Chalcopyrite extracting copper from

Sherritt-Cominco A process for extracting copper from chalcopyrite, CuFeS2. The ore is reduced with hydrogen, the iron leached out with sulfuric acid, the residual Cu5FeS4 dissolved in concentrated sulfuric acid, and the copper isolated by electrowinning or hydrogen reduction. Pilot testing was complete in 1976. 

Treadwell A process for extracting copper from chalcopyrite by leaching with the stoichiometric quantity of sulfuric acid ... 

NENATECH Also called Albion, after the suburb of Brisbane, Australia, where it was developed. A hydro-metallurgical process for extracting copper from sulfide ores. Nena is the local name for a chalcopyrite ore found in Papua New Guinea. The process involves leaching with aqueous ferric sulfate and air or oxygen sparging. It was piloted in Australia in 2002 but has not been licensed. 

Analyze and Conclude A mining company has two possible sources of copper chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) and chalcocite (CU2S). If the mining conditions and the extraction of copper from the ore were identical for each of the ores, which ore would yield the greater quantity of copper Explain your answer. 

Copper is easily extracted with 5% sulfuric acid from the ores containing cupric hydroxide, cupric carbonate, and cupric oxide such as azurite, malachite, and teno-rite. However, copper is seldom extracted with sulfuric acid from copper ores containing cupric sulfides the presence of ferric ion is mandatory to extract copper with sulfuric acid from the ores, e.g., chalcopyrite [FeCuS2]. 

Also, Caro s acid has been found to extract copper preferentially from chalcopyrite (CuFeS2), and is also effective for other mixed sulphidic ores... 

This element occurs in nature in the uncombined state as native copper and in the combined state as various oxides, sulfides, and carbonates. The chief mineral is chalcopyrite, CuFeS2, from which the element is extracted by roasting (heating in air) followed by reduction. The roasting reaction can be written... 

A single metal may be extracted from several minerals. Thus there are many minerals of copper, such as chalcocite, bornite, chalcopyrite, cuprite, native copper, and malachite one or more of these may occur in an individual deposit. Also, more than one metal may be obtained from a single mineral stannite, for example, yields both copper and tin. A mineral deposit, therefore, may yield several metals from different minerals. 

In most industrial processes, copper is produced from the ore chalcopyrite, a mixed copper-iron sulfide mineral, or from the carbonate ores azurite and malachite. The extraction process depends on the chemical compositions of the ore. The ore is crushed and copper is separated by flotation. It then is roasted at high temperatures to remove volatile impurities. In air, chalcopyrite is oxidized to iron(ll) oxide and copper(ll) oxide ... 

Outline a process, using chemical equations where possible, by which copper is extracted and purified from chalcopyrite by the pyrometallurgical process. 

Sulfur is found in large quantities but in various forms throughout the world. It is found in metal ores such as copper pyrites or chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) and zinc blende (ZnS) and in volcanic regions of the world. Natural gas and oil contain sulfur and its compounds, but the majority of this sulfur is removed as it would cause environmental problems. Sulfur obtained from these sources is known as recovered sulfur and it is an important source of the element. It is also found as elemental sulfur in sulfur beds in Poland, Russia and the US (Louisiana). These sulfur beds are typically 200 m below the ground. Sulfur from these beds is extracted using the Frasch process, named after its inventor Hermann Frasch. 

The decomposition of the lower sulfides of the heavy metals and the recovery of the metal as soluble salts and of sulfur in the elemental form have been demonstrated for pyrite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena, molybdenite, and associated metals such as nickel and cobalt. Pyrite and chalcopyrite are higher sulfides and to be amenable to this treatment have to be thermally decomposed at 600-650 C prior to leaching. The reactions with nitric acid are exothermic, and are carried out below 1 atm and at around 100°C. In addition to the sulfides, this technique has been applied successfully to the extraction of nonferrous metals from partly oxidized sulfide ores, fayalite slags, copper scrap, and other intermediate products, such as residue from electrolytic zinc plats. 

Figure 1.4. Copper Cu is extracted from the frequently occurring mineral chalcopyrite CuFeS2.

Chalcopyrite is economically very important since it is the main source of copper in the world. Around 80% of copper in Earth exists as chalcopyr-ite. Traditionally, a pyrometallurgical route, which consists in the mineral melting in an oxidant atmosphere, followed by a copper reduction, is used to extract this metal from the ore. However, hydrometallurgical routes for copper extraction has been widely investigated as an alternative for copper extraction from low grade ores in which the pyrometallurgical route is not applicable. ... 

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