A method, based in leaching with SO2, to process low grade pyrolusite minerals has shown good results at laboratory scale. After the separation of the solid impurities, the dissolved manganese is subsequently precipitated using the SO2/O2 gas mixture as oxidising agent. In this research it was obtained a mathematical model to estimate the oxidative precipitation process, as a function of temperature, pH and SO2 gas flow rate. It was found that pH and temperature have the main influence in the reaction rate. An optimal SO2 concentration in the mixture must be used to avoid generation of reductive conditions. It was observed a most efficient reaction with a low gas flow rate injection. The predicted reaction rates presents a good concordance with the experimental results (R2=0.97), showing a worthy potential for practical uses.
