SELECTIVE COBALT, MANGANESE AND NICKEL EXTRACTION FROM BATTERY RECYCLING LEACHATE SOLUTIONS

Methods of recovering a nickel, cobalt, and manganese salts are disclosed. The method includes removing one or more impurities from an acidic aqueous leach solution including cobalt, manganese, and nickel salts to produce a purified aqueous solution including the cobalt, manganese, nickel salts, and remaining impurity salts. The method includes extracting the purified aqueous solution in a first liquid-liquid extraction step using a first organic extractant to produce a first aqueous raffinate solution including the cobalt, manganese, and nickel salts and a first loaded organic solution including one or more of the remaining impurity salts from the purified aqueous solution. The method further includes extracting the cobalt, manganese, and nickel salts from the first aqueous raffinate solution in a second liquid-liquid extraction step using a second organic extractant to produce a second loaded organic solution including the cobalt, manganese and nickel salts and a second aqueous raffinate solution comprising one or more of the remaining impurity salts.