Recovery and purification of tin from tailings from the Penouta Sn-Ta-Nb deposit

Abstract

A concentrate obtained from mining tailings containing mainly cassiterite and columbotantalite was reduced for the production of tin metal. The compounds CaCO3, Na2CO3, K2CO3, and borax were used as fluxes in the pyrometallurgical reduction smelting process, and graphite was employed as the reducing agent. The greatest recovery of Sn (>95%) was obtained when using CaCO3 as the flux, the purity of Sn was 96%. A slag equivalent to 25% of the mass of the initial concentrate was produced during the recovery of the Sn. This contained 45% Nb2O5 and Ta2O5, adding extra value to the mine tailings. The tin metal ingot was purified by electrorefining involving a tin and H2SO4 electrolyte solution and a 101.9 A/m2 current applied for 148 h. Under these conditions, 90 wt % of the Sn in the ingot was recovered at a purity of 99.97%.