Development of a Chemical Process for Production of Cesium Chloride from a Canadian Pollucite Ore

A chemical process was developed for the production of a high-purity cesium chioride from a pollucite (cesium aluminum silicate) ore from the Manitoba deposit of Chemalloy Minerais Ltd. The history of the deposit, and the present and possible future uses of cesium are briefly reviewed. Laboratory and piiot plant investigations on this ore have shown that a cyclic sulphuric acid leach followed by fractional crystallization will produce a rubidiumfree cesium alum, which can be converted to cesium chloride by thermal decomposition and ion exchange. On the basis of these findings it is concluded that the process is applicable to the tonnage production of cesium chloride. Reagent consumption was found to be 3.3 sulphuric acid and 0.3 lb hydrochloric acid per pound of cesium extracted. Overall extraction of cesium was 95 to 96%. (auth)