Experimental and reduction leaching kinetics simulation of iron-rich manganese oxide ore using tobacco stem concrete as reducing agent

Reduction leaching behaviors of Fe and Mn from an iron-rich manganese oxide ore using waste tobacco stem concrete as reducing agent were investigated in this paper with a view to determining the feasibility of tobacco stem concrete used in reduction leaching of Mn from iron-rich manganese oxide ore. Results indicated that the leaching processes of Fe and Mn were both dominated by internal diffusion, but the effects of leaching parameters on leaching ratios of Fe and Mn were different based on established leaching kinetic equations. The leaching ratio of Mn reached up to 96.18% while that of Fe kept a lower concentration (17.66%) under optimal leaching conditions, which achieved high selectivity recovery of Mn from iron-rich manganese oxide ore. In addition, the leached solution can be used as electrolytic stock solution in the production of electrolytic manganese. Characterization of the obtained electrolytic manganese product indicated that the quality of electrolytic manganese fully met the standards of YB/T 051-2003, which disclosing a novel recycling approach of utilizing the resource coming from the tobacco industry.