Recovery of cobalt and nickel in the presence of magnesium and calcium from sulfate solutions by Versatic 10 and mixtures of Versatic 10 and Cyanex 301

The extraction and stripping characteristics of Versatic 10 and its mixtures with Cyanex 301 were investigated for the recovery of cobalt and nickel from sulfate solutions containing magnesium and calcium. The optimum extraction factors of Versatic 10 were initial pH of 2.5, O/A ratio of 1/3, and saponification rate of 60%. The loaded Versatic 10 was stripped by using 2 mol/L H2SO4 at O/A ratio of 1/1. The optimum volume ratio of Versatic 10 to Cyanex301 was 7/3 in the mixtures, which could effectively reduce the equilibrium pH to 3.50. And the loaded mixtures were stripped by using 2 mol/L H2SO4 at O/A ratio of 1/2. The reaction principle of Versatic10 and metal ions is an ion exchange reaction. However, in the extraction reaction of and metal ions, besides the ion exchange reaction, the strong coordination effect between Cyanex 301 and metal ions also exists, which is much weakened in the extraction reaction of the mixtures and metal ions.