Case Study 3: CONI Process for Secondary Sources (Co-Ni-Cu) Exploitation

Case Study 3 is about the CONI process, that is developed for the recovery of Copper (Cu), Cobalt (Co) and Nickel (Ni) from the iron-arsenic (Fe-As) alloy (secondary source) produced in the lead (Pb) pyrometallurgical processes. This process will allow to recover metals in forms which could be used for the production of cathodes for batteries.

The pilot plant will be built in the Łukasiewicz-IMN’s facilities, as it has the required infrastructure from previous projects. A slight modernization of the existing Łukasiewicz-IMN’s installations is planned, consisting of a purchase of a new reactor with the necessary devices to monitor the parameters of the conducted processes and off-gases treatment.

The tests will be carried out using the pilot plant and will verify the conditions of individual unit operations:

• oxidative leaching of the Fe-As alloy to dissolve Cu, Ni, Co, Fe, As
• recovery of Pb in the form of leach sludge
• removal of Fe and As from the solution in the form of scorodite, precipitation of Cu and Co-Ni concentrates, which will be researched first in the tests performed on the laboratory scale

The built pilot plant will have a process capacity of 100 kg per day.