Effect of Lead and Antimony on Sulfuric Acid Leaching of Copper in Speiss from Top Submerged Lance Furnaces

Cu-Pb and Cu-Sb alloys were prepared at various ratios, from 10:90 to 90:10, and leaching tests with sulfuric acid were conducted to investigate the effect of Pb and Sb on the leaching of Cu from speiss, which is obtained from the top submerged lance furnace process. The Cu leaching efficiency increased as the amount of Cu increased in both alloys, but the leaching efficiencies were lower in the Cu-Sb alloy than in the Cu-Pb alloy. For example, in alloys with 70% Pb and Sb ratio, the leaching efficiency of Cu from the Cu-Pb alloy increased to 95%. The leaching efficiency of the Cu-Sb alloy was 67% in 2 mol/L sulfuric acid solution with 1% pulp density and 1000 cc/min O2 at 90 °C, 400 rpm, and 6 hours. When the leaching residues were examined with SEM (scanning electron microscopy)-EDS (Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy), it was found that in all Cu-Pb alloys, Cu and Pb exist as independent metal phases, while, in Cu-Sb alloys, Cu formed intermetallic compounds with Sb such as Cu2Sb, because the Cu-Sb alloy has a lower melting point than the Cu-Pb alloy. These results suggest that Sb may retard the leaching rate of Cu from the alloy. When the leaching residue of speiss obtained from a top submerged lance furnace, intermetallic alloys of Cu-Sb were also observed, having a net structure. The net structure contains Cu metal in the center of the speiss particle, while the intermetallic alloys of Cu-Sb were present in the outer layer of the particle, in good agreement with the results using the alloys in this study. This suggests the intermetallic alloys of Cu-Sb can prevent copper from leaching.