Use of ACORGA® NR Reagents in the Presence of

Nitrate Ions in SX: The State of the Art

Rodrigo Zambra*, Alejandro Quilodran, Gonzalo Rivera, and Osvaldo Castro

Given the relevance of the nitration threat in Chile due to high nitrate containing ores in some
plants and the lack of an available practical solution for the industry, Cytec developed a superior
line of modified aldoxime extractants.

This work presents the results of studies of different solvent
extraction operations in the north of Chile where nitration
concerns are the greatest. While all copper solvent extraction
operations have some nitrates present, this paper is focused
on the four copper SX plants that have the potential for
appreciable levels of nitrate ions in their leach solutions.
Nitration is a phenomenon that initially attracted the
interest of the copper mining industry in the late 90’s due
to the experience at Lomas Bayas where they experienced
significant nitration of the organic inventory. Since then
the industry developed the position that ketoxime-based
extractants were the best solution for operations with
nitration risk.
Nitrated oximes (ketoximes and aldoximes) form stable
Cu complexes that prevent the stripping of copper. Once
the oxime is nitrated, the oxime no longer works as an
extractant because that portion of the organic no longer
transfers copper.
Nitration is certainly a function of the nitrate concentration
in aqueous solutions, but it is also a function of the
acidity, temperature, redox potential, interfacial tension
and the reactivity of the aqueous and organic phases.
Nitration of oxime compounds leads not only to reduced
copper transference capacity, but also increased phase
disengagement times, reduced interfacial tension, increased
entrainment and hydrolytic degradation.
Given the relevance of the nitration threat in Chile due to
high nitrate containing ores in some plants and the lack
of an available practical solution for the industry, Cytec
developed a superior line of modified aldoxime extractants.
These products, known commercially as the ACORGA® NR
series, provide nitration protection without reducing copper
production capacity.
Examples of the relative performance of ACORGA NR
series extractants and ketoxime-based extractants are
discussed next.

The nitration mechanism is shown below:

NO3- + H2SO4 ⇔ HNO3 + HSO4- (1)

HNO3 + H2SO4 ⇔ NO2+ + H2O + HSO4- (2)

OH OH OH
OH N OH N OH N
O2N O2N
R1 + NO2+ R1 R1
H +

R2 R2 R2

R1 H or CH3 (aldoxime or ketoxime)

R2 C9H19 or C12H25 (nonylaldoxime or dodecylaldoxime)

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