Determination of scandium in wolframite and in the residues obtained after the extraction of tungsten.

The separation of scandium from iron and manganese by extraction with TBP from hydrochloric acid was studied in detail and this method was applied to the estimation of scandium in wolframite and its residues. The method consists of the extraction of tungsten from the wolframite with sodium carbonate, dissolution of the residue in hydrochloric acid and preferential extraction of iron and scandium from hydrochloric acid, stripping of the scandium with 8 M hydrochloric acid and re-extraction of accompanying iron with fresh TBP, precipitation of scandium with ammonia in presence of ammonium chloride, and final purification of the scandium by TBP extraction.