Regularities of selenium and chromium behavior in redox processes during hydrometallurgic treatment of solid phase products of rhenium extraction

Abstract

The main source of selenium is copper anode slime. But during the pyrometallurgical treatment of sulphide polymetallic ores significant amount of selenium along with radiogenic osmium and rhenium is concentrated in the solid-phase products of acid wash extraction and cannot be extracted, as gets lost with discharged chromium-containing solutions of osmium stage. The paper presents results of research into selenium reduction in the chromium-containing sulfuric acid medium by sulfurous gas and sodium sulphite. The use of the above reducers in optimum conditions leads to almost complete recovery of selenium (VI) while selenium (IV) extraction rate is not exceeding 60 %. The chrome (III) present in solutions has no impact on the selenium extraction rate. Chrome (VI) is almost completely reduced to a trivalent state, thus its negative impact on subsequent rhenium sorption from solutions purified from selenium is excluded. In view of a high rate of selenium extraction from chromium-containing sulfuric acid solutions formed in the process of radiogenic osmium production using sulfurous gas and sodium sulphite, choice of a method for selenium reduction is to a great extent dependent on the company’s profile.