Copper processing, the extraction of copper from its ores and the preparation of copper metal or chemical compounds for use in various products. As most of these concentrates also contain significant levels of gold and silver, recovery of these precious metals cannot be overlooked. Generally, copper ore has a series of characteristics, including high oxidation rate, high binding rate, large mud content, fine and asymmetry dissemination size, etc. Application of bioleaching to copper mining in chile. The most common types of ore, copper oxide and copper sulfide, undergo two different processes, hydrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy, respectively, due. Copper recovered from leaching low grade copper ores was considered a bonus and little effort had been made to fully understand the leaching process or to maximize copper recovery. The commercial application of copper bioleaching, an environmentallyfriendly approach for lowgrade and secondary mineral resources recycling, has increased worldwide since the 2000s. Thereafter, it remarkably slows down as the leaching process progresses. Estimates indicate that by 1990 approximately 30 percent of the copper produced in this country will be recovered by some type of leaching process.
New resources for metals must be developed with the aid of novel technologies. Nevertheless, dump bioleaching is economical, mainly because it recovers copper. The main copper ore leaching process is flotation technology in the industrial production. The pure metal has a facecentred cubic crystal structure, and. Pdf heap leaching of malachiteatacamite ores with high silica gangue. The percentage of copper in the actual ore is too low for direct extraction of copper to be viable. Bioleaching of uranium and copper has been widely commercialized. Heap leaching is a tried and tested mining technique enabling the processing of. But large scale leaching process may cause environmental problems when dump is not managed properly. In its pure form or as an alloy, copper cu is one of the most important metals in society. Process of heap leaching the mined ore is crushed into tiny chunks and heaped on an impermeable plastic andor clay lined leach pad where it may be irrigated with a leach solution to melt the valuable metals.
Reference to the files of publications devoted to the mining. Sustainable development for mining of mineral and fossil energy resources. Bioleaching of copper is of major importance in metals production and this chap. This is especially used to extract copper and uranium. Copper carbonates and oxides, are present mainly in the oxidation zone oxide hats above the sulphide deposits.
For more than 30 years, a significant number of processes have been developed to leach copper from chalcopyrite concentrates. Pdf investigation into the heap leaching of copper ore from the. These processes recover copper via hydrometallurgical leaching of the copper component of chalcopyrite concentrates, followed by. Similar to in situ mining, heap leach mining differs in that it places ore on a liner, then adds the chemicals via drip systems to. The use of solution stacking is accompanied by increased evaporation losses.
The bacteria feed on nutrients in the minerals, causing the metal to separate from its ore. The commonest ore used in the extraction of copper is chalcopyrite cufes 2 also known as copper pyrites and other such sulfides. Heap leaching is bat for suitable ores because it allows the economical processing of ore that would otherwise be uneconomic under con ditions that can technically achieve regulatory acceptable levels of environmental risk mitigation. Automating and optimizing copper heap leaching processes. Separation of special copper ores such as those containing molybdenite or with high zinc or lead content canada is also possible by flotation methods. In this process, holes are drilled into the ore deposit by explosive or hydraulic fracturing methods. Large phase ratio extraction and enrichment of rare earth ions by a novel. Copper leaching from chalcopyrite concentrates springerlink. Biological leaching of copper mine residues by aspergillus niger c. Table of contentsbringing copper metal into solutionrecovering copper metal from leach liquorscopper leaching equipmentcopper leaching costscopper leaching practices the advance made in recent times in this branch of metallurgy is indicated by the attention the subject is receiving from important american copper producing companies. Natural bioleaching has been taking place for almost as long as the history of the world, but it is only in the last few decades that we have realized that bioleaching is responsible for acid production in some mining wastes, and that this bacterial activity can. Hi we are planning a vat leaching for hms rejects of copper oxide ore.
Like intec, they produce a high grade copper powder, which can be melted and cast. The method of recovery of gold from the process slurry is by carbon adsorption. This trickles slowly down through the ore, over a period of months, dissolving copper to form a weak solution of copper sulphate. Dump leaching is leaching from existing runofmine leach dumps which. Pdf the democratic republic of congo copper oxide ore.
I learned quite a bit about the mining process and its challenges from emersons alena johnson excellent mining engineering magazine article, improved flow measurement and control are key to efficiency. Commercially applied leaching processes process outline, history and status developments and trends part b. Sulphide copper minerals chalcocite, covellite and chalcopyrite, which are mostly. Optimization of parameters affecting recovery of copper from sarcheshmeh lowgrade sulfide ore using bioleaching. Hydrometallurgical considerations in processing arsenic. In 1968 the tonnage of highgrade oxide ores was decreasing and vat leaching was on the decline. This flowchart made of machinery icons explains or expresses in simple but clear terms the step of the copper mining and copper extraction process starting from either openpit or underground mining and using a different relevant treatment. Finally, a number of conclusions are presented that will be useful to keep in mind when. Treatment of copperrich gold ore by cyanide leaching. First, the ore is treated with dilute sulphuric acid. Early application of bioleaching to copper mining centred in its recovery from dumps gentina and acevedo, 1985. Since cls is different than cyanide or any other leach solution now in use, this new technology must, in some manner, be. After the leaching process is complete, the soluble gold must be concentrated and separated from the process slurry. The mineralogy of ores in the area is typically associated with high gangue acid consumption during the leaching process.
Az of copper ore leaching alta metallurgical services. Mineral beneficiation by heap leaching technique in mining. Would there be any channeling effect in the vat as we are p. Copper processing is a complicated process that begins with mining of the ore less than 1% copper and ends with sheets of 99. A brief note on the heap leaching technologies for the recovery of. In fact, our team has spearheaded the development of a unique vat leaching process, aimed at improving upon the conventional heap and tank leaching processes. The main advantages of ammonia leaching of copper and zinccontaining sources are as follows. Pdf application of bioleaching to copper mining in chile. Copper dump leaching and management practices that. Microsoft word big guns in copper conc leaching race.
On the other hand, the dissolution of copper occurs most rapidly and extensively at the onset within an hour of the leaching process fig. Heap leaching is an industrial mining method to dig out precious metals and copper compounds from ore. The first process, vat leaching of highgrade copper oxide ore followed by ew of copper from the leach solution, produced low quality copper cathode at relatively high cost. Optimization of parameters affecting recovery of copper. We are planning for a 5000 tons holding capacity for the vat and feed grade is 1% copper. This process is known as sxew solvent extractionelectrowinning. Heap leaching mining techniques, metals mining, copper, heap leaching is an industrial mining method to dig out precious metals and copper compounds from ore process of heap leaching the mined ore is crushed into tiny chunks and heaped on an impermeable plastic andor clay lined leach pad where it may be irrigated with a leach solution to melt. Dilute acidic solutions are introduced to the copperbearing ores, causing dissolution of soluble copper minerals table 1 remaining in the leached cap and underlying enrichment blanket.
Bioleaching, or microbial ore leaching, is a process used to extract metals from their ores using bacterial microorganisms. This method of extraction is generally applied only to ores that are not adapted to. Alena opens describing the heap leaching process for copper. Heap leaching mining techniques, metals mining, copper.
The most common types of ore, copper oxide and copper sulfide, undergo two different processes, hydrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy, respectively, due to the different. When it comes to gold extraction, cronimet mining processing has undertaken a significant amount of work. The low grade ores contain significant amount of nickel, lead, and zinc ores which could be processed by microbial leaching. Not only does this method provide more flexibility. According to different collectors, copper separation process can be divided into the following types. Bioleaching process, also known as microbial leaching or biohydrometallurgy, refers to the solubilisation of metals from insoluble ores by using certain. Increasing the concentration of cyanide improves the leaching of copper with the highest dissolution of 78. All of the materials used in heap leaching process and industry specifications of materials are. Flowsheet considerations for copper cobalt projects. Extraction of copper mining, concentration, smelting. The concentration of ore is required and it is done by the froth flotation method.
The leach process involves a chemical reaction between metallic gold and the thiosulphate anion, with oxygen as the oxidant, and ammonium and copper ions. Flow diagrams of heap leaching processes of gold, copper, and uranium. Flotation of nonsulfide copper minerals is rare because these ores are mostly subjected to hydrometallurgical copper recovery, for example, heap leaching. This is a low technology process and renders low productivities and recoveries. Heap leaching is an industrial mining process used to extract precious metals, copper, uranium, and other compounds from ore using a series of chemical reactions that absorb specific minerals and reseparate them after their division from other earth materials. Minerals free fulltext copper bioleaching in china. Southern african institute of mining and metallurgy 183 leaching of copper sulphides. The areas in which copper leaching is practiced are similar in general characteristics. The flowsheet route for copper is fairly well established while the processing options for cobalt vary considerably depending on the final product metal or salt the operator wishes to make. Copper ores from the diseleopen pit minewere classi. Adsorption is a term used to describe the attraction of a mineral compound to the surface of another material. Application of bioleaching to copper mining in chile article pdf available in electronic journal of biotechnology 163.
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