Second progress report on recent advances extraction metallurgy

Abstract

This progress report on ‘Recent advances in extraction metallurgy’ covers all the main fields of the extraction of metals. The review begins with the section on hydrometallurgy, in which the author reports the trends and advances in this field, in particular, leaching in situ, development and properties of the LIX series of solvents, and the use of acetonitrile, nitric, and hydrochloric acids. In the section on electrometallurgy, the trends and advances in the construction and working conditions of electrolytic cells and their influence on the development of the more economic electrolytic processes are reviewed. In the section on pyrometallurgy, the reader will find not only a critical appraisal of new extraction processes but also a useful review of the advances made in obtaining more reliable thermodynamic and kinetic data which are essential for the development of new processes and the improvement of old ones. The authors include two tables, one covering the thermodynamics of 92 molten metallic systems and the other summarizing processes for the extraction of 14 less-common metals. This is followed by a section on chloride process metallurgy, in which the developments in the application of chlorination to a wide range of problems in the fields of extraction and materials processing are reviewed. The final section contains a critical appraisal of the use of different techniques for the production of superpurity metals. In particular, this section deals with the developments which have taken place in the application of zone refining, electrotransport, and reactive distillation as applied to a number of metals.