Beneficiation of Ga from alunite concentrates by selective acid leaching and alkaline precipitation

In this study beneficiation of Ga from alunite ore was investigated. The effects of the calcination temperature, H2SO4 concentration, leaching temperature and liquid-solid ratio on the dissolution characteristic of Ga, K and Al were studied. The results showed that increasing the calcination temperature, H2SO4 concentration and leaching temperature can improve the solubility of K and Al. However, higher H2SO4 concentration and lower leaching temperature can improve the dissolution of Ga, which was beneficial to recovery of Ga. On the basis of the solubility difference in H2SO4, a two-stage process of selective acid leaching and alkali precipitation of Ga was proposed. The concentration of Ga was increased significantly from 54 g/t in alunite ore to 4100 g/t in alkali precipitation product. The major elements of Al and K in alunite were recovered as the alum crystal with a purity of 99.62%.