TITLE:
Effect of Roasting Temperature for Copper Leaching of Sulfide Concentrate by Combined Methods
AUTHORS:
Lkhamtogmid Nyamjargal, Ganbat Batdemberel, Gunchin Burmaa, Dashdendev Burmaa
KEYWORDS:
Copper Leaching, Chlorination, Potassium Chloride, Chalcopyrite
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Applied Sciences,
Vol.8 No.12,
December
7,
2018
ABSTRACT: This
study was undertaken to develop a cost-effective method of copper leaching in
sulfide concentrate involving minerals as chalcopyrite and pyrite. The combined
methods involving low temperature roasting of sulfide copper minerals with
potassium chlorides without the formation of sulfurous gases and their
evolution into the atmosphere is suggested. The effect of experi-mental
parameters such as a roasting temperature and time has been pre-sented and
discussed in detail. This study was carried out in the roasting temperature
range 400°C - 600°C and roasting time ranges 1 - 4 h with potas-sium chloride.
The obtained cake is leached by an aqueous sulfuric acid 60 g/l concentrated at
pH = 2 - 2.5 and 4 h. The concentrate, a roasting cake and after leaching solid
residue were analyzed by chemical analysis, XRD and SEM-EDX. At temperature
ranges 450°C - 550°C and 3 h of roasting, the pro-cess is activated. The
recovery of copper into the solution at optimal roasting condition (500°C,
roasting time 3 h) is 93.2%. The advantage of the devel-oped method is that, it
not requires high roasting temperature and the use of autoclave for leaching.
The method gives possibility to leach the concentrate at room temperature and
atmospheric pressure, which gives possibility to reduce cost of the process.