The problem of processing galvanic sludges, formed as a result of neutralization of technological solutions and wastewater containing heavy non-ferrous metals is considered. At present, sludges are transported to disposal area and are not used in any way. Typically, such sludges contain significant amounts of chromium and nickel, which creates environmental hazard. Investigated sludge contains up to 6.6% Ni and up to 7.4% Cr. The hydrometallurgical technology for processing of these sludges has been developed. Solutions of sulfuric acid and ammonia were used as lixiviants. It is shown that when using a solution of sulfuric acid with pH=1.5, extraction of up to 93.3% Cu, 70.2 Ni, 90.3 Zn is achieved. For selective recovery of nickel from leachates the process of sorption concentration by Lewatit TP207 is proposed.

The possibility of sorption extraction of nickel from leaching solutions of oxidized nickel ores of the Buruktal deposit is considered. Ionite Lewatit TP220 with bis-picolylamine functional groups is effective for nickel recovery against the background of high iron contents. Lewatit TP220 is mechanically strong enough for use in the resin-in-pulp process. Nickel sorption with satisfactory performance occurs both in the variant of sorption leaching and extraction from clarified solutions. At sorption from the pulp, the capacity for nickel was 5.44 mg/g, for iron, 25.17 mg/g. The use of 20% sulfuric acid provides quantitative nickel desorption. To obtain a higher quality nickel-containing product, it is recommended to additionally purify the resulting eluates from iron.