Extraction and separation of zinc, lead, silver, and bismuth from bismuth slag

The present paper deals with the extraction and separation of zinc, lead, silver, and bismuth from a refractory bismuth refining slag via a hydrometallurgical route. The process consists of a preliminary leaching of zinc with water, followed by the selective leaching of lead and silver with a calcium chloride solution, leading to the crystallization of lead chloride and the cementation of silver. The diagrams of the total concentrations of [Pb]/[Ag] versus [Cl-] and temperature in the Pb/Ag-Cl-H2O system were drawn, respectively, to determine the optimum concentration of leaching agent and leaching temperature. The potential-pH diagram of the Pb/Ag/Bi-H2O system indicates that the preferential leaching of lead and silver could be achieved. Finally, 98.8% of lead and 90.4% of silver were selectively removed by further leaching the water leaching residue with 400 g/dm3 of CaCl2 solution at pH 4.5 and 80 °C, while only 3.7% of bismuth was leached in this stage. Fifty-nine percent of lead in the leach liquor was separated out as PbCl2 by natural cooling. Ninety-five percent of silver in mother liquor was recovered by cementation with a lead sheet. The depleted CaCl2 solution can be sent to the leaching step again to close the loop.