Recovery of molybdenum from uranium bearing solution by solvent extraction with 5-Nonylsalicylaldoxime

•LIX 622N was successfully used to recover Mo(VI) from U(VI) bearing solution.•Two stages were required for extraction of Mo(VI) using 10% LIX 622N/kerosene.•2 M NH4OH + 2 M (NH4)2CO3 showed very good stripping efficiency for Mo(VI).•High purity of MoO3 (99.99%) was obtained.

5-Nonylsalicylaldoxime, LIX 622N was used to extract and recover Mo(VI) from sulfate leach liquor containing Mo(VI) and U(VI). The extraction parameters were optimized as 10%(v/v) LIX 622N diluted in kerosene at equilibrium pH 1.0 and O/A phase ratio = 1:1. Under these conditions, complete extraction of Mo(VI) was realized by a two-stage counter current extraction. The formed complex MoO2R2 is assessed by FTIR analysis. The molybdenum content in the organic phase was stripped using a mixture of 2 M NH4OH + 2 M (NH4)2CO3. It was precipitated at pH value 2.0 as ammonium molybdate. After drying, thermal decomposition high purity (> 99.9%) of MoO3 was produced. The effect of temperature on the Mo(VI) extraction process showed that, the extraction process is exothermic with enthalpy change − 24.514 kJ mol− 1.