System and method for conversion of molybdenite to one or more molybdenum oxides

Abstract

A system and method for producing molybdenum oxide(s) from molybdenum sulfide are disclosed. The system includes a pressure leach vessel, a solid-liquid separation stage coupled to the pressure leach vessel, a solvent-extraction stage coupled to the solid-liquid separation stage, and a base stripping stage coupled to the solvent-extraction stage. The method includes providing a molybdenum sulfide feed, subjecting the feed to a pressure leach process, subjecting pressure leach process discharge to a solid-liquid separation process to produce a discharge liquid stream and a discharge solids stream, and subjecting the discharge liquid stream to a solvent extraction and a base strip process.

1 . A method of forming molybdenum oxide from material including molybdenum sulfide, the method comprising the steps of:
 providing material including molybdenum sulfide;   pressure leaching said material including molybdenum sulfide to create a pressure leach slurry;   separating said pressure leach slurry to form a solid leach product and a liquid leach product;   recovering molybdenum oxide from said solid leach product;   
       performing solvent extraction on said liquid leach product to create an extracted liquid stream containing at least one metal value;
 separating at least one metal value from said extracted liquid stream containing at least one metal value; 
 removing alkali metal from said extracted liquid stream to create a recycle stream; and 
 providing said recycle stream to said pressure leaching step. 
 
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said step of performing solvent extraction on said liquid leach product to create an extracted liquid stream containing at least one metal value comprises extracting molybdenum and rhenium from the liquid leach product. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said step of separating at least one metal value from said extracted liquid stream to create a recycle stream comprises separating rhenium from said extracted liquid stream. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said step of removing alkali metal from said extracted liquid stream comprises removing alkali metal from said extracted liquid stream via ion-exchange. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of deoiling said material including molybdenum sulfide. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of upgrading said material including molybdenum sulfide. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said step of recovering molybdenum oxide from said solid leach product further comprises washing said solid leach product to form a washed molybdenum oxide product and a wash solution. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising the step of recycling said wash solution to said pressure leaching step. 
     
     
         9 . The method of step  1 , wherein said step of performing solvent extraction on said liquid leach product further comprises creating an aqueous solution containing at least one metal value. 
     
     
         10 . The method of step  9 , wherein said step of creating an aqueous solution containing at least one metal value comprises creating an aqueous solution containing copper. 
     
     
         11 . The method of step  10 , further comprising the step of providing further processing of said aqueous solution containing copper to recover copper value.