Report of Investigations 9472: Hydrometallurgical Production of Copper from Flotation Concentrates

Details

• Journal Article:
  Tuscaloosa, AL: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, RI 9472
• Personal Author:
  Cobble, J. R. ; Jordan, Cy E. ; Rice, David A.
• Description:
  Dissolution of chalcopyrite with acidified ferric sulfate produces a sulfur layer on the unreacted chalcopyrite surface that interferes with further dissolution. The U.S. Bureau of Mines has developed a process to improve the leaching kinetics of these types of diffusion-controlled systems. The system features the Bureau-developed turbomill, an attrition grinder that scrubs the reaction product coating away from the unreacted mineral grains during leaching. The systems can be operated continuously at any temperature up to the boiling point of the leaching agent. This method is a hydrometallurgical alternative to chalcopyrite smelter technology and eliminates sulfur dioxide emission problems with its associated costs. Batch testing at 90 deg. C with the chalcopyrite-ferric sulfate system resulted in copper extraction exceeding 99 pct. At an optimal energy consumption of 1,520 kW·h/st, 95 pct of the copper was extracted. The pregnant liquor was clarified and tested for typical solvent-extraction recovery of the copper. Two-stage extraction and two-stage stripping recovered 96 pct of the copper in an electrolyte suitable for copper electrowinning. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Engineering Metals Mining Occupational Health Safety Sulfur Compounds
• Keywords:
  Mining-industry; Metallurgy; Metallurgical-processes; Engineering-controls; Pollution; Sulfur-compounds
• Source:
  Tuscaloosa, AL: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, RI 9472, 1993 Jan; :1-14
• Series:
  NIOSH Numbered Publications   ; Mining Publications  
• Subseries:
  Report of Investigations
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  Alabama ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  TURC - Tuscaloosa Research Center
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  20 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:10012172
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB94-103108
• CAS Registry Number:
  Alumina (CAS RN 1344-28-1) ; Chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) (CAS RN 1308-56-1) ; Copper (CAS RN 7440-50-8) ; Sulfur dioxide (CAS RN 7446-09-5)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1993
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:fa9881d912cdd86e49b27cbce30fc167544628b51d898c53179f8ac3b3a0b18dc7d69472594c8b6e8ac9b664656d50978468cecdeb23fc06477d76334ca84727
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/10530/cdc_10530_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 8.24 MB ]