Title of Invention

" PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF ZNCL2 FROM A ZINC BEARING PRIMARY AND/OR SECONDARY MATERIAL"

Abstract

Process for the production of ZnCl2 from a Zn bearing primary and/or secondary material comprising the steps of reacting the Zn bearing material with a chlorinating agent such as Cl2 to convert metals into chlorides and vaporising the volatile components of the reaction product at a temperature between the melting point of said reaction product and the boiling point of ZnCl2, thereby recovering a Zn rich chlorinated melt, and thereafter distilling ZnCl2 from this Zn rich chlorinated melt, thereby recovering purified ZnCl2 and a Zn-depleted chlorinated melt. (FIG. NIL)

Full Text

PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF ZnCl2 FROM A ZINC BEARING PRIMARY AND/OR SECONDARY MATERIAL The present invention relates to a process for the production of zncl2 from a zinc bearing primary and/or secondary material and recovery of metals, especially zinc, from zinc bearing primary and/or secondary material. More specifically, the process of the present invention relates to the conversion of the metals in the l2ed material to metal chlorides and subsequent recovery of the zinc and optionally other metals. Most present processes for zinc production require oxidic raw materials. Nowadays, the most widely used process for zinc production is the sulphate process which represented 80% of total world production in 1997. It consists of the steps of roasting, leaching, liquor purification, electro-deposition, melting and casting. The most abundant natural raw material is zinc blende (ZnS), which must be roasted to ZnO as a first step. Of course, zinc oxide recycled from other industries can be used directly without roasting. The zinc electro-deposition is readily disturbed by extremely low levels of impurities in the electrolyte; the electrolyte liquor oust therefore be rigorously purified. This means that the concentration of all the elements other than zinc present in the l2ed has to be lowered drastically. For instance, the following limits are generally applied: l2 less than 5 ppm, Cu less than 0.1 ppm, Co less than 0.2 ppm, As less than 0.01 ppm, Ge less than 0.005 ppm etc. In consequence, the liquor purification step is rather complicated, involves a lot of difl2rent process steps and produces many difl2rent types of residues. Some of these residues necessitate further treatment to valorise the metals they contain. Other residues, among which large quantities of iron residue in the form of jarosite or goethite, must be disposed of in ponds, a practice which is under strong environmental pressure. Another difficulty of the sulphate process is that in order to achieve maximum recovery yields of zinc and also of other valuable impurities such as copper and cadmium, the leaching step is long and complicated, involving successive leaching operations at difl2rent acidities and temperatures. At the turn of the 20th century, Swinburne and Ashcroft proposed a completely difl2rent process for the production of zinc from sulfidic material in GB 14,278. This process is known as "chlorine smelting with fused chloride electrolysis". The method, consists in: converting all the metals present in a sulphide ore or concentrate l2ed into chlorides by reacting them with chlorine, and producing elemental sulphur at the same time; eliminating all the chlorides other than ZnCl2 by cementation with zinc metal; and electrolysing the fused zinc chloride to produce pure zinc and to recover the chlorine. Basically, in a first embodiment of the Ashcroft process called the "wet" embodiment, the chlorination reaction produces a chloride melt, containing insoluble oxides and gangues which were not readily converted to chlorides during the chlorination step. The whole melt is then dissolved in water, in order to separate the insoluble fraction, and subjected to purification. Iron and manganese are eliminated by the addition of zinc oxide and chlorine in the aqueous solution. The other metals are cemented by the addition of Pb and/or Zn metal. The purified zinc chloride solution is then boiled down again, and a preliminary electrolysis with a rough, consumable carbon anode efl2cts the final de-hydration of the zinc chloride before the actual zinc electrolysis. A variation of the process consists in the cementation of all the metals with zinc, without prior dissolution in water, and is called the "dry" embodiment. The zinc chloride is also subjected to a pre-electrolysis to ensure a sufficiently low oxide and water content. Then the actual electrolysis is carried out as above to produce molten zinc. The Ashcroft process, although very interesting, sufl2rs from several drawbacks. First, a lot of zinc metal is consumed in the cementation step, whether in the dry or the wet embodiment. Also, as the molten zinc chloride must be very pure for the electrolysis, the totality of the other elements must be removed from the flow, which implies a non-selective output which is difficult to valorise. Finally, particularly in the wet embodiment, a lot of energy is required to evaporate the water, and a pre-electrolysis with consumable anodes is needed to completely dry the melt. These operations are not economically interesting. It is an object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages of the above mentioned methods. Our main goal is to have a better control of residues. This means that clear-cut, single step separations of the difl2rent elements present in the l2ed are required, in order to avoid as much as possible the production of residues that must be disposed of, and to favour the production of well marketable exits for the separated by-products. Another aim is to allow a high flexibility in the l2ed, i.e. to be able to use, separately or together, various zinc-bearing primary or secondary materials. Another advantage over the sulphate process is that the electrolysis produces molten zinc which can be directly cast, thus avoiding the melting of zinc cathodes. Yet another advantage is the overall lower energy consumption of the process. Beside an economical interest, this is also important from the environmental point of view, since less energy means less production of greenhouse efl2ct generating gases. According to the present invention, a process is provided for the separation and recovery of metals, especially zinc, from zinc bearing primary and/or secondary material. The process for the production of ZnCl2 from a Zn bearing primary and/or secondary material comprises the steps of reacting the Zn bearing material with a chlorinating agent such as Cl3 to convert metals into chlorides and vaporising the volatile components of the reaction product at a temperature between the melting point of said reaction product and the boiling point of ZnCl2, thereby recovering a Zn rich chlorinated melt, and thereafter distilling ZnCl3 from this Zn rich chlorinated melt, thereby recovering purified ZnCl2 and a Zn- depleted chlorinated melt. To this process, a further step of converting metal impurities which are present in the melt into insoluble oxides can be added. This conversion is accomplished by adding a metal oxide such as ZnO to the melt, after having recovered the Zn rich chlorinated melt and before distilling ZnCl2. During the conversion, an oxidising agent such as Cl2 can be added to the melt. The insoluble oxides obtained after conversion can be separated from the melt after the step of distilling ZnCl2. During the step of reacting the Zn bearing material with a chlorinating agent, the addition of this chlorinating agent can be controlled bo as to convert substantially all the l2 present in the Zn bearing material into l2Cla. A further step is then added to the process including the conversion step as described before, whereby after having recovered the Zn rich chlorinated melt and before converting, l2 is volatilised as l2(III) chloride by adding an oxidising chlorinating agent such as Cl3 to the melt at a temperature between 400 and 730 °C. The l2(III) chloride obtained in this process step can be purified, e.g. by rectification using a liquid reflux carrier. Purified ZnCl2 from the step of distilling ZnCl2 can be l2d as a liquid reflux carrier in the step of rectifying l2(III) chloride. The step of distilling ZnCl2 in the processes described before can comprise the steps of: volatilising ZnCl3 and other less volatile metal chlorides, thereby obtaining the Zn-depleted chlorinated melt and a Zn-rich gaseous phase; and rectifying the ZnCl2-rich gaseous phase, thereby obtaining purified ZnCl3 and metal chlorides less volatile than ZnCl3. Either one or both of purified ZnCl2 and metal chlorides less volatile than ZnCl2 from the step of rectifying the ZnCl2-rich gaseous phase, can be l2d as a liquid reflux carrier in the step of rectifying l2(III) chloride. To any of the processes described before, the step of subjecting the purified ZnCl2 to dry electrolysis can be added for the production of metallic Zn and Cl3. Prel2rably, Cl2 is then recycled as chlorinating agent from the dry electrolysis to the step of reacting the Zn bearing material with a chlorinating agent. Cl2 recycled from the dry electrolysis can also be used as an oxidising agent in the conversion of the metal impurities into insoluble oxides as mentioned above. Cl2 from the step of dry electrolysis can furthermore be recycled as an oxidising chlorinating agent to the step of volatilising l2 as l2(III) chloride as mentioned before. Prel2rably, residual metal values present in the Zn-depleted chlorinated melt are separated and a metal-depleted chlorinated melt is obtained, which can be recycled for use as a solvent in the step of reacting the Zn bearing material with a chlorinated agent in the first embodiment of the invention. Figure 1 provides an overview of the flowsheet of the first embodiment of the process comprising the steps of reacting Zn-bearing material with a chlorinating agent (100), distilling ZnCl3 (101), electrolysing ZnCl3 (105) and separating metal values (106) . Figure 2 provides an overview of the flowsheet of the second embodiment comprising the steps of reacting Zn-bearing material with a chlorinating agent (100), converting chlorides to oxides (102), distilling ZnCl2 (101), electrolysing ZnCl2 (105) and separating oxides and metal values (106). Figure 3 provides an overview of the flowsheet of the third embodiment comprising the steps of reacting Zn-bearing material with a chlorinating agent (100), volatilising l2 as l2(III) chloride (103), purifying l2(III) chloride (104), converting chlorides to oxides (102), distilling ZnCl2 (101), electrolysing ZnCl2 (105) and separating oxides and metal values (106). Figure 4 provides an overview of the distillation of the zinc chloride, comprising the steps of volatilising a ZnCl2-rich phase (101") and rectifying the ZnCl2-rich phase (101"). The process of the present invention converts the metals in a zinc bearing primary and/or secondary material to chlorides. As chlorides, they can be recovered in subsequent processing steps. In particular, zinc chloride is separated from the other chlorides by volatilisation, purified by rectification (fractional distillation), and optionally subjected to dry electrolysis, in order to recover metallic zinc of a special high grade quality, with a purity of 99.95 wt% or better. The types of materials that can be l2d to the process of the present invention are e.g. those in which the metals are found in sulphidic, oxidic, carbonatic, l2rritic or silicaceous states. The first embodiment of the process is illustrated in Figure 1. The l2ed (1) to the process, typically in the form of a flowing powder, is contacted (100) with a chlorinating agent (2) such as Cl2, S2Cl2 or HCl. O2 can be added to facilitate the reaction, in particular when HCl is used to chlorinate sulphidic materials. While the contact between the l2ed and the chlorinating agent can be performed at low temperature, it is prel2rably performed at a temperature above 400 °C, the l2ed being in suspension in a recycled molten salt solvent, as will be explained below. By contacting the l2ed and the chlorinating agent, the metal salts present in the l2ed are substantially converted into chlorides, leaving unreacted only the gangues and possibly some non-reactive oxides. The metal chlorides that are formed can include, depending on the nature of the l2ed the chlorides of: Zn, l2, Cu, Pb, Ca, Ag, Ma, Mg, Na, K, Ba, Co, Ni, Cd, Ga, In, Sn. If the first step was performed at low temperature, the reaction products are then heated to above their melting point. A mixture of molten salts is thus obtained. The energy to provide is generally low because the chlorination reaction is exothermic. The most volatile reaction products are then vaporised, prel2rably at a temperature between 500 and 730 °C, or more prel2rably between 550 and 650 °C, and eliminated as reaction vapours of the chlorination step (19). These volatile components include the chlorides of metals such as Ta, Hg, Ga, In, Ge, Sn, As and Sb. If the l2ed contains sulphides, in the absence of oxygen, elemental sulphur is formed and eliminated with the reaction vapours (19). If any oxygen is present, as a gas or in oxides, SO2 is formed, and is also evacuated with the reaction vapours (19). If the chlorination reaction is carried out at a sufficiently high temperature, the vaporisation of sulphur and other volatile compounds will already take place during the chlorination itself. The resulting Zn-rich chlorinated melt (3) is then heated, prel2rably up to its boiling point, in order to vaporise the ZnCl2 so as to separate it (101) from the other chlorides, e.g. by fractional distillation. Two fractions are thus produced: purified ZnCl2 (4) and a Zn-depleted melt (5) . It is neither necessary nor desirable to eliminate all of the ZnCl2 from the Zn-rich chlorinated melt, particularly if the depleted melt is to be recycled as a solvent for the chlorination reaction, as ZnCl2 helps to keep the melting point of the melt low, typically below 400 °C. The purified, liquid ZnCl2 can then be l2d in an electrolysis cell (105). This cell can be monopolar or bipolar, with electrodes consisting e.g. of graphite. Since molten ZnCl2 has a poor electrical conductivity, the melt in the cell should prel2rably contain chlorides of metals having a redox potential more negative than Zn2+, such as Na+, K+ or Li*, or a mixture of them. A typical bath composition consists of 40 mole % ZnCl2, 30 mole % KC1 and 30 mole % NaCl. The electrolysis is performed at a temperature higher than the melting point of the salt mixture used, and prel2rably above the melting point of Zn (420 °C), in order to produce liquid Zn (15) that can be directly cast upon tapping. The temperature is prel2rably kept below 600 °C to avoid excessive fuming of the ZnCl2. The cathode reaction is: Zna+ + 2e~ = Zn°; the anode reaction is 2C1" = Cl2 + 2e-. Chlorine gas (16) evolving at the anode can be recycled as a chlorinating agent (2) to the first step of the process (100). Details about the electrolysis step can be found in e.g. "Electrowinning Zinc from Zinc Chloride in Monopolar and Bipolar Fused-Salt Cells", Report of investigation 8524, 1981 - Bureau of Mines; S.D. Hill et al.. The Zn-depleted melt (5) can further be processed in a separation step (106). In a first step, the insoluble oxides or gangues which were not readily converted to chlorides during the chlorination step (100) can be separated by settling (8). Then the metal values (17) can be separated, e.g. by cementation with lead or zinc. These metal values, according to the nature of the l2ed, can for instance contain Cu, Ag and other precious metals such as Au or Pt-group metals. The resulting metal-depleted melt (18) can be recycled to the step of chlorination (100), to serve as Bolvent for the reaction. The l2ed is dispersed as a suspension in this solvent and the chlorinating agent is bubbled through the bath. This first embodiment of the invention is selected when the amount of l2 in the l2ed is very low. Indeed, when l2 is present, it will be chlorinated: the l2(III) in the l2ed becomes l2(III) chloride, and the l2{II) becomes FeCl2 l2(III) chloride, itself being a chlorinating agent, can react with the l2ed, and form l2Cl2. As there is no other significant purge of iron in this embodiment, an excess of the chlorinating agent has to be added to form l2(III) chloride. This l2(III) chloride is relatively volatile, and will be partially eliminated with the other volatile components in the reaction vapours (19). However, some iron chloride will be passed to the distillation step (101) and will then be vaporised together with the ZnCl2, thereby contaminating the purified ZnCl2 (4). If the amount of l2 in the l2ed is sufficiently low, this might be acceptable. If not, then the second embodiment of the process provides a solution, as set out next. The second embodiment of the process is illustrated in Figure 2. There, the l2ed (1) is contacted with a chlorinating agent (2) in the chlorination step (100), as explained above, and the operation is conducted until a Zn-rich chlorinated melt (3) is obtained. It is prel2rable that during said chlorination step (100) the addition of the chlorinating agent (2) is controlled in such a way that substantially no l2(III) chloride is formed. This can be done by stopping the addition of the chlorinating agent as soon as brown fumes appear. The needed amount of chlorinating agent can also be calculated, based on the stoechiometry of the reaction and the amount of zinc-bearing material to be chlorinated. Then, in a conversion step (102), a metal oxide-bearing compound (6) such as PbO, CaO, CaCO3, or prel2rably ZnO, is added to the melt. The added oxide can precipitate substantially all the oxides of l2(III), Mg and Ni (if present in the l2ed), and partially the oxides of l2(II), Mn(II) and Co(II). Subsequently, or prel2rably at the same time, a small amount of an oxidising agent (7) such as chlorine gas is added to the melt, whereby l2(II), Mn and Co will be oxidised to a state enabling the precipitation of a major part of their oxides. However, adding too much oxidising agent may cause the oxides to re-dissolve. After this conversion, the resulting melt (3*) is heated, prel2rably up to its boiling point, in order to vaporise the ZnCl2 so as to separate it (101) from the other chlorides, e.g. by fractional distillation. Two fractions, purified ZnCl2 (4) and a Zn-depleted melt (5), are obtained as set out in the first embodiment, The purified ZnCl2 (4) can then be l2d in an electrolysis cell (105), where it is processed as explained above. At the anode, chlorine gas is evolved (16). This gas can be recycled as a chlorinating agent (2) to the first step of the process (100), but also as an oxidising agent (7) to the conversion step (102). The Zn-depleted melt (5) can then further be processed in a separation step (106). In a first phase, oxides of l2, Mg, Mn, Ni and Co formed in the conversion step (102) are separated e.g. by settling (8), together with the insoluble gangues which were not converted to chlorides during the chlorination step (100). Then the metal values (17) can be separated. These metal values, according to the nature of the l2ed, can for instance contain Cu, Ag and other precious metals such as Au or Pt-group metals. The resulting metal-depleted melt (18) can be recycled to the step of chlorination (100), as explained above. In this embodiment, some or all of the l2 present in the melt after the chlorination (100) is blocked as an oxide during the conversion (102), and does not contaminate the purified ZnCl3 (4) . However, this method is practical only if the amount of l2 in the flow (3) from the chlorination step (100) is low, in particular lower than 2 wt %. Indeed, if it is too high, some iron will still be present in the flow after the conversion step (102), even if an excess of oxide is added, and it may contaminate the purified ZnCl2 (4). In that case, the third embodiment set out below, provides a solution to this problem. This third embodiment of the process is illustrated in Figure 3. Here, l2 is prel2rentially eliminated in an iron volatilisation step (103) taking place after the chlorination step (100) and the elimination of the reaction vapours (19). Therefore, during said chlorination step (100) the addition of the chlorinating agent (2) is controlled in such a way that substantially no l2(III) chloride is formed, as explained above. In the iron volatilisation step (103), l2 is eliminated by injection of an oxidising chlorinating agent (10) such as chlorine into the melt. The formed l2(III) chloride is volatilised (9) at a temperature comprised between 400 and 730 °C, prel2rably between 600 and 700 °C. This elimination cannot reach 100%, but the aim is to lower the l2 concentration to a level where it can be blocked by the addition of oxides in the subsequent conversion step (102), as was explained in the second embodiment. The volatilised l2(III) chloride (9) contains some ZnCl2. This mixture can be purified (104) by selectively condensing the zinc chloride, e.g. by using a rectifying column for producing pure l2(III) chloride (11). A good separation implies a contact between a liquid and a gas phase. Since the temperature range for the molten state of l2(III) chloride is very limited, this distillation is carried out efficiently when using a liquid reflux carrier (12). This carrier is prel2rably a recycled stream from the flow sheet as will be explained below, or a chloride whose vapour pressure is low at the working temperature, e.g. NaCl. The reflux flow (20) from the bottom of the rectifying column, which is rich in liquid reflux carrier, can be recycled to the chlorination step (100) or to the conversion step (102). The l2-depleted melt (3*) exiting from the iron volatilisation step (103) is then subjected to the conversion step (102), as in the second embodiment. Here the l2, already being present as l2(III), precipitates directly as Fe2Cl3 upon addition of a metal oxide-bearing compound (6) such as PbO, CaO, CaCO3, or prel2rably ZnO. The oxides of Mg and Ni are also substantially precipitated, and partially the oxides of Mn and Co. A small amount of oxidising agent (7) such as chlorine gas can be added to the melt to oxidise Mn and Co to a state enabling a precipitation of the major part of their oxides. After this step, the resulting converted l2-poor melt (3*) is heated, prel2rably up to its boiling point, in order to vaporise the ZnCl2 so as to separate it from the other chlorides e.g. by fractional distillation (101). Purified ZnCl2 (4) and a Zn-depleted melt (5) are produced as in the previous embodiments. The purified ZnCl2 (4) can then be l2d in an electrolysis cell (105), where it is processed as explained above. A small part of this ZnCl2 can be used as liquid reflux carrier (12) for the l2(III) chloride distillation (104). At the anode of the electrolysis cell, chlorine gas is evolved (16). This gas can be recycled as a chlorinating agent (2) to the first step of the process (100), but also as an oxidising agent (7) for the conversion step (102), and as a chlorinating agent (10) for the elimination of l2 as l2(III) chloride by volatilisation (103). The Zn-depleted melt (5) can then be further processed in a separation step (106), as in the previous embodiments, for producing an oxide residue (8) and recovering metal values (17). The resulting metal-depleted melt (18) can be recycled to the chlorination step (100) as explained above. In order to achieve a still better separation of the difl2rent elements, especially when the l2ed contains lead and/or cadmium, the ZnCl2 distilling step (101) is performed in two steps. First, in a flash evaporation step, the converted l2-poor melt (3*), or in the case of the first embodiment, the Zn-rich chlorinated melt (3), is heated, prel2rably up to its boiling point, in order to volatilise (101") ZnCl2 together with a fraction of other less volatile metal chlorides such as PbCl2 and CdCl2, thereby obtaining a Zn-depleted melt (5) and a ZnCl2-rich gaseous phase (13). This flow (13) is rectified in a distillation column (101"), producing pure ZnCl2 (4) and, at the bottom of the column, a melt composed of the metal chlorides less volatile than ZnCl2, in particular PbCl2 and CdCl3 (14). This melt can be processed further to valorise said components. For instance, a mixture of PbCl2 and CdCl3 can be subjected to electrolysis to produce metallic Pb and Cd. Both-metals can then easily be separated from each other, e.g. by vaporisation. Part of the obtained metal chlorides less volatile than ZnCl3 (14) may also be used as liquid reflux carrier (12) for the l2(III) chloride distillation (104). The purified ZnCl2 (4), and the Zn-depleted chlorinated melt (5) can be further processed as explained in embodiments 1 to 3. The following examples illustrate the main steps of the process of the invention. Example 1: chlorination of zinc blende This example demonstrates the ability of the process to leach a blende concentrate (process step 100: reacting Zn bearing material with chlorinating agent). 2 kg of a molten solvent was prepared by mixing chloride salts in a quartz reactor. The composition of the solvent was: 51 mol% ZnCl2, 11.3 mol% PbCl2, 3 mol% CdCl2, 2 mol% KC1, 12.1 mol% NaCl, 17.4 mol% CaCl2, 2.4 mol% CuCl, 0.8 mol% BaCl2. The mixture was heated to 600 °C under nitrogen. 1.6 kg of a blende concentrate was gradually added to the melt. The blende contained 50.6 wt% Zn, 9.2 wt% l2, 1.8 wt% Pb, 0.1 wt% Cd, 0.23 wt% Cu, 33 wt% S. Chlorine gas was introduced by a quartz injection tube located at the bottom of the reactor, at a rate of 500 cc/min during 13 h. Sulphur was evolved from the reactor and collected in a condenser. In order to evaluate the chlorination, the resulting melt was dissolved in 5 1 of a NaCl 5 M solution, which favours the dissolution of the formed chlorides. The solid residue was filtered out of the solution and analysed for base metals content. Table 1 shows the extraction yield. The process achieved very high extraction yields for the main components of the blende in one single leaching step. Example 2; chlorination of an oxide l2ed This example demonstrates the ability of the process to leach an oxide l2ed (process step 100: reacting Zn bearing material with chlorinating agent). 2 kg of a molten solvent was prepared by mixing chloride salts in a quartz reactor. The composition of the solvent was: 51 mol% ZnCl2, 11.3 mol% PbCl2, 3 mol% CdCl2, 2 mol% KC1, 12.1 mol% KaCl, 17.4 mol% CaCl2/ 2.4 mol% CuCl, 0.8 mol% BaCl2. The mixture was heated to 600 °C under nitrogen. 1 kg of Waelz oxide was gradually added to the melt. The oxide contained 56 wt% Zn, 3.32 wt% l2, 7.9 wt% Pb. Chlorine gas was introduced by a quartz injection tube located at the bottom of the reactor, at a rate of 500 cc/min during 10 h. In order to evaluate the chlorination, the resulting melt was dissolved in 5 1 of a NaCl 5 M solution, which favours the dissolution of the formed chlorides. The solid residue was filtered out of the solution and analysed for its base metals content. Table 2 shows the extraction yield. The process achieved very high extraction yields for Zn and Pb; the l2 yield is lower than with blende because Fe2O3 is less reactive than the iron sulphide. Example 3: l2(III) chloride elimination This example demonstrates the ability of the process to eliminate iron from the melt (process step 103: volatilising l2 as l2(Ill) chloride). A melt was prepared by chlorination of 2 kg of zinc blende with chlorine gas, in 1.8 kg of molten solvent. The zinc blende and the molten solvent had the same composition as in Example 1. After the chlorination, the melt contained 4 wt% of l2, which is too much to be blocked as Fe2Cl3 by addition of e.g. ZnO, as explained above. Chlorine gas was injected in the melt at a flow rate of 500 ml/min during 6 h. The temperature of the melt was 620 °C. The experiment was stopped when almost no brown fumes (indicating the presence of l2(III) chloride) were produced anymore. The analysis of the melt showed that the residual l2 content was 0.21 wt%, and thus that 95.8 % of the l2 had been eliminated. The final l2 content is well below the limit of 2 wt% and can thus be blocked as an oxide. In those conditions, the contamination of ZnCl2 by iron will be negligible. Example 4; precipitation of oxides This example demonstrates the ability of the process to precipitate the oxides of l2, Mg, Mn, Co and Ni (process step 102: converting). A melt was prepared with the following composition (in wt%): 46.2 ZnCl2, 17.1 PbCl3, 14.1 CaCl2, 3.8 CuCl, 3 CdCla, 2.7 HnCl2, 2.4 l2Cl3, 2.4 CoCl2, 2 MgCl2, 1.9 NiCl2, 1.3 AgCl, 1.1 BaCl2, 1 KCl, 0.9 NaCl. The total weight was 1 kg. The salts were heated, melted and kept at a temperature of 600 °C. 110 g ZnO was added to the melt, and then Cl2 was bubbled through the mixture. 44 g of Cl2 was added subsequently. The amounts of metals in solution, and the amounts present as solid residue were determined. The percentage of precipitated metals, with ZnO only and with the subsequent addition of chlorine is presented in Table 3. The purge of Mg, Ni, Mn and Co, together with the blocking of the last traces of l2, with the addition of ZnO and Cl2 is thus efficient and constitutes an exit for these elements. Example 5: ZnCl2 flash evaporation This example demonstrates the ability of the process to separate ZnCl3, PbCl2 and CdCl2 from the other components of the melt (process step 101": volatilising ZnCl2). A melt was prepared by chlorination of 2 kg of blende and elimination of l2 as in Example 3. 50 g of ZnO was added to the melt to block the remaining iron as Fe2O3. In a consecutive step, the temperature of the melt was raised to 800 °C to vaporise ZnCl2, together with some PbCl2 and CdCl2. 70 % of the 2nCl2 initially present was evaporated. The vapours were condensed in an air-cooled reactor and analysed. They consisted of ZnCl2 and some other elements. The concentrations of these elements before and after the flash evaporation, and the percentage of extraction, are given in Table 4. The results show that the process can satisfactorily extract the ZnCl2 from the chlorinated melt, together with a sufficient amount of PbCl2 and CdCl2 to constitute an efficient purge. This purge is only slightly contaminated by l2, Cu and Mn. Example 6; rectification of ZnCl2 This example demonstrates the ability of the process to deliver pure ZnCl2 (process step 101": rectifying the Zn-rich gaseous phase). The melt obtained after the flash evaporation, as described in Example 5, was subjected to a distillation using a rectification column. The melt, placed in a boiler under the column, was heated up to 800 °C. The distillate was condensed and analysed. The total amount of impurities in the melt was about 10 ppm. The most important impurities are reported in Table 5. The process is thus able to produce a very pure ZnCl2. This ZnCl2, when electrolysed, will yield Zn metal meeting at least commercial Special High Grade specifications. List of rel2rence numerals used Process steps 100 reacting Zn bearing material with chlorinating agent 101 distilling ZnCl2 102 converting 103 volatilising l2 as l2(III) chloride 104 purifying l2(III) chloride 105 electrolysis 106 separating metal values 101" volatilising ZnCl, 101" rectifying the ZnCl2-rich gaseous phase Streams 1 Zn bearing primary and/or secondary material 2 chlorinating agent 3 Zn rich chlorinated melt 3" l2-depleted melt 3" converted l2-poor melt 4 purified ZnCl2 5 Zn-depleted chlorinated melt 6 metal oxide 7 oxidising agent 8 insoluble oxide residue 9 l2(III) chloride 10 oxidising chlorinating agent 11 purified l2(III) chloride 12 liquid reflux carrier 13 ZnCl2-rich gaseous phase 14 metal chlorides less volatile than ZnCl2 15 metallic Zn 16 Cl2 17 metal values 18 metal-depleted chlorinated melt 19 reaction vapours of the chlorination step 20 reflux flow from l2(III) chloride rectifying column WE CLAIM : 1. Process for the production of ZnCI2 from a Zn bearing primary and/or secondary material (1), comprising the steps of: - reacting (100) the Zn bearing material (1) with a chlorinating agent (2) such as Cl2 to convert metals present in the Zn bearing material (1) into chlorides and vaporising the volatile components of the reaction product at a temperature between the melting point of said reaction product and the boiling point of ZnCI2, thereby recovering a Zn rich chlorinated melt (3), - converting (102) metal impurities which are present in said Zn rich chlorinated melt (3) into insoluble oxides by adding a metal oxide (6) such as ZnO to the melt, and subsequently - distilling (101) ZnCI2 from the Zn rich chlorinated melt (3), thereby recovering purified ZnCI2 (4) and a Zn-depleted chlorinated melt (5) 2. Process as claimed in claim 1, whereby upon converting (102), an oxidising agent (7) such as Cl2 is added to the melt 3. Process as claimed in claims 1 or 2, whereby a separation of insoluble oxides (8) from the Zn-depleted chlorinated melt (5) is performed after the step of distilling (101) ZnCI2. 4. Process as claimed in claims 1 to 3, whereby during the step of reacting (100) the Zn bearing material (1) with a chlorinating agent (2) the addition of said chlorinating agent (2) is controlled so as to convert substantially all the l2 present in the Zn bearing material (1) into FeCI2, and further comprising the step of, after having recovered the Zn rich chlorinated melt (3) and before converting (102): - volatilising (103) l2 as l2(lll) chloride (9) by adding an oxidising chlorinating agent (10) such as Cl2 to the melt at a temperature between 400 and 730 °C. 5. Process as claimed in claim 4, comprising the step (104) of producing purified l2(lll) chloride (11) by rectifying l2(lll) chloride (9) using a liquid reflux carrier (12). 6 Process as claimed in claim 5, whereby purified ZnCI2 (4) from the step of distilling (101) ZnCI2 is l2d as a liquid reflux carrier (12) in the step of rectifying (104) l2(lll) chloride. 7 Process as claimed in claims 1 to 5, whereby the step of distilling (101) ZnCI2 comprises the steps of: - volatilising (101") ZnCI2 and other less volatile metal chlorides, thereby obtaining the Zn-depleted chlorinated melt (5) and a ZnC^-rich gaseous phase (13), and - rectifying (101") the ZnCI2-rich gaseous phase (13), thereby obtaining the purified ZnCI2 (4) and metal chlorides less volatile than ZnCI2 (14). 8. Process as claimed in claim 7 when dependent on claim 5, whereby either one or both of purified ZnCI2 (4) and metal chlorides less volatile than ZnCI2 (14) from the step of rectifying (101") the Zn-rich gaseous phase, is l2d as a liquid reflux carrier (12) in the step of rectifying (104) l2(lll) chloride. 9. Process for the production of metallic Zn (15) and Cl2 (16) comprising the steps of any one of claims 1 to 8, and further comprising the step of subjecting the purified ZnCI2 (4) to dry electrolysis (105). 10. Process as claimed in claim 9, whereby Cl2 (16) is recycled as chlorinating agent (2) from the step of electrolysis (105) to the step of reacting (100) the Zn bearing material with a chlorinating agent. 11. Process as claimed in claim 9 when dependent on claim 2, whereby Cl2 (16) is recycled as oxidising agent (7) from the step of electrolysis (105) to the step of converting (102). 12. Process as claimed in claim 9 when dependent on claim 4, whereby Cl2 (16) is recycled as oxidising chlorinating agent (10) from the step of electrolysis (105) to the step of volatilising (103) l2 as l2(lll) chloride. 13. Process as claimed in claims 1 to 12, comprising the step of separating (106) metal values (17) present in the Zn-depleted chlorinated melt (5), thereby obtaining a metal-depleted chlorinated melt (18). Process for the production of ZnCl2 from a Zn bearing primary and/or secondary material comprising the steps of reacting the Zn bearing material with a chlorinating agent such as Cl2 to convert metals into chlorides and vaporising the volatile components of the reaction product at a temperature between the melting point of said reaction product and the boiling point of ZnCl2, thereby recovering a Zn rich chlorinated melt, and thereafter distilling ZnCl2 from this Zn rich chlorinated melt, thereby recovering purified ZnCl2 and a Zn-depleted chlorinated melt.

Documents:

354-kolnp-2004-granted-abstract.pdf

354-kolnp-2004-granted-assignment.pdf

354-kolnp-2004-granted-claims.pdf

354-kolnp-2004-granted-correspondence.pdf

354-kolnp-2004-granted-description (complete).pdf

354-kolnp-2004-granted-drawings.pdf

354-kolnp-2004-granted-form 1.pdf

354-kolnp-2004-granted-form 18.pdf

354-kolnp-2004-granted-form 3.pdf

354-kolnp-2004-granted-form 5.pdf

354-kolnp-2004-granted-gpa.pdf

354-kolnp-2004-granted-letter patent.pdf

354-kolnp-2004-granted-reply to examination report.pdf

354-kolnp-2004-granted-specification.pdf

354-kolnp-2004-granted-translated copy of priority document.pdf