Oxide cobalt ores

Cobalt ores are often found in association with copper(II) sulfide. Cobalt is a silver-gray metal and is used mainly for alloying with iron. Alnico steel, an alloy of iron, nickel, cobalt, and aluminum, is used to make permanent magnets such as those in loudspeakers. Cobalt steels are hard enough to be used as surgical steels, drill bits, and lathe tools. The color of cobalt glass is due to a blue pigment that forms when cobalt(II) oxide is heated with silica and alumina. 

Oxide copper ores. In oxide ores copper is predominantly malachite with significant quantities of cobalt oxides. According to the mineral composition, these ores can be... 

Flotation of Oxide Copper and Copper Cobalt Ores... 

Copper oxide mixed ore - Type 1. The main copper minerals found in these ores include malachite, pseudo-malachite, chrysocolla and some tenorite. These ores also may contain mainly siliceous gangue minerals, including spherocobaltite as the main cobalt minerals. The carbonaceous types also contain an appreciable amount of clay slime minerals. 

In recent years, a new class of collectors, consisting of xanthated fatty acids (TY collector), and monoester-modified xanthate (PM230) have found industrial applications with improved metallurgical results. From plant practice, treating oxide copper and copper cobalt ores, two basic flotation methods are practiced (a) sulphidization flotation method, and (b) anionic flotation method. 

This method is the most commonly used in beneficiation if oxide copper-bearing ore. The reagent schemes used to treat oxide copper ores, mixed copper sulphide oxide ores and oxide copper cobalt ores varies from one ore type to the next, mainly by type of collector and sulphidizer used. 

The choice of reagent scheme depends largely on the type of natural ore to be treated. The three main groups of reagents used in beneficiation of oxide copper and copper cobalt ores include (a) sulphidizers, (b) collectors and (c) modifiers and depressants. 

Most operating plants that treat oxide copper and copper-cobalt ores are found in Central Africa and Southern Africa regions. A few operations exist in Chile, Brazil and Peru, where they treat mixed oxide sulphide ores or oxide copper gold ore. 

Bulatovic, S., Bigg, A.C.T., and Yen, T., Laboratory Development Testwork on Kolwezi and Komoto Oxide and Mixed Copper Cobalt Ores, Report of Investigation No. 3, 1979. 

Preparation of Cobalt.—The metallurgy of cobalt is complicated by the fact that cobalt ores invariably contain a certain amount of nickel. Since these two metals closely resemble one another in their chemical properties it will be evident that their complete separation on a commercial scale is a matter of considerable difficulty. It is not usually required, however. The details of the actual methods employed in the commercial production of cobalt are kept fairly secret, more particularly as regards the initial stages of the preparation of the crude oxide. We shall, therefore, content ourselves by giving in outline accounts of a few different methods that may be employed. It is convenient to discuss the subject in three sections, namely ... 

I. Preparation of cobalt oxide from cobalt ores. 

It is doubtful if these methods have ever been employed for manufacturing purposes. European arsenical cobalt ores have been worked for cobalt oxide by a process similar to that described later (see p. 86) for working up arsenical nickel ores. Moreover, a certain amount of cobalt oxide is also derived from the arsenical nickel ores, since these usually contain appreciable quantities of cobalt. 

The decomposition of the lower sulfides of the heavy metals and the recovery of the metal as soluble salts and of sulfur in the elemental form have been demonstrated for pyrite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena, molybdenite, and associated metals such as nickel and cobalt. Pyrite and chalcopyrite are higher sulfides and to be amenable to this treatment have to be thermally decomposed at 600-650 C prior to leaching. The reactions with nitric acid are exothermic, and are carried out below 1 atm and at around 100°C. In addition to the sulfides, this technique has been applied successfully to the extraction of nonferrous metals from partly oxidized sulfide ores, fayalite slags, copper scrap, and other intermediate products, such as residue from electrolytic zinc plats. 

Properties of cobalt. Ores—smaltite, cobaltite. Alnico and other alloys, Cobaltous chloride, cobaltous oxide, cobaltic hydroxide, potassium cobaltinitrite, potassium cobalticyanide. Cobalt glass. 

Cobalt ores are usually roasted to the oxide and then reduced with carbon or water gas. Cobalt is usually alloyed for use. Alnico is a well-known magnetic alloy and cobalt is also used to make stainless steels and in high-strength alloys that are resistant to oxidation at high temperatures (for turbine blades and cutting tools). 

The Congo, Zambia, Canada, Morocco, and New Caledonia are considaed the main places of production of the cobalt ore. The main use of the cobalt ore was for aircraft superalloys, hard metal tools, magnets, catalysts, and pigments before the rechargeable lithium-ion battery was developed. Therefore, the cobalt oxide that could be used for batteries was low. However, the number of manufacturers producing the cobalt oxide recently has increased due to the expansion of the market In our company, various cobalt raw materials produced by 6-7 companies are always being evaluated. 

Unlike the pyrometallurgical processing of cobalt ores, the mineralogical form of the cobaltic oxides has a substantial impact in hydrometallurgy ... 

Lanthanum Cobalt oxide LaCo03 La rare earth metal Co Cobalt ore... 

Copper-cobalt ores from the DRC are roasted in a fluidized-bed furnace to convert sulfides to soluble oxides. After leaching with sulfuric acid, copper is removed by electrolysis. Cobalt is precipitated from the electrolyte as hydroxide. The hydroxide is redissolved, and the cobalt is obtained as metal in an electrolytic process. 

In the oxide-silicate ores nickel is so disseminated within the laterite that conventional ore-dressing methods do not work. The ore is often treated directly in py-rometallurgical processes, high-temperature reduction with carbon. This process yields ferronickd. Laterite ores are also leached with sulfuric acid in a high-tem-perature, high-pressure process. Nickel and cobalt are separated from purified solutions by solvent extraction. 

The miners in Bohemia followed this health advice when handling arsenious cobalt ores. On roasting, arsenic oxide sublimated off and the remaining ore could be treated reasonably safely. The arsenic oxide was delivered to the pharmacies. 

According to Fiedler and Bayard (1986), cadmia was a term used for cadmium yellow (. v.). However, cadmia (as cadmia fornacea or c. Jbrnacum) was actually an older name for the common zinc ore calamine, though it was also applied to a sublimed zinc oxide and to a cobalt ore. The element now called cadmium is often found associated with zinc (Agricola, 1556). 

Cobalt occurs as a constituent of various minerals found in many parts of the world. Cobalt ore was heated to form an oxide which was then mixed with silica cpiartz sand and sold under the name saffer (also, saffre or zaflre ) to glassmakers. The principal source of cohalt historically was the mineral skutterudite ((Co,Ni)As3 j named after its locality Skutterud, Norway this mineral was also known historically as smaltite (q.v.) in reference to its use for smalt). Deposits in Saxony were, for centuries, the main supply of European cobalt however, there are sources in France and Spain. The related cobalt minerals erythrite (q.v.) and cobaltite were probably also used in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries (Muhlethaler and Thissen, 1993). 

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