METHOD FOR INCREASING THE PERCENTAGE OF ARGILLACEOUS AND LIMONITIC MINERAL SOLIDS IN PULP SUPPLIED TO AUTOCLAVES IN PRESSURISED ACID LEACHING

摘要

The present invention is related to the processing of lateritic, nontronitic, limonitic, smectitic and clay minerals via hydrometallurgy, specifically with the pressure acid leaching and consists in the direct preparation of pumpable pulps with high % solids of raw mineral before their feeding to the autoclaves. The pulp is submetted to the deaggregation process to achieve stable pulps with a viscosity of 60 - 200 Pa, good fluidity and a high % solids (45 - 47), with the addition of different types of additives to increase the % solids up and including 47 - 52%.