Abstract
The chlorination of oxides of major concern in cassiterite concentrate with various chlorinating agents is investigated in light of their thermodynamic feasibilities to extract and recover their valuable metal components. Mechanisms responsible for the processes and their Gibbs free energy changes as a function of temperature to selectively separate and/or recover the metal(s) of interest and unwanted ones as their metallic chlorides are identified. Attention is given to gaseous (Cl(2) and Cl(2) + CO mixture) and solid (CaCl(2) and MgCl(2)) chlorine sources, from which Cl(2) + CO shows no reaction selectivity for any of the oxides but a feasible metal chloride formation for all. Chlorine gas (Cl(2)), on the other hand, could selectively form chlorides with metals of +2 oxidation state in their oxides, leaving those of high oxidation state unreacted. MgCl(2), unlike CaCl(2), is found capable of producing calcium, ferrous, and stannic chloride from their metallic oxides with enhanced reaction tendencies in the presence of silicon dioxide (SiO(2)). An overall study of the thermodynamic feasibility of all chlorine sources looked at alongside operational and environmental viabilities suitably suggests MgCl(2) for a selective extraction of the valuable metal components in a cassiterite concentrate, in which case, moderate temperatures seem promising.