EFFICIENCY OF GALLIUM EXTRACTION FROM BAUXITE
Dal Pai, E; Badarani, A; Pugalia, N; Sewell, S; Rajamanickam, D; Dey, S; Al Mazrouei, F
Gallium is a by-product from the extraction of alumina from bauxite. Understanding parameters that affect the performance of gallium extraction during digestion of bauxite is important in any Refinery that has the intention to install or enhance gallium recovery from liquor or to minimize gallium incorporation into the product, with a goal of improved alumina quality.
The work presented in this paper aims to provide information related to gallium extraction from bauxite and a possible mechanism for the extraction. Experiments in an alumina refinery and in the laboratory were carried out to understand the conditions and parameters that impact gallium extraction. The key parameters that are investigated in this paper are digestion temperature, free caustic in liquor, gallate concentration in liquor and lime addition to digestion holding tubes.