Acid dissolution of manganese nodules after electric discharge

✍ Scribed by Kazuhide Miyazaki

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1983
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 293 KB
• Volume: 28
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0013-4686
• DOI: 10.1016/0013-4686(83)85192-5

✦ Synopsis

Valuable metals in manganese nodules can be rendered highly soluble in sulphuric acid by forming an electric cell with manganese nodules as a cathode active material and by discharging the cell, eliminating the need for treatment under severe conditions such as elevated temperatures and/or high pressures which is often the method for conventionally treating manganese nodules. A partial electric discharge has yielded higher metal extractions, eg nearly 95 % of the Ni, Co and Cu metals contained, rather than a complete drainage of the electric current from the deep-sea nodules. Even in the latter case, however, the discharged nodules have shown a much better extractability of the metals by subsequent HISO treatment, in comparison with the direct H,S04 leaching.