Abstract

The influence of physico-chemical parameters such as acid concentration, temperature, particle size and time of leaching on the chemical dissolution of the sphalerite ore in sulfuric acid was examined. At a temperature of 358 K by 2 mol.l-1 H2SO4, a stirring speed of 300 rpm, initial solid / liquid ratio of 10 g/L and particle size (-125 +63μm), about 99 % of zinc was extracted inside 120min. The experimental data of this leaching technique was established by way of the shrinking core model under chemically reaction controlled processes, the corresponding activation energy for the recovery of zinc Ea calculated from the Arrhenius expression to be 18.63kJ/mole.

Keyword:Sphalerite ore; Leaching; Sulfuric acid; Dissolution kinetics