Reductive leaching of manganese oxide ores using waste tea as reductant in sulfuric acid solution

Manganese oxide ores from Gabon and Xiangxi were leached with waste tea as reductant in dilute sulfuric acid solution. The effects of waste tea dosage, concentration of sulfuric acid, liquid-to-solid ratio, leaching temperature and reaction time on leaching process were explored. The leaching efficiency of Gabonese manganese oxide ore reached almost 100% under the optimal condition which was determined as follows: manganese oxide ore to waste tea mass ratio of 10:1, sulfuric acid concentration of 2.5 mol/L, liquid-to-solid ratio of 7.5:1, leaching temperature of 368 K, time of 8 h. The leaching efficiency of Xiangxi manganese oxide ore reached 99.8% under the optimal condition which was determined as follows: manganese oxide ore to waste tea mass ratio of 10:1, sulfuric acid concentration of 1.7 mol/L, liquid-to-solid ratio of 7.5:1, leaching temperature of 368 K, time of 8 h. The leaching process followed the internal diffusion controlled kinetic model, and the apparent activation energies of Gabonese manganese oxide ore and Xiangxi manganese oxide ore were calculated to be 38.2 kJ/mol and 20.4 kJ/mol, respectively. The morphological changes and mineralogical forms of the ore before and after the chemical treatment were discussed with the support of XRD analysis and SEM analysis.