Hydrometallurgical studies on the leaching of copper from man-made mineral formations

Abstract

The article presents the study results for the processing of industrial waste from copper production at copper smelter Kazakhstan. The samples taken were analysed with the help of X-ray fluorescence and phase analyses which showed that the composition of the studied raw materials was determined as silicate, oxidized, and copper was in a mixed form with a total content of 0.481%, including some in the form of sulfates and sulfides. Mineralogical analysis showed the presence of magnetite, hematite and martite, while copper was present in various mineralogical formations - from magnetic fractions mainly with very fine dusty micron dissemination to native copper and copper minerals. Beneficiation studies performed included flotation and gravity methods. As a result, a concentrate with a copper content of 9.35% was obtained during gravity beneficiation, and a concentrate with a copper content of up to 46% was obtained during flotation. Copper was extracted from beneficiated raw materials with a sulfuric acid leaching method in agitation mode. The solid residue analysis conducted after (cake) leaching also showed the content of the noble metal - gold at the level of 0.47 g/t enabling us to consider its extraction in the future as an additional valuable component.