Copper concentration process

Large amounts of water are used in the copper concentration process, although disposal of liquid wastes is rarely a problem because the vast majority of the water is recycled back into the process. Once the wastewater exits the flotation process it is sent to a sediment control pond where it is held long enough for most of the sediment to settle. 

Amalgamation, which was once widely used, has been largely discontinued because of inefficiency and environmental concerns. Gold in association with metals such as copper, nickel, and lead, generally follows these in the concentration process and eventually can be separated and recovered. 

Copper is an attractive metallisation element because of its high conductivity. It has been added to Al in low concentrations (AlSi(l%)—Cu(0.5%)) to improve conductive priorities. Selective, low temperature copper CVD processing, using copper(I) P-diketonate compounds, has been carried out (23). 

Copper. Copper is economically extracted by smelting of a chalcopyrite concentrate. A copper electrowinning process was developed commercially in 1912 for the treatment of lean ores. It is also suitable for treatment of copper oxide or sulfate obtained by roasting of the concentrate. 

The treatments used to recover nickel from its sulfide and lateritic ores differ considerably because of the differing physical characteristics of the two ore types. The sulfide ores, in which the nickel, iron, and copper occur in a physical mixture as distinct minerals, are amenable to initial concentration by mechanical methods, eg, flotation (qv) and magnetic separation (see SEPARATION,MAGNETIC). The lateritic ores are not susceptible to these physical processes of beneficiation, and chemical means must be used to extract the nickel. The nickel concentration processes that have been developed are not as effective for the lateritic ores as for the sulfide ores (see also Metallurgy, extractive Minerals recovery and processing). 

PGM Concentration. The ore mined from the Merensky Reef in South Africa has a maximum PGM content of 8.1 g/1, of which 50—60% is platinum, and 20—25% palladium. The PGMs are in the form of a ferroplatinum alloy, or as their sulfides, arsenides, or teUurides. The aim of the concentration process is to separate from the ore a cmde metal concentrate, having a PGM content of 60%. The majority of other metals, such as nickel and copper, are separated out at this stage for further refining. 

One, the CLEAR process, was investigated by Duval Corporation near Tucson, Arizona (29). It involves leaching copper concentrated with a metal chloride solution, separation of the copper by electrolysis, and regeneration of the leach solution in a continuous process carried out in a closed system. Elemental sulfur is recovered. Not far from the Duval plant, Cypms Mines Corporation operated a process known as Cymet. Sulfide concentrates undergo a two-step chloride solution leaching and are crystallized to obtain cuprous chloride crystals. Elemental sulfur is removed during this stage of the process. 

Thus, roasting is avoided. The process, especially amenable to high iron and copper concentrates, has been installed by Cominco, Ltd. (44) at Trad, B.C., Canada, and will be installed at the Kidd Creek Mines, Ltd., plant at Timmins, Ontario. 

The Phalaborwa complex ia the northeastern Transvaal is a complex volcanic orebody. Different sections are mined to recover magnetite, apatite, a copper concentrate, vermicuhte, and baddeleyite, Hsted in order of aimual quantities mined. The baddeleyite is contained in the foskorite ore zone at a zirconium oxide concentration of 0.2%, and at a lesser concentration in the carbonatite orebody. Although baddeleyite is recovered from the process tailings to meet market demand, the maximum output could be limited by the requirements for the magnetite and apatite. The baddeleyite concentrate contains ca 96% zirconium oxide with a hafnium content of 2% Hf/Zr + Hf. A comminuted, chemically beneficiated concentrate containing ca 99% zirconium oxide is produced also. 

Sulfide Ores ores. In the Zairian ores, cobalt sulfide as carroUite is mixed with chalcopyrite and chalcocite [21112-20-9]. For processing, the ore is finely ground and the sulfides are separated by flotation (qv) using frothers. The resulting products are leached with dilute sulfuric acid to give a copper—cobalt concentrate that is then used as a charge in an electrolytic cell to remove the copper. Because the electrolyte becomes enriched with cobalt, solution from the copper circuit is added to maintain a desirable copper concentration level. After several more steps to remove copper, iron, and aluminum, the solution is treated with milk of lime to precipitate the cobalt as the hydroxide. 

Most copper is processed using a combination of mining, concentrating, smelting, and refining, or by leaching waste and solvent... 

Duyvesteyn, W. P. C. Sabacky, B. J. Ammonia Leaching Process for Escondida Copper Concentrates (Reprinted from Extractive Metallurgy of Copper, Nickel, and Cobalt. Vol. 1, 1993). Trans. Inst. Min. Metall. Sect. C-Miner. Process. Extr. Metall. 1995, 104, C125-C140. 

Sulfured copper concentrate (25-35% Cu) is processed in a primary furnace where the copper level is enriched to around 65%. 

In the etching procedure, copper concentration is continuously increased by the etching and, to keep the etching efficiency constant and optimal, spent etchant has to be withdrawn and replaced with fresh etchant (replenisher). An alternative would be to remove a part of the copper content from the spent etchant, without changing the other conditions in the solution, in such a way that the barren etching solution can be recycled. This process is called the MECER process [2,25]. 

Recycling metal ions is part of the concentration process noted above. It can typically be achieved by treatment of the sorbed metals with dilute nitric acid. This is a strong acid, and the nitrate ion is not a strongly coordinating anion. In addition, recycling can be a useful means of paying for the removal process. Tkn example of this was a laboratory bench-scale experiment to treat water from the Berkley Pit, recycle the copper and sell the copper to help pay the processing costs. The Berkley Pit [11] was once an open pit copper mine that was opened in 1955 and closed in 1982. 

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