Leaching of rubidium from biotite ore by chlorination roasting and ultrasonic enhancement

Aiming at the problems of the low grade of rubidium (Rb) in biotite, and long leaching time and low leaching efficiency of Rb in mica ore, the chlorination roasting-assisted ultrasonic enhanced water leaching method was employed to extract Rb from biotite ore in this study. During the chlorination roasting process, the optimal conditions were obtained, namely roasting temperature 900 °C, roasting time 40 min, and the mass ratio of ore to calcium chloride 1:1, the optimum leaching rate was 96.75 %. Compared with conventional leaching, the ultrasonic field could greatly shorten the leaching time and realize fast and efficient leaching of Rb. The optimal conditions for ultrasonic enhanced leaching were: ultrasonic power 100 W, leaching temperature 60 °C, leaching time 20 min, liquid–solid ratio 4:1, the Rb leaching rate was 98.73 %, which was 40 min shorter than conventional leaching. The particle size and SEM results indicated that the samples by ultrasonic leaching were smaller, no agglomeration phenomenon in a large area, and the surface of the samples was relatively smooth.