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A New Insight into Enhanced Vanadium Extraction from Shale
Ore: Compare Leaching Behavior of Direct Acid Leaching and
Suspension Oxidation Roasting-Acid Leaching
Z. Zhou, Y. Zhu, J. Jin
Department of Mineral Processing Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang, China
ABSTRACT: China has the world’s largest vanadium resource reserves and about 87% of the total is stored
in V-bearing shale ore. In this work, we investigated the mechanism of enhanced vanadium extraction by
comparing the leaching behavior of particles between traditional direct acid leaching and suspension oxidation
roasting-acid leaching. Roasting activation improved the chemical reaction activity and transformed the dense
structure into a loose and porous structure. After being suspension oxidation roasted, the lattice structure of
main vanadium-bearing mineral was destroyed and vanadium was released from the octahedral of muscovite.
The vanadium leaching rate improves significantly compared with direct leaching method.
Keywords: vanadium extraction, direct acid leaching, suspension oxidation roasting, microstructure evolution,
pore property
INTRODUCTION
Vanadium, also known as “metal vitamin,” is an important
alloy metal with the advantages of great ductility, acid-alkali
corrosion resistance, and oxidation resistance (Moskalyk,et
al 2003 Dai et al., 2017). Vanadium is widely applied in
various fields, such as the steel industry, chemical industry,
and aerospace, and it is an indispensable metal resource in
modern industry and national defense which are listed as
critical metals in many countries (Gilligan et al., 2020 Yuan
et al., 2021 Zhang et al., 2011). In recent years, vanadium
redox flow batteries obtained wide-promoted applications
in clean energy storage fields owing to their advantages of
high energy conversion rate, long cycle life, safety, and envi-
ronmental protection (Haisch et al., 2020). The applica-
tion of vanadium-bearing batteries has further promoted
the increase in vanadium demand. China is the largest pro-
ducer, consumer, and exporter of vanadium products in the
world. Vanadium-titanium magnetite, vanadium slag, and
vanadium-bearing shale are the main vanadium resources
in China, and the vanadium reserves in the shale are about
87% of the total (Tang et al., 2022). However, just 20% of
vanadium products are extracted from shale ore owing to its
low vanadium grade, various occurrence states, and com-
plex mineral composition. The current vanadium extraction
process from shale has a low recovery rate, high produc-
tion cost, and poor economic benefits, which bring a heavy
burden to enterprises (Zheng et al., 2022). Therefore, it is
necessary to develop clean and efficient vanadium extrac-
tion technology from shale and promote the utilization of
vanadium shale resources to meet the growing demand for
vanadium (Zhou et al., 2023).
Many scholars have carried out a lot of research on
vanadium extraction from vanadium-bearing shale by addi-
tive roasting-leaching process(Hu et al., 2012 Wen et al.,
A New Insight into Enhanced Vanadium Extraction from Shale
Ore: Compare Leaching Behavior of Direct Acid Leaching and
Suspension Oxidation Roasting-Acid Leaching
Z. Zhou, Y. Zhu, J. Jin
Department of Mineral Processing Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang, China
ABSTRACT: China has the world’s largest vanadium resource reserves and about 87% of the total is stored
in V-bearing shale ore. In this work, we investigated the mechanism of enhanced vanadium extraction by
comparing the leaching behavior of particles between traditional direct acid leaching and suspension oxidation
roasting-acid leaching. Roasting activation improved the chemical reaction activity and transformed the dense
structure into a loose and porous structure. After being suspension oxidation roasted, the lattice structure of
main vanadium-bearing mineral was destroyed and vanadium was released from the octahedral of muscovite.
The vanadium leaching rate improves significantly compared with direct leaching method.
Keywords: vanadium extraction, direct acid leaching, suspension oxidation roasting, microstructure evolution,
pore property
INTRODUCTION
Vanadium, also known as “metal vitamin,” is an important
alloy metal with the advantages of great ductility, acid-alkali
corrosion resistance, and oxidation resistance (Moskalyk,et
al 2003 Dai et al., 2017). Vanadium is widely applied in
various fields, such as the steel industry, chemical industry,
and aerospace, and it is an indispensable metal resource in
modern industry and national defense which are listed as
critical metals in many countries (Gilligan et al., 2020 Yuan
et al., 2021 Zhang et al., 2011). In recent years, vanadium
redox flow batteries obtained wide-promoted applications
in clean energy storage fields owing to their advantages of
high energy conversion rate, long cycle life, safety, and envi-
ronmental protection (Haisch et al., 2020). The applica-
tion of vanadium-bearing batteries has further promoted
the increase in vanadium demand. China is the largest pro-
ducer, consumer, and exporter of vanadium products in the
world. Vanadium-titanium magnetite, vanadium slag, and
vanadium-bearing shale are the main vanadium resources
in China, and the vanadium reserves in the shale are about
87% of the total (Tang et al., 2022). However, just 20% of
vanadium products are extracted from shale ore owing to its
low vanadium grade, various occurrence states, and com-
plex mineral composition. The current vanadium extraction
process from shale has a low recovery rate, high produc-
tion cost, and poor economic benefits, which bring a heavy
burden to enterprises (Zheng et al., 2022). Therefore, it is
necessary to develop clean and efficient vanadium extrac-
tion technology from shale and promote the utilization of
vanadium shale resources to meet the growing demand for
vanadium (Zhou et al., 2023).
Many scholars have carried out a lot of research on
vanadium extraction from vanadium-bearing shale by addi-
tive roasting-leaching process(Hu et al., 2012 Wen et al.,