Selective and Efficient Extraction of Zinc from Mixed Sulfide-oxide Zinc and Lead Ore

Mixed sulfide-oxide lead and zinc ores are generally composed of both sulfides and oxides. The dissolution of sulfides is more difficult than oxides thus the addition of oxidant is necessary. In this paper, oxidative leaching of mixed ore in NH3-(NH4)(2)SO4 solution using ammonium persulfate as oxidant under atmospheric pressure and relatively low temperature was investigated for the first time. The effects of factors on the leaching of pure ZnS were studied and the optimal conditions with zinc 98.7% were determined. Selective and efficient extractions of 93.9% and 94.9% zinc from zinc sulfide ore and mixed ore were also achieved, respectively.