Study on the mechanism and kinetics of sulfuric acid leaching scandium from rich scandium anatase

Scandium and its compounds have excellent properties, and are widely used in cutting-edge fields such as optics, electronics, and alloys. Thus, scandium is an important strategic metal. However, scandium is extremely sparsely distributed in the earth's crust, rarely occurs as an independent mineral, and requires a complex recovery process. Therefore, the study of the extraction of scandium is of great practical significance. This study examined the leaching test and kinetics of scandium under the acid leaching system of refractory anatase ore. Under appropriate two-stage countercurrent leaching conditions, the first stage of the particle size of fraction of -0.074 mm 82.6%, initial H2SO4 concentration of 6 mol/L, leaching temperature of 100 °C, acid/solid ratio of 3 ml/g, stirring speed of 300 rpm, and leaching time of 50 min; and the second stage of the initial H2SO4 concentration of 11 mol/L, leaching temperature of 150 °C, acid/solid ratio of 4 ml/g, stirring speed of 300 rpm, and leaching time of 50 min, a scandium leaching rate of 96.98% was achieved. The kinetics of scandium leaching conformed to a shrinking-core model, and sulfuric acid concentration and temperature were the most important parameters affecting the scandium leaching rate. The kinetic analysis of scandium leaching at different sulfuric acid concentrations showed that as the concentration increased, the sulfuric acid leaching of scandium changed from being chemical reaction-controlled to internal diffusion-controlled, and the apparent reaction order was 1.2429. The kinetics of scandium leaching at different temperatures showed that the sulfuric acid leaching of scandium was reaction-controlled and the apparent activation energy was 42.21 kJ-mol-1.