Recovery of tungsten by liquid–liquid extraction from a wolframite concentrate after fusion with sodium hydroxide

This work presents the results of the tungsten recovery from a wolframite concentrate (61.5% WO3) from Igarapé Manteiga (Rondônia — Brazil) after fusion with NaOH followed by leaching with water. The optimum fusion conditions required temperatures above 550 °C to avoid partial manganese leaching. 98.6% of tungsten was leached as Na2WO4 after fusion at 650 °C for 1 h. More than 99% of the element was extracted in one stage with Aliquat 336 or Alamine 336 (5–10 vol.% in kerosene, A/O = 1 (v/v), 25 °C). Stripping was easily performed in one stage (> 99.9%) with 2 mol L− 1 NH3(aq.) (A/O = 1 v/v, 25 °C) when Alamine 336 was the extractant. Tungsten was recovered as ammonium paratungstate (APT).

► Fusion of a Brazilian wolframite concentrate (low P, As and Si content) with NaOH. ► Tungsten was leached (98.6 wt.%) with water after fusion at 650 °C for 1 h. ► Tungsten extraction and stripping were easily run with Alamine 336 as the extractant. ► Tungsten recovery in high yield as APT with very low phosphorous content