Selective Recovery of Molybdenum from Rhenium Containing Sulphate Model Solutions by Solvent Extraction with Organophosphorus and Oxime Reagents

In various primary or secondary raw materials, for example in molybdenite or in so called “Theisenschlamm”, rhenium and molybdenum appear together. Consequently, processing of those materials can lead to aqueous solutions containing both elements. In order to obtain a separation of these elements the selective recovery of molybdenum by organophosphorus (D2EHPA, Cyanex 272) and oxime (LIX 63, LIX 84, LIX 860, LIX 984) reagents diluted in kerosene is investigated. The selectivity for the extraction of molybdenum over rhenium is compared and D2EHPA, Cyanex 272 as well as LIX 984 are chosen for extraction tests from sulphate model solutions containing zinc(II), iron(III), copper(II), molybdenum(VI), rhenium(VII), antimony(V), germanium(IV) and cobalt(II). Cyanex 272 achieves the highest selectivity for molybdenum. Due to that extraction isotherms of molybdenum with Cyanex 272 are constructed.