Dissolution behaviour of a beryl ore for optimal industrial beryllium compound production

This study involves the leaching of the beryl ore with sulphuric acid (H2SO4) solution for predicting optimal beryllium extraction conditions with the aim of assessing the importance of leachant concentration, reaction temperature and particle size on the extent of dissolution. A kinetic model to represent the effects of these variables on the leaching rate was developed. It was observed that the dissolution of beryl ore increases with increasing H2SO4 concentration, temperature, decreasing particle size and solid to liquid ratio. At optimal leaching conditions, 89.3% of the ore was reacted by 1.25 mol/L at 75 degrees C temperature and 120 minutes with moderate stirring, where 1612.0 mg/L Be2+, 786.7 mg/L Al3+, 98.1 mg/L Fe3+ and 63.4 mg/L Ag+ were found as major species in the leach liquor. The unleached products constituting about 10.7% were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and found to contain primarily, siliceous compounds such as Xonotlite, Antigorite, Chrysolite and Kaolinite.