Different Treatments of Zinc Oxide Ore in Caustic Leaching Process

Resource recycling of Zinc oxide ore is an important concern in zinc smelting industry at present. In this study, comparison of ultrasonic-assisted and traditional treatment of zinc oxide ore with caustic leaching process was investigated. Effects of experimental factors temperature, time, initial alkali concentration, ultrasonic power, and agitation rate, on zinc leaching rate, were examined. Results showed that zinc leaching rate of ultrasonic assisted process was better than that of traditional process. The optimal parameters were ultrasonic power of 400 W, temperature of 65℃, time of 40 min, initial alkali concentration of 4 mol/L, and liquid to solid ratio of 10∶1, and the average leaching rate of zinc under optimal conditions was 91.62%. Ultrasonic-assisted leaching can shorten the reaction time greatly. Ultrasonic played a notable effect in zinc oxide ore leaching process.