Hydrometallurgical Recovery of Cu and Zn from a Complex Sulfide Mineral by Fe3+/H2SO4 Leaching in the Presence of Carbon-Based Materials

Chalcopyrite, the main ore of copper, is refractory in sulfuric media with slow dissolution. The most commonly employed hydrometallurgical process for the oxidation of chalcopyrite and copper extraction is the sulfuric acid ferric sulfate system The main objective of the present work is to study the use of cheap carbon-based materials in the leaching of copper and zinc from a sulfide complex mineral from Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB). The addition effect of commercial charcoal (VC) and two magnetic biochars (BM and HM) that were obtained by pyrolysis of biomass wastes was compared to that of commercial activated carbon (AC). The experimental results performed in this work have shown that the presence of carbon-based materials significantly influences the kinetics of chalcopyrite leaching in the sulfuric acid ferric sulfate media at 90 °C. The amount of copper and zinc extracted from IPB without the addition of carbon-based material was 63 and 72%, respectively. The highest amount of extracted zinc (>90%) was obtained with the addition of VC and AC in IPB/carbon-based material ratio of 1/0.25 w/w. Moreover, it is possible to recover more than 80% of copper with the addition of VC in a ratio 1/0.25 w/w. Moreover, an optimization of the properties of the carbon-based material for its potential application as catalyst in the leaching of metals from sulfide is necessary.

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Dissolution kinetics of marmatite in sulfuric acid-ferric sulfate‑sodium chloride‑oxygen media at atmospheric pressure

Hydrometallurgy ◽

10.1016/j.hydromet.2021.105801 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 208 ◽

pp. 105801

Author(s):

Rafael Padilla ◽

Milton E. Copa ◽

Maria C. Ruiz

Keyword(s):

Sulfuric Acid ◽

Sodium Chloride ◽

Atmospheric Pressure ◽

Dissolution Kinetics ◽

Ferric Sulfate ◽

Kinetics Of

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Chalcopyrite leaching in acid media: a review

Metallurgical and Materials Engineering ◽

10.30544/526 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 26 (2) ◽

pp. 177-198 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Grozdanka D. Bogdanović ◽

Sanja Petrović ◽

Miroslav Sokić ◽

Milan M. Antonijević

Keyword(s):

Raw Materials ◽

Sulfide Mineral ◽

Copper Production ◽

Copper Extraction ◽

Acid Media ◽

Environmental Criteria ◽

Complex Sulfide ◽

Acidic Sulfate ◽

Pyrometallurgical Processing ◽

Sulfide Concentrates

In the modern practice of copper production, more and more attention is paid to the possibility of treating low-percentage sulfide ores that cannot be treated with conventional procedures (crushing, grinding, flotation). In addition to this, the processes of obtaining copper from complex sulfide concentrates, which cannot undergo pyrometallurgical processing, are increasingly being investigated. Extraction of copper from such raw materials is in most cases achieved by applying leaching procedures. Since chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) is by far the most abundant copper sulfide mineral, a large portion of the research is focused on studying the behavior of chalcopyrite in the leaching process, because processes of copper extraction from increasingly poor raw materials may be created using results of these studies. In addition, the main objective of this research is examining the kinetics and mechanism of chalcopyrite oxidation under the influence of various oxidants (O2, Fe3 +, H2O2, chlorate ions, etc.) and at the same time obtaining data necessary for the development of copper production process that could satisfy increasingly stringent technological, economic and environmental criteria. The paper presents the existing knowledge of the chalcopyrite leaching procedure and phenomena that accompany chalcopyrite oxidation in acidic sulfate and chloride solutions.

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