Production of SrCO3 and (NH4)2SO4 by the dry mechanochemical processing of celestite

A SrCO3 formation starting from activated SrSO4–(NH4)2CO3 mixtures as a result of dry mechanochemical treatment for 180 min in a planetary ball mill of celestite together with (NH4)2CO3 was studied. The phases that formed during milling were successfully characterized by X-ray diffraction measurement (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and chemical analysis. A novel hydrometallurgical process to convert both SrCO3 (product) and (NH4)2SO4 (by-product) from celestite via dry mechanochemical conversion with (NH4)2CO3 was developed for the first time in this work. Under optimum conditions, the conversion of SrCO3 was 98.1%. The (NH4)2SO4 leach solution was crystallized.