Abstract:In the zinc hydrometallurgical process, a significant amount of hazardous iron-bearing waste, such as jarosite and goethite waste, is generated, posing challenges due to its large volume, high toxicity, and potential to cause secondary pollution. To address the difficulties in disposing iron-bearing waste, a new method based on "acid washing, Fe(Ⅱ)-induced transformation, and magnetic separation" for treating iron-bearing waste was innovatively proposed. Acid washing can effectively remove soluble and slightly soluble impurities in iron waste, such as gypsum and zinc sulfate, and significantly prevent these impurities from inhibiting subsequent transformation reactions. In the Fe(Ⅱ)-induced transformation stage, ferrous ions (Fe2+) were introduced, and the Fe2+ to Fe3+ ratio was adjusted to 1︰2 under alkaline conditions, to ensure the efficient conversion of iron-bearing phases to magnetite. After the reaction, the product is subjected to magnetic separation under an external magnetic field, producing high-iron-content magnetite concentrate and impurity-rich tailings. Mg, Al, Mn, Ca, Zn, and other impurity metals are enriched in the tailings, with their concentrations increasing by more than twofold compared to that in magnetite concentrate. The iron content of the magnetite concentrate obtained through magnetic separation reaches 61%, significantly higher than the original iron content in the waste (31.6%–42.8%), demonstrating its potential for resource utilization. This process not only achieves the reduction and resource utilization of iron-bearing waste but also has the advantages of simple operational requirements, mild reaction conditions, and no additional introduction of impurities, so it has significant potential for widespread application.