Hydrometallurgy 81 (2006) 1 8

www.elsevier.com/locate/hydromet

Use of mixed-metals isotherm and loglog McCabe Thiele's diagram

in solvent extractionA case study
M.V. Rane , R. Sadanandam, K. Bhattacharya, S.K. Tangri, A.K. Suri
Hydrometallurgy Section, Materials Group, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai-400 085, India
Received 27 June 2005; received in revised form 25 August 2005; accepted 19 September 2005
Available online 28 October 2005

Abstract
Nickel and cobalt are invariably associated with other transition element impurities like copper, zinc, iron, etc. It is essential to
remove these impurities in order to attain the high standards of purity required for specific applications. Solvent extraction is a
well-tested route for this purpose. The present paper describes the application of two novel concepts, viz. mixed-metals isotherm
and loglog McCabe Thiele's (MT) diagram in solvent extraction. Mixed-metals isotherms can be applied to a system in which
two metal ions compete for a single extractant. If these two metal ions are required to be extracted as a group, mixed-metals
isotherms can precisely predict their behavior. Loglog MT diagrams are useful in determining the requirement of the number of
stages in counter current extraction, especially when the feed and raffinate concentrations differ by several orders of magnitude.
The two concepts have been successfully applied to develop a process for the separation of high purity cobalt and nickel from
ocean nodules leach liquor.
2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Mixed-metals isotherm; Loglog McCabe Thiele's diagram; Ocean nodules; Copper; Zinc; Cobalt; Nickel; DEHPA; PC-88A; Solvent
extraction

1. Introduction
Ocean nodules contain a large number of metals like
nickel, cobalt, manganese, copper, zinc, iron, etc. Vast
resources of these nodules are found at the ocean bed. In
countries like India, where the land resources of some
metals like cobalt and nickel are scarce, ocean nodules are
expected to become an important source of these metals.
The leaching of ocean nodules was effected through the
reductive ammonia leaching route in which metals like
nickel, cobalt, copper and zinc were solubilised as their
amine complexes leaving iron and manganese in the
Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 22 25593659; fax: +91 22
25505151.
E-mail address: r_v_mahesh@rediffmail.com (M.V. Rane).
0304-386X/$ - see front matter 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.hydromet.2005.09.003

residue (Jana et al., 1999). Major portion of copper was

recovered by solvent extraction using LIX 84. The
raffinate solution was then subjected to sulphide precipitation and the bulk sulphide precipitate on sulphuric
acid leaching generated the leach liquor. This solution
contained nickel and cobalt along with impurities such as
copper, zinc, iron, manganese and aluminum. The
removal of these impurities is essential prior to the
separation of cobalt and nickel. The efficient removal of
these impurities can be effected only by solvent extraction, since selective precipitation does not yield high
purity products, without considerable losses.
A number of methods involving different types of
extractants have been developed and applied for the
recovery of base metals (Chapman, 1987; Cote, 2000;
Murthy et al., 1986; Nicol et al., 1987). In spite of this,

M.V. Rane et al. / Hydrometallurgy 81 (2006) 18

Table 1
Effect of equilibrium pH and A / O on the distribution ratios and separation factor
Eq. pH

A/O

D(Cu + Zn)

D(Co + Ni)

= D (Cu + Zn) /
D (Co + Ni)

Co % extracted

Ni % extracted

Cu conc. in
the raff. (g/l)

3.0

1:l
2:1
3:1
4:1
6:1
8:1
10 : 1
1:1
2:1
3:1
4:1
6:1
8:1
10 : 1
1:1
2:1
3:1
4:1
6:1
8:1
10 : 1

4.412
4.936
4.639
4.581
5.106
5.237
6.003
14.82
13.33
12.41
10.50
7.640
7.240
7.180
22.64
22.13
22.02
20.71
18.00
14.33
12.58

0.074
0.067
0.053
0.042
0.032
0.023
0.020
0.163
0.131
0.080
0.058
0.032
0.021
0.012
0.620
0.348
0.268
0.205
0.112
0.074
0.056

59.89
73.30
88.13
108.2
157.1
230.1
301.6
91.02
100.2
154.4
181.7
237.3
352.1
622.7
36.74
63.49
82.31
101.2
160.9
193.3
224.4

13.1
6.55
3.69
2.29
1.19
0.65
0.48
23.9
11.9
6.60
3.80
1.60
0.90
0.40
42.4
21.0
15.5
10.0
4.50
2.60
1.70

6.19
2.91
1.51
0.91
0.47
0.25
0.17
13.0
5.60
2.20
1.20
0.40
0.20
0.10
37.8
14.2
7.45
4.34
1.56
0.75
0.45

0.483
0.735
1.000
1.170
1.345
1.500
1.558
0.160
0.340
0.500
0.710
1.120
1.340
1.470
0.109
0.219
0.323
0.430
0.671
0.950
1.170

3.5

4.0

the development of a solvent extraction process for a

particular feed solution requires extensive study of
the various parameters. The route chosen is greatly
influenced by the type, concentration of the associated
ions and the specifications of the final product required.
In the present process, the prime objective was to recover
nickel and cobalt. For this purpose, the removal of
copper and zinc was attempted in a single SX circuit.
Hence, a novel approach of generating mixed-metals
isotherms for (Cu + Zn) and (Ni + Co) systems was
employed. This data provided more realistic estimates
than that obtained from the study of individual
isotherms. Another objective of the process was to obtain
10

a high degree of purity and recovery for cobalt and

nickel. This required minimum losses (b 0.001 g/ml) in
the various streams. The requirement of the number of
stages to achieve this criterion could not be deduced from
the conventional MT diagrams. Hence, it was proposed
to use the loglog MT diagrams for this purpose. The
results were compared with those obtained from
Kremser's equation as well as the actual trial runs.
2. Experimental
Typical process streams contained 0.91.8 g/l Cu, 0.6
0.8 g/l Zn, 0.150.18 g/l Fe, 1.661.92 g/l Co and 17.5

10

A/O = 3.36

pH = 3.5

A/O = 3.36

pH = 4.0

(Cu+Zn)org g/l

(Cu+Zn)org g/l

1
1

2
3

0.1

4
5

0.01

1
1

2
0.1

3
0.01

1.77

1.77
1E-3
1E-3

1E-3
0.01

0.1

10

(Cu+Zn)aq g/l
Fig. 1. McCabe Thiele's diagram for (Cu + Zn) extraction at pHeq 3.5.

1E-3

0.01

0.1

10

(Cu+Zn)aq g/l
Fig. 2. McCabe Thiele's diagram for (Cu + Zn) extraction at pHeq 4.0.

M.V. Rane et al. / Hydrometallurgy 81 (2006) 18

10

A/O = 0.5
1

(Ni + Co)aq g/l

0.1

Table 2
Effect of equilibrium pH and A / O on the distribution ratios and
separation factor
Eq. pH

A/O

D (Co)

D (Ni)

Separation factor,
= D (Co) / D (Ni)

4.0

1:l
2:1
3:1
4:1
6:1
8:1
10 : 1
1:1
2:1
3:1
4:1
6:1
1:1
2:1
3:1
4:1
6:1

2.49
1.21
1.26
1.10
1.07
1.05
1.05
6.11
6.22
5.75
4.74
4.83
11.0
9.45
9.28
8.05
6.46

0.12
0.075
0.070
0.062
0.057
0.058
0.054
0.133
0.058
0.032
0.020
0.015
0.38
0.25
0.21
0.17
0.13

21.6
16.1
18.0
17.7
19.0
18.1
19.3
46.0
107
180
258
322
29.2
37.8
44.2
47.4
49.7

2
0.01

2.69
1E-3
1E-3

0.01

0.1

10

4.5

(Ni + Co)org g/l

Fig. 3. McCabe Thiele's diagram for (Co + Ni) scrubbing.

22.0 g/l Ni. Hence, synthetic solutions of this composition

were used as feed for collecting the basic data. The organic
phase composed of 0.5 M DEHPA, with 5% isodecanol in
kerosene. The extractant was saponified to the extent of
50% by adding requisite quantities of standard sodium
hydroxide. McCabe Thiele's diagram was constructed at
the optimum A / O ratio and equilibrium pH. The
theoretical number of stages required was deduced from
the diagram and verified by counter current extraction in
mixer settlers using actual process streams. During
extraction of copper and zinc, small amounts of cobalt and
nickel also get extracted. The removal of these unwanted
metal ions from the organic phase is achieved in the
scrubbing module. The loaded organic from the counter
current runs was used for scrubbing experiments. The
scrub solution was 0.1 M H2SO4. The stripping of copper
and zinc was studied with 1.5 M H2SO4. Iron, wherever
present was stripped with 6 M HCl in 2 stages.
After removal of impurities, the process streams
contained 1.71 g/l Co and 19.9 g/l Ni. As in the case of Cu
and Zn, equilibrium data for Co and Ni was collected at

5.0

equilibrium pH values of 4.0, 4.5 and 5.0 using 50%

saponified 0.5 M PC-88A and 5% isodecanol in kerosene.
Scrubbing and stripping isotherms were generated using
0.2 M H2SO4 and 1.5 M H2SO4, respectively. The cobalt
strip solution was converted to cobalt powder by oxalate
route. The pH of the raffinate containing nickel was 5.0.
The extraction of nickel with DEHPA was studied at an
equilibrium pH of 6.0. The stripping was achieved with
spent electrolyte of pH 1.0 containing 54 g/l Ni. Based on
the data collected, various parameters for counter current
extraction in mixer settlers were optimized. However, in
the mixer settler run, stripping of Cu and Zn was
accomplished using spent electrolyte containing 36 g/l Cu
in 1.5 M H2SO4 to obtain a product solution suitable for
copper electrowinning.

100

A/O = 2.8

10

O/A = 4

pH = 4.5

1
2

(Cu+Zn)aq g/l

Co(org) g/l

3
1

2
Operating curve

4
0.1

5
0.01

5.88
10

6
7

1.85

1E-3
1E-3

0.01

0.1

(Cu+Zn)org g/l
Fig. 4. McCabe Thiele's diagram for (Cu + Zn) stripping.

10

1E-3

0.01

0.1

Co(aq) g/l
Fig. 5. McCabe Thiele's diagram for cobalt extraction at pHeq 4.5.

M.V. Rane et al. / Hydrometallurgy 81 (2006) 18

10

A/O = 2.8

pH = 5.0

10

Co(aq) g/l

Co(org) g/l

A/O = 0.125

100

0.1

0.1
0.01

4
5.08

5
1E-3
1E-3

4
0.01

1.85
0.01

0.1

1E-3
1E-3

0.01

10

3.1. Optmisation of process parameters for the three

circuits of SX
The removal of copper and zinc is achieved by
simultaneous extraction with DEHPA. The extraction of
zinc competes with that of copper. Hence, the study of
their individual extraction behavior is not relevant in this
case. For practical use in the current program, combined

10

Fig. 8. McCabe Thiele's diagram for cobalt stripping.

Fig. 6. McCabe Thiele's diagram for cobalt extraction at pHeq 5.0.

3. Results and discussion

Co(org) g/l

Co(aq) g/l

The extent of saponification was determined by

titrating the extractant with standard alkali in alcohol
medium. The equivalence point was determined using
bromo cresol purple as the indicator. The major
constituents were analyzed by UVvisible spectrophotometry using the three-wavelength method (Jaywant
and Murthy, 1971) and four-wavelength method (Rane et
al., 1999). The minor elements were determined by atomic
absorption spectrophotometry. The experiments for basic
data were conducted in separating funnels.

0.1

extraction isotherm data for (Cu + Zn) extraction was

generated at various equilibrium pH. From the results
presented in Table 1, it can be seen that for a given A / O
ratio, both D(Cu + Zn) and D(Co + Ni) increase with
increasing equilibrium pH. However, the separation
factor is maximum at pH 3.5. The extraction of Co and
Ni also increases with the rise in pH. On the other hand,
the amount of Cu remaining in the raffinate decreases. It
is also evident that as A / O increases, the distribution
values vary in such a way that the separation factor ,
D(Cu + Zn) / D(Co + Ni) increases sharply, for a given pH.
The extraction of cobalt and nickel increases in an
attempt to minimize the copper content in the raffinate
and vice versa. As the copper concentration in the
raffinate increases, the purity of combined nickel and
cobalt decreases, whereas the extraction of cobalt and
nickel results in lower recoveries. Considering the above
observations, a phase ratio, A / O of 3 and equilibrium
pH of 3.5 seemed to be optimum for acquiring the
desired purity and the recovery of Co and Ni.
A/O = 25/65

100

10

A/O = 0.25

10

Ni(org) g/l

Ni(aq) g/l

4
5

0.1

1E-3
1E-3

0.1

Operating curve

6
0.01

3
1

pH = 6.0

0.01

5.88
0.01

0.1

10

Ni(org) g/l
Fig. 7. McCabe Thiele's diagram for nickel scrubbing.

17.03
1E-3
1E-3

0.01

0.1

10

Ni(aq) g/l
Fig. 9. McCabe Thiele's diagram for nickel extraction.

M.V. Rane et al. / Hydrometallurgy 81 (2006) 18

70

In the second circuit, the separation of cobalt from

nickel in the first circuit raffinate was attempted. The
aqueous and organic concentrations were plotted to
generate isotherms for Co extraction. The separation
factors were also calculated at the equilibrium pHs
mentioned (Table 2). It was observed that even though the
distribution ratios increased continuously with equilibrium pH, the separation factors were higher at pH 4.5.
Hence MT diagrams (Figs. 5 and 6) were constructed at
pHeq 4.5 and 5.0. The scrubbing of nickel and stripping of
cobalt are depicted in Figs. 7 and 8, respectively.
The primary aim of the third circuit was the
upgradation of nickel solution. Hence it consisted of
extraction and stripping. The equilibrium aqueous and
organic concentrations of nickel were plotted to generate
the extraction isotherm. The saturation loading was found
to be 13.88 g/l of Ni (Fig. 9). The stripping of Ni was
achieved using spent electrolyte solution containing 54 g/
l Ni and 12 g/l each of Na2SO4 and H3BO3 (pH = 1.0) in 4
stages. The special composition of the strip solution was
chosen in order to obtain a product solution suitable for
direct EW. The A / O ratio was so chosen as to obtain a
product solution containing 62 g/l Ni (Fig. 10).
The process with the deduced parameters was
implemented in mixer settlers of 150 ml mixer capacity
using actual leach liquor. The operational data of each
module, namely, extraction, scrubbing and stripping was
collected for all the three circuits (Tables 35) after

A/O = 55/65

pH = 6.0
60

Ni(aq) g/l

1
2

3
Operating curve

50

6.86
40
0.01

0.1

10

Ni(org) g/l
Fig. 10. McCabe Thiele's diagram for nickel stripping.

In order to ascertain the number of stages required to

completely extract copper and zinc, MT diagrams were
constructed using equilibrium isotherms of pHeq 3.5 and
4.0 (Figs. 1 and 2).
The organic phase loaded with copper, zinc also
contained minor amounts of cobalt and nickel. The
cobalt and nickel were scrubbed from the organic phase
with 0.1 M H2SO4 at different A / O ratios. As in
extraction, the number of stages was determined by
generating the scrubbing and stripping isotherms for
(Co + Ni) and (Cu + Zn), respectively (Figs. 3 and 4).

Table 3
Stagewise concentration and pH profile in mixer settlers for removal of Cu and Zn using DEHPA (first circuit)
Feed composition

Flow rates

Cu 0.76 g/l
Zn 0.90 g/l
Co 1.92 g/l
Ni 22.26 g/l
Fe 0.200 g/l
Total SO2
4 0.46 M

Feed = 42 ml/min
Scrub = 5 ml/min
Strip = 3 ml/min
Organic = ml/min

Module

Extraction

Scrubbing
Stripping

Stage

1[F]*
2
3
4
5
6[R]
1[Sc]
2[F]
1[St]
2[P]

Organic phase

Aqueous

Cu

Zn

Co

Ni

Cu

Zn

Co

Ni

g/l

g/l

g/l

g/l

g/l

g/l

g/l

g/l

3.42
0.850
0.180
0.032
0.006
0.001
2.25
3.34
0.001
0.001

2.56
0.001
0.001
0.001
0.001
0.001
2.52
2.54
0.001
0.008

0.89
1.51
1.60
1.60
1.60
1.40
0.01
0.62
0.001
0.001

1.80
6.70
7.30
7.20
7.50
7.50
0.015
1.53
0.001
0.001

0.270
0.060
0.009
0.001
0.001
0.001
2.18
2.38
36.92
45.65

0.002
0.001
0.001
0.001
0.001
0.001
0.001
0.014
0.004
9.85

2.06
2.10
2.00
2.00
2.00
1.64
1.20
1.74
0.006
0.036

21.43
21.50
21.20
21.20
21.30
18.18
3.01
3.58
0.013
0.06

*[F] Feed end; [R] Raffinate end; [Sc] Scrub end; [St] Strip end; [P] Product end.

pH

3.64
3.80
3.97
3.98
3.99
4.02
2.30
3.10

M.V. Rane et al. / Hydrometallurgy 81 (2006) 18

Table 4
Stagewise concentration and pH profile in mixer settlers for separation of Co and Ni using PC-88A (second circuit)
Feed composition

Flow rates

Cu 0.004 g/l
Zn 0.001 g/l
Co 2.01 g/l
Ni 19.05 g/l

Feed = 40 ml/min
Scrub = 4 ml/min
Strip = 2 ml/min
Organic = 16 ml/min

Module

Extraction

Scrubbing

Stripping

Stage

1[Feed end]
2
3
4
5
6[Raffinate end]
1[Scrub end]
2
3
4
5
6
7
8[Feed end]
1[Strip end]
2
3
4[Product end]

Organic
Co

Ni

Co

Ni

g/l

g/l

g/l

g/l

5.19
0.79
0.20
0.066
0.020
0.003
5.08
8.60
8.48
8.25
6.11
5.22
5.11
5.10
0.001
0.008
0.075
0.61

5.88
7.50
8.15
8.52
8.54
8.55
0.002
0.011
0.052
0.44
2.28
3.29
3.40
5.03
b0.001
b0.001
b0.001
b0.001

0.28
0.076
0.023
0.008
0.002
0.001
14.06
13.50
12.69
4.12
0.64
0.23
0.20
0.19
0.066
0.58
4.80
40.65

20.34
20.28
20.65
20.78
20.79
17.27
0.032
0.19
1.74
9.17
13.16
13.60
20.57
24.10
0.016
0.005
0.002
0.001

optimizing the various flow rates wherever required in

order to restrict the copper and zinc in the raffinate of the
first circuit below 1 ppm, cobalt in the second circuit
raffinate up to 3 ppm, while nickel in the third circuit
raffinate below 10 ppm.
3.2. Loglog MT diagrams
As seen in the figures, the process parameters were
optimized with the help of MT diagrams plotted on loglog
scale instead of a linear scale. Loglog MT diagrams are
particularly useful when a high degree of recovery and
purification is to be achieved. The operating lines were
generated using the following equations:
For extraction,
yn A=Oxn y0 A=Oxr

1
For scrubbing and stripping,
yn A=Oxn ys A=Oxs

2
yn, xn are metal ion concentrations in the opposing
streams of organic and aqueous phase, respectively.
A
O

Flow rate of aqueous phase.

Flow rate of organic phase.

Aqueous

y0
xr

pH

4.63
4.73
4.83
4.87
4.90
5.01
3.62
3.90
3.93
3.94
3.94
3.96
3.99
4.27

Metal ion concentration in barren organic

phase.
Metal ion concentration in the raffinate that can
be tolerated.

Table 5
Stagewise concentration and pH profile in mixer settlers for extraction
of Ni using DEHPA (third circuit)
Feed composition

Flow rates

Co 0.001 g/l
Ni 17.03 g/l

Feed = 25 ml/min
Strip = 55 ml/min
Organic = 65 ml/min

Module

Extraction

Stripping

Stage

1[Feed end]
2
3
4[Raffinate end]
1[Strip end]
2
3
4[Product end]

Organic

Aqueous

Ni

Ni

g/l

g/l

6.86
4.46
0.49
0.008
0.04
2.04
6.37
6.78

12.08
0.94
0.037
0.003
56.77
61.60
61.70
61.74

pH

5.10
5.59
5.73
5.83
1.25
2.57
3.55
3.64

M.V. Rane et al. / Hydrometallurgy 81 (2006) 18

Table 6
Comparison between loglog MT diagrams and Kremser's equation
SX
circuit

Module

Number of stages deduced/required

Loglog MT

Kremser's eq.

Actual trial runs

First

Extraction

Second

5.94 (pHeq = 3.5)

3.84 (pHeq = 4.0)
1.99
1.55
7.87 (pHeq = 4.5)
5.39 (pHeq = 5.0)
6.88
3.95
2.02 (pHeq = 6.0)
1.72

4 (pH range = 3.644.02)

Scrubbing
Stripping
Extraction

6
4
2
2
7
5
7
4
2
3

Scrubbing
Stripping
Extraction
Stripping

Third

ys
xs

Metal ion concentration in scrubbed/stripped

organic phase that can be tolerated.
Metal ion concentration in the fresh scrub/strip
solution.

In the above equations, metal ion is referred to the

metal ion/ions of interest that are to be extracted,
scrubbed or stripped in the individual cases. In most of
the cases, where the values of y0, xr, ys and xs were below
1 g/ml, these terms were neglected to obtain the
operating line. However, at greater values, the terms
could not be neglected and an operating curve was
obtained on a loglog scale (Figs. 4, 9 and 10). The used
scrub solution was recycled to the first stage of extraction
module. As a result, the effective feed concentration was
calculated as follows:
Effective feed conc: Cfeed  Ffeed Cscrub
 Fscrub
=Ffeed Fscrub
C
F

Concentration of metal ion in the stream.

Flow rate of the stream.

The number of stages in the extraction module was

deduced using this effective feed concentration. The
requirement of stages deduced using loglog MT
diagrams was compared with those obtained using the
following Kremser's equation (Robbins, 1984). For
extraction,
when e p 1;
xr y0 =m1 =xf y0 =m1 e1=en1 1
4
when e 1;
xr y0 =m1 =xf y0 =m1 1=n 1

2
2
6 (pH range = 4.635.01)
8
4
4 (pH range = 5.105.83)
4

For scrubbing/stripping,
when e p1;
ys xs m2 =yf xs m2 = 1=e1
=1=en1 1

6
when e 1;ys xs m2 =yf xs m2 1=n 1
xf
yf
m1
m2

Metal ion concentration in the feed.

Metal ion concentration in unscrubbed/unstripped organic phase that can be tolerated.
Distribution ratio at raffinate end.
Distribution ratio at scrub/strip inlet end.
(Geometric mean of distribution ratios) O / A

The data obtained is shown in Table 6 along with that

obtained from the actual trial runs. It was observed that
there was agreement between the results obtained by the
two methods. Furthermore it was observed that in the
actual trial runs in mixer settlers, similar results were
obtained with marginal differences. Thus, loglog MT
diagrams can be utilized to obtain a good estimate of the
number of stages required to achieve the desired purity
and/or recovery.
4. Conclusion
A novel approach of mixed-metals isotherm technique was employed for (Cu + Zn) and (Ni + Co) systems.
This technique provided more realistic estimates than
that obtained from the study of individual isotherms and
can be applied to systems, in which two elements
compete for a single extractant. Based on this technique,
the separation of copper and zinc was achieved in order
to obtain N 99% purity of Co and Ni. The use of loglog
MT was found to be advantageous over the conventional

M.V. Rane et al. / Hydrometallurgy 81 (2006) 18

linear MT diagrams, which cannot be applied for

concentration ranges of a few orders of magnitude. This
has been proved by successfully applying loglog MT
diagrams for the development of a process for the
separation of high purity cobalt and nickel from ocean
nodules leach liquor.
Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to Dr. S Baneerjee, Director,
Materials Group and Director, Bhabha Atomic Research
Centre for his keen interest and inspiration during the
course of this work.
References
Chapman, T.W., 1987. Extraction metals processing. In: Rousseau,
R.N. (Ed.), Handbook of Separation Process Technology. Wiley
Interscience Publication, pp. 467499.
Cote, G., 2000. Hydrometallurgy of strategic materials. Solv. Extr. Ion
Exch. 18 (4), 703727.

Jana, R.K., Pandey, B.D., Premchand, 1999. Ammoniacal leaching of

roast reduced deep-sea manganese nodules. Hydrometallurgy 53,
4556.
Jaywant, D.V., Murthy, T.K.S., 1971. Simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of Cu, Ni and Co in some alloys. Indian Journal
of Technology 9, 396400.
Murthy, T.K.S., Koppikar, K.S., Gupta, C.K., 1986. Solvent
extraction in extractive metallurgy. In: Li, N.N., Navratil, J.D.
(Eds.), Recent Developments in Separation Science, vol. VIII.
CRC Press, pp. 144.
Nicol, M.J., Fleming, C.A., Preston, J.S., 1987. Applications to
extractive metallurgy. In: Sir Wilkinson, G., Gillard, R.D.,
McClaverty, J.A. (Eds.), Comprehensive Coordination Chemistry
The Synthesis, Reactions, Properties and Applications of
Coordination Compounds. Pergamon Press, pp. 779842.
Rane, M.V., Srikanth, K., Menon, N.K., Sadanandam, R., Tangri, S.K.,
Suri, A.K., 1999. Simultaneous spectrophotometric estimation of
Fe, Cu, Co, Ni in Ocean nodule leach liquor. Proc. 3rd ISOPE
Ocean Mining Symp. Goa, India, pp. 265267.
Robbins, L.A., 1984. Liquidliquid extraction, In: Perry, R.H., Green,
D.W., Maloney, J.O. (Eds.), Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook, Sixth Edition. McGraw Hill, pp. 1516.