Rod

Anti-permeability Brick

Fig. 2. Experimental equipment schematic diagram.

the following steps: MnO2 → Mn2O3 → Mn3O4 → MnS (or MnSO4).
Among the equations given in Table 2, Eq. (6) deserves special atten-
tion. As observed, MnS is generated easily and unavoidably, which is
undesirable as H2S will be emitted in the following acid leaching
process. However, it can react with Mn3O4 producing MnO if the
roasting temperature is above 480 °C, which is favorable for the
acid leaching process. Therefore, the undesirable emission of H2S
can be avoided. Simultaneously, SO2 formed during the roasting will
react with manganese oxides (Eqs. (7), (8), (9)). It is noteworthy
that increasing the roasting temperature is adverse to the generation
of MnSO4.
The major chemical reaction involved during the leaching process
of manganese extraction from the roasted product is as follows:
MnO þ H2 SO4 →MnSO4 þ H2 O:
As MnS does not react with intermediate product Mn3O4 at the
lower roasting temperature, another possible chemical reaction
during the following leaching process is:
4. Results and discussion
4.1. Reduction roasting process
The effects of roasting temperature, S/Mn (mole ratio) and
roasting time on the leaching efficiency of Mn were discussed under
the following leaching conditions: sulfuric acid concentration,
2.0 mol/L; liquid-to-solid ratio, 5:1; leaching temperature, 25 °C;
leaching time, 20 min and stirring speed, 400 r/m.
4.1.1. Effect of roasting temperature
The roasting temperature has a significant impact on the reduc-
tion of the manganese oxide ores, and the reduction efficiency can
be indicated by the manganese leaching efficiency because manga-
nese dioxide cannot be dissolved by sulfuric acid. The effect of the
ð10Þ
roasting temperature on the leaching efficiency of Mn is shown in
Fig. 4. Experiments were performed with a 30 min reduction time
and a 0.50 S/Mn mole ratio.
As observed, the acid leaching efficiency of Mn increases from
79.6% to 95.1% as the roasting temperature increases from 350 °C to
550 °C, after which it remains approximately constant. However,

4Mn3 O4 þ MnS þ 12H2 SO4 →13MnSO4 þ 12H2 O ð11Þ

50
(6)
MnS þ H2 SO4 →MnSO4 þ H2 S↑: ð12Þ
0
(5) (4)
-50
(9)
Δ GT0/KJ·mol-1

(8)
-100
Table 2 (7)
Main chemical reactions during the reduction roasting.
-150
Reaction ΔGTθ − T/KJ mol−1a Eq.

S + 3MnO2 = 2MnO + MnSO4 ΔGTθ = −289.23 − 0.008T (1) -200 (3)

S + 4MnO2 = 2Mn2O3 + SO2 ΔGTθ = −145.65 − 0.187T (2)
S + 6Mn2O3 = 4Mn3O4 + SO2 ΔGTθ = −115.21 − 0.137T (3) (2)
S + 1/3Mn3O4 = 2/3MnS + 1/3MnSO4 ΔGTθ = −50.21 + 0.027T (4) -250
S + 3Mn3O4 = 8MnO + MnSO4 ΔGTθ = 3.62 − 0.069T (5)
3Mn3O4 + MnS = 10MnO + SO2 ΔGTθ = 223.58 − 0.297T (6) (1)
-300
MnO2 + SO2 = MnSO4 ΔGTθ = −245.51 + 0.182T (7)
Mn2O3 + SO2 = MnO + MnSO4 ΔGTθ = −191.83 + 0.176T (8) 100 200 300 400 500 600
Mn3O4 + SO2 = 2MnO + MnSO4 ΔGTθ = −148.72 + 0.163T (9)
T/°C
a
Primary data of the substances mentioned above are obtained from Practical Ther-
modynamics Data Handbook of Inorganic Substances (Ye, 2002). Fig. 3. ΔGTθ − T relationship lines of the possible reactions in the Mn–S–O system.
 Y. Zhang et al. / Hydrometallurgy 133 (2013) 126–132 129

100 100

90 90

80 80

Leaching efficiency/%
Leaching efficiency/%

70 70

60
60 Acid leaching
50 Water leaching
50
Acid leaching 40
40
Water leaching
30
30
20
20
10
10
0
0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60
0
350 400 450 500 550 600 650 S/Mn (mole ratio)
Roasting temperature/°C
Fig. 6. Effect of S/Mn mole ratio on the leaching efficiency of Mn.
Fig. 4. Effect of roasting temperature on the Mn leaching efficiency.

the water leaching efficiency of Mn increases to 13.5% but then
decreases significantly above 550 °C because of the inhibition of the
reaction between SO2 and MnO2 at higher temperatures.
Fig. 5 demonstrates the XRD patterns of reduced samples roasted
at the temperatures of 350 °C, 400 °C, 450 °C, 500 °C, 550 °C, 600 °C
and 650 °C.
As displayed in Fig. 5, lithiophorite ((Al, Li)MnO2(OH)2) in the raw
ores disappears after the samples are roasted with sulfur, whereas
many new-born manganese compounds, including MnSO4, MnS
and MnO, are generated. MnSO4 exists at all roasting temperatures;
however, the diffraction peaks of MnSO4 in the reduced samples at
lower temperature (b 500 °C) are stronger than those at higher
temperatures (>550 °C), which is in accordance with the water
leaching efficiency of Mn presenting a decline tendency above
550 °C. It is noteworthy to mention that MnS always exists at
350 °C–500 °C but disappears after the temperature reaches 550 °C.
When the temperature is up to 500 °C, the intermediate product
MnS easily reacts with Mn3O4 forming MnO (as shown in Eq. (6),
Table 2), so the diffraction peak of MnS is not observed whereas the
diffraction peak of MnO emerges.
4.1.2. Effect of S/Mn
The Mn leaching efficiency as a function of S/Mn mole ratio is plot-
ted in Fig. 6 for a 30 min reduction time with a roasting temperature
of 550 °C. Both the acid and water leaching efficiencies of Mn increase
with increasing S/Mn mole ratio. The mole ratio between 0.50 and
0.57 performs best, the acid and water leaching efficiency of Mn and
Fe reaches 95.4% and 17.0%, respectively. The leaching efficiency of
Mn remains constant when Mn 4 + was completely converted to
Mn 2+.
4.1.3. Effect of roasting time
The effect of roasting time on the acid and water leaching efficien-
cy of Mn is shown in Fig. 7. The experiments were performed using a
reduction temperature of 550 °C and S/Mn mole ratio of 0.50.
The results in Fig. 7 indicates that the reduction speed of manga-
nese dioxide is rapid, resulting in an acid leaching efficiency of Mn

q q m
m M q q mq q
mq H
M q
650°C
q q m
q qm q
M m M q mq H q
600°C
q m
q
M m M q qm q q
mq H q
550°C
q q
M qq
qHq q q
M A A H q
500°C
q q
M qq q
q
q A q
M A Hq A H
450°C
q
q M qq
q q q q q
M A H A A H
400°C
q
q A Mq
q q q q
M Hq A A H q
350°C
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
2θ/°

Fig. 5. XRD patterns of manganese ore reduced by sulfur at different temperatures.

130 Y. Zhang et al. / Hydrometallurgy 133 (2013) 126–132

100 100

90 90

80 80

Leaching efficiency/%
Mn
Leaching efficiency/%

70 Fe
70

60 Acid leaching 60
Water leaching
50
50
40
40
30
30
20
20
10
10
0
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Leaching temperature/°C
Roasting time/min
Fig. 9. Effect of leaching temperature on the leaching efficiency.
Fig. 7. Effect of roasting time on the leaching efficiency of Mn.

of 81.0% after only 2 min, and increases significantly as the reduction
time further rises from 2 min to 10 min. After 10 min, it plateaus.
Thus, a 10 min reduction time can be recommended at 550 °C. The
effect of roasting time on the water leaching efficiency of Mn is simi-
lar to that on the acid leaching efficiency, and a maximum of 17.0% is
obtained.
4.2. Leaching process
The effects of sulfuric acid concentration, stirring rate, leaching
temperature and leaching time on the leaching efficiency were then
investigated. The roasting conditions were a roasting temperature of
550 °C, S/Mn mole ratio of 0.50 and roasting time of 10 min. Fe
leaching efficiency is also considered as it is the main impurity
element, which will aggravate purification process subsequently.
4.2.1. Effect of sulfuric acid concentration
Keeping the other leaching conditions as the same (i.e., leaching
time, 20 min; leaching temperature, 25 °C; stirring rate, 400 r/min
and liquid-to-solid ratio, 5:1), the effects of sulfuric acid concentra-
tion on the leaching efficiencies of Mn and Fe are studied and
presented in Fig. 8.
The leaching efficiencies of Mn and Fe, in Fig. 8, are both enhanced
by increasing the sulfuric acid concentration from 0 to 1.0 mol/L.
When the sulfuric acid concentration exceeds 1.0 mol/L, the increase
in the Mn leaching efficiency slows, whereas the Fe leaching efficiency
continues increasing. A sulfuric acid concentration of 1.0 mol/L corre-
sponds to the maximal Mn leaching efficiency of 95.4% and a Fe leaching
efficiency of only 14.5%.
4.2.2. Effect of leaching temperature
Fixing the sulfuric acid concentration at 1.0 mol/L, leaching time at
20 min, stirring rate at 400 r/min and liquid-to-solid ratio at 5:1, the in-
fluence of leaching temperature was investigated. The final results are
given in Fig. 9. By increasing the leaching temperature, the leaching effi-
ciency of Mn is almost unchanged, whereas the Fe leaching efficiency in-
creases from 14.5% to 17.9%. Therefore, a leaching temperature of 25 °C,
ambient conditions, is recommended for subsequent tests to minimize
the leaching cost.
4.2.3. Effect of stirring rate
Under conditions of a sulfuric acid concentration of 1.0 mol/L, a
leaching temperature of 25 °C, a leaching time of 20 min and
liquid-to-solid ratio of 5:1, the effect of stirring rate on the leaching
efficiency is depicted in Fig. 10. The leaching efficiency of Mn and
Fe increases rapidly as the stirring rate increases until it reaches
200 r/min; the Mn and Fe leaching efficiencies increase from 82.3%
and 5.11% to 95.6% and 17.0%, respectively. However, when the stir-
ring rate exceeds 200 r/min, the Mn leaching efficiency plateaus and
the Fe leaching efficiency goes on increasing. Thus, the most favorable
stirring rate is chosen as 200 r/min.

100
100
90

80
80
Leaching efficiency/%
Leaching efficiency/%

70 Mn
Fe
60 Fe 60
Mn
50

40 40

30

20 20

10

0 0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450
Sulfuric acid concentration (mol/L) Stirring rate/(r/min)

Fig. 8. Effect of H2SO4 concentration on the leaching efficiency. Fig. 10. Effect of stirring rate on the leaching efficiency.
 Y. Zhang et al. / Hydrometallurgy 133 (2013) 126–132 131

100 Table 3
Reduction roasting–acid leaching results of different manganese oxide ores.

Manganese ores Pyrolusite Psilomelane Braunite

80
Leaching ratio of Mn (wt.%) 96.32 90.56 93.82
Leaching efficiency/%

60 Fe
From Fig. 12 we can see that, Mn leaching efficiency above 95% is
Mn
obtained at liquid-to-solid ratio exceeding 5:1, and remains constant
after that. It is observed that the Fe leaching efficiency persistently
40 increases from 10.9% at 4:1 to 18.1% at 10:1. A liquid-to-solid ratio
at 5:1 is recommended in this study for the sake of a higher Mn and
lower Fe leaching efficiency.
20

4.3. Reduction roasting–acid leaching manganese from other low-grade

0
0 5 10 15 20
Leaching time/min
Fig. 11. Effect of leaching time on the leaching efficiency.
4.2.4. Effect of leaching time
The effect of leaching time on leaching efficiency was studied by
varying the leaching time from 1 min to 30 min, keeping other condi-
tions constant (sulfuric acid concentration, 1.0 mol/L; leaching tem-
perature, 25 °C; stirring rate, 200 r/min and liquid-to-solid ratio,
5:1). The results are plotted in Fig. 11.
The leaching efficiency curves in Fig. 11 indicate that the leaching
efficiency of Mn increases dramatically with an increase of leaching
time from 1 min to 5 min but remains unchanged after 5 min, dem-
onstrating that the leaching reaction is close to equilibration at that
point. The Fe leaching efficiency increases obviously before 10 min.
The maximum Fe leaching efficiency, 18.5%, is achieved at 30 min.
Also considering the desirability of a lower Fe leaching efficiency,
the suitable leaching time is set at 5 min.
4.2.5. Effect of liquid-to-solid ratio
To optimize the effect of liquid-to-solid ratio on the leaching
efficiency, the reduced product was leached with liquid-to-solid
ratio between 4:1 and 12:1 by keeping other conditions constant
(sulfuric acid concentration, 1.0 mol/L; leaching temperature, 25 °C;
stirring rate, 200 r/min; and leaching time, 5 min). The results are
shown in Fig. 12.
100
80
Leaching Efficiency/%
manganese oxide ores
25 30
In our tests, applying the novel process to other types of low-grade
manganese oxide ores, such as pyrolusite (24.24 wt.% Mn), psilomelane
(28.36 wt.% Mn) and braunite (30.39 wt.% Mn), Mn leaching efficiency
more than 90% could be obtained under the conditions (roasting tem-
perature, 550 °C; S/Mn, 0.50; roasting time, 10 min; sulfuric acid
concentration, 1.0 mol/L; leaching temperature, 25 °C; stirring rate,
200 r/min; leaching time, 30 min and liquid-to-solid ratio 5:1). The
final reduction roasting–leaching results are listed in Table 3.
These results indicate that this process is suitable to various
manganese oxide ores. All of the leaching efficiencies reach above
90%.
Furthermore, this technology has a bright future due to its
good reactivity between manganese oxides and sulfur, low roasting
temperature, and low production cost if chemically pure sulfur is to
be substituted by industrial sulfur residues.
5. Conclusions
A novel process for utilizing low-grade manganese oxide ores by
sulfur-based reduction roasting–acid leaching was successfully devel-
oped in this study. Manganese dioxide can be quickly reduced by
sulfur, forming Mn2O3, Mn3O4, MnO, MnS and MnSO4. Most of the
reactions happen spontaneously at lower roasting temperatures.
MnS easily reacts with Mn3O4 generating MnO if the roasting temper-
ature is above 480 °C, so the harmful H2S gas was avoidable in the fol-
lowing acid leaching process. The optimal conditions for reduction
roasting–acid leaching low-grade manganese ores were a roasting
temperature of 550 °C, S/Mn of 0.50, roasting time of 10 min, sulfuric
acid concentration of 1.0 mol/L, leaching temperature of 25 °C, stir-
ring speed of 200 r/min, leaching time of 5 min and liquid-to-solid
ratio of 5:1. The Mn and Fe leaching efficiencies of 95.6% and 14.5%,
respectively, were obtained under the above optimal conditions.
This process is promising and enables the utilization of various
low-grade manganese oxide ores.

Acknowledgments
60
Mn
Fe The authors would like to express their gratitude to the National
Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (No. 50725416) and
40
the Key Programs of Science and Technology from Hunan Province
(No. 2010FJ1011) for their financial support of this research.

20
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