Circular 66—Studies on hypochlorite leaching of molybdenite

By Roshan B. Bhappu, Dexter H. Reynolds and William S. Stahmann, 1963

The response of molybdenite to hypochlorite leaching has been known for some time. However, sufficient information on the mechanism of the process has not been available for this technique to be utlized effectively in exploiting low-grade molybdenum deposits. Experimental data are presented which reveal that nine moles of hypochloric are consumed in leaching one mole of molybdenite, both with pure concentrates and with natural low-grade ores.