Adsorption of copper on manganese nodule residue obtained from NH3-SO2 leaching

Manganese nodules occurring in beds of many of the world's oceans contain v aluable metals such as Cu. Co, Ni, Mn, Zn, etc. in the form of oxides/oxy-h ydroxides. Many processes have been developed worldwide to extract metal va lues from manganese nodules. A process based on NH3-SO2 leaching has been d eveloped at RRL, Bhubaneswar to recover Cu, Ni, Co and Zn. The process gene rates a large amount of residue. Studies were undertaken to examine the pos sibility of adsorption of heavy metal ions on this residue. Adsorption of c opper on polymetallic nodule (PMN) leach residue was examined using synthet ic copper sulfate solution. Adsorption was pH dependent and was maximum at pH between 4.0 and 5.0. The material was found to be a good adsorbent and i ts loading capacity was higher than activated charcoal. (C) 2001 Elsevier S cience B.V. All rights reserved.