Selective separation of copper and nickel by solvent extraction using LIX 984N

Selective separation of copper and nickel from ammoniacal/ammonium carbonate medium was carried out by using LIX 984N diluted with deodourised kerosene. The study of the influence of equilibration time, equilibrium pH, extractant concentration and selective stripping of copper and nickel has been optimized. It was found that both the metal extractions were unaffected by the changes in pH. Nickel extraction equilibrium was reached at a longer contact time than that for copper and nickel extraction depends greatly on the extractant concentration in the organic phase. Co-extraction, ammonia scrubbing and selective stripping of copper and nickel were performed for a solution containing 3 g dm− 3 each of copper and nickel and 60 g dm− 3 ammonium carbonate. The extraction and the percentage of stripping for nickel and copper were almost quantitative.