Industrial application of sulphide ore acid leaching

Mt. Gordon is an old mine in the northwestern part of Queensland in northeastern Australia. It was originally called Gunpowder. The main Gower Cave Hill copper minerals chalcocite, copper and blue mosaic closely with pyrite chalcopyrite, flotation can not separate the two minerals. The gangue is mainly silicified siltstone .

The average copper grade of the copper ore in the Esperanza mine belonging to the Gorqin Mountain is as high as 8.4%, and it is decided to mine this part of the ore first. The gangue is mainly silicified siltstone. After comparison, it was decided to directly extract the ore from the acidic ferric sulfate solution, and pure oxygen was used as the oxidant. This allows leaching in the autoclave at low pressure and low temperature.

The average composition of the ore is: Cu 7.5% to 8.5%, Fe 28%, S 37%, As 0.2%. The mineral composition of copper: 91% of chalcopyrite, 1% of bauxite, 2% of chalcopyrite, 5% of copper blue, and 1% of arsenic and copper. The composition of the leachate (g/L): Fe 3 + is 10, Fe 2 + is 35, H 2 SO 4 is 70, and CuSO 4 is 10. The oxidation potential was maintained at 635 to 640 mV. The leaching temperature was 80 ° C and the total pressure was 0.8 MPa. The analysis showed that about 2% to 3% of pyrite was directly oxidized by oxygen. At the same time, a small amount of elemental sulfur is oxidized to sulfuric acid, which is beneficial to reduce acid consumption.

First, the industrial process

The industrial process of Gorky is shown in Figure 1. This is the first home hydrometallurgical treatment plant pressure acid leaching of copper sulfide ores.

The total volume of each autoclave is 180 m 3 and the effective volume is 120 m 3 . The kettle is divided into 5 chambers, each with a separate agitating paddle, the lower paddle is a turbine blade, and the upper part is an axially flowing paddle. Since the leaching is an exothermic reaction, the temperature rises from 77 to 80 ° C to 85 to 90 ° C during leaching. To control the temperature, a cold raffinate is sprayed into the third chamber. This spray device was installed later. Controlling the temperature facilitates the efficient use of oxygen, which in turn increases the rate of leaching.

Fig.1 Industrial process of leaching copper sulfide ore from acidic ferric sulfate in Gaoer Mountain

1-Ore heap; 2 -crush crusher ; 3-conveyor belt; 4-breaking ore heap; 5-cyclone; 6-dense machine;

7- overflow to the pool; 8- ball mill ; 9-wedge hole sieve tray tower; 10-cooling tower; 11-sand filter; 12-belt filter; 13-extraction tank; 14-hydraulic classifier; 15- Leaching tank; 16-autoclave; 17-slurry tank; 18-back extraction tank;

19-neutralization tank; 20-dual medium filter; 21-electrolyzer; 22-slag sent to tailings dam

Second, investment and production costs

The factory was completed in July 1998 and was first commissioned with heap leaching ore until December 1999. In the next 18 months, the production was very stable, reaching the original design of 45000t / a. The equipment and plant of Gaoerhao plant directly invested 44 million US dollars, plus indirect investment (such as start-up costs, design procurement and commissioning costs, etc.) totaled 53.7 million US dollars.

In the half year period from June to December 2001, the Gaoerhao Plant actually produced 23,933 tons of electrolytic copper, and consumed 38,400 tons of ore with a copper grade of 8.85%. With an annual output of 47,866 tons of electrolytic copper, the consumption of copper with a grade of 8.85% of copper is 628,000 tons, and the total recovery of copper is 86% (design 900k). The sum of $ 682 in copper ore and $ 504 in operating costs is $1,186.

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