The Formation of Sodium Stannate from Mineral Cassiterite by the Alkaline Decomposition Process with Sodium Carbonate (Na2CO3)

Extraction of cassiterite from Indonesia using alkaline decomposition have been studied. The alkaline decomposition that used in this research is sodium carbonate (Na2CO3). Cassiterite (SnO2) is a mineral oxide from tin that has a composition about 57.82 wt persen and many impurities such as quartz, ilmenite, monazite, rutile and zircon. Preliminary processes to remove the impurities in cassiterite are washing and separation of high magnetic separator (HTS). Aim of this research is to increase the added value of cassiterite from local area Indonesia that using alkaline decomposition to form sodium stannate (Na2SnO3). The result shows that cassiterite from Indonesia can form sodium stannate (Na2SnO3) which soluble with water in leaching process. The longer the time for decomposition, the more phases of natrium stannate that will be formed. Optimum result reached when the decomposition process was done in 850 ºC for 4 hours with mole ratio Na2CO3 to cassiterite 3 : 2. High Score Plus (HSP) was used in this research to analyze the mass of sodium stannate (Na2SnO3). HSP analysis showed that mass of sodium stannate (Na2SnO3) is 70.3 wt persen. Prosiding International Conference on Advanced Materials for Better Future (ICAMBF) 2016 “IOP: Conference Series” (Open Access)