Extraction of magnesium from calcined dolomite ore using hydrochloric acid leaching

Magnesium is widely used in varieties industrial sector. Dolomite is one source of magnesium besides seawater. The extraction of magnesium from dolomite ores can be done by leaching process. In this work, the dolomite leaching to extract magnesium by hydrochloric acid was investigated. The leaching experiments were performed in a spherical glass batch reactor having a capacity of 1000 ml. The effects of the stirring speed, acid concentration, reaction temperature and liquid-solid ratio for each reaction time of 1; 2; and 3 h on the Mg leaching have been evaluated. 5 ml of solution sample were collected from the leached solutions, then it was filtered prior to analysis by ICP OES. The experimental results show that the magnesium extraction increases along with the increase of acid concentration, liquid-solid ratio and temperature. The optimum conditions for magnesium extraction were achieved at temperature 75 °C, extraction time 3 h, the HCl concentration of 2 M, the liquid-solid ratio 20 ml/g and stirring speed of 400 rpm. At this condition 98, 82 % of magnesium were extracted from dolomite. The conclusion obtained from this leaching process is that the magnesium can be extracted from dolomite by using hydrochloric acid solutions.