The amount and quality of copper extraction are depend on various. The copper leaching, solvent extraction and electrowinning lxsxew. Extraction and separation of cuii in presence of feii. The solvent extraction of metal chelates 1st edition. Chapter 6 copper production technology the last boomin technological innovation for the copper industry occurred in the first two decades of this century, whenopen pit mining, flo tation concentration,and the reverberatory smelter were adapted to porphyry copper ores. Control of an industrial copper solvent extraction process core.
These are called low grade ores and have less than 1% copper but they are still used because copper is so valuable. In the extraction units, copper is extracted from the pregnant leach solution to the organic solution. Concentration of the copper ii sulfate solution by solvent extraction. Copper recovery using leachsolvent extractionelectrowinning technology. Pdf this study includes solvent extraction and electrowinning of copper from leaching process. Copper solvent extraction was originally developed in the 1960s to recover copper from relatively dilute leach solutions, typically heap leach liquors with copper. Solvent extraction acts as a purification and concentration technique at the same time. Copper recovery by solvent extraction has progressed from a technology with limited application for copper recovery from dilute sulfuric acid leach solution to a technology with broad application for copper recovery from a variety of leach solutions.
Pdf hydrometallurgical treatment of complex copper sulfidic ores, byproducts and concentrates requires aggressive, oxidative leaching. For the experimental conditions studied, cyanex 272 showed a good recovery of zn after the stripping stage using h 2 so 4. The copper is extracted from the solvent with strong aqueous acid which then deposits pure copper onto cathodes using an. The oxidized ores, consisting of the silicates, carbonates and sulfates, are treated by several methods, all involving some form of leaching of the crushed ore with sulfuric acid to produce impure solutions of copper sulfate. Copper recovery using leachsolvent extractionelectrowinning. General flow diagram of the copper solvent extraction process. Extraction of copper copper is sometimes found as native metal copper ores include copperii oxide and copperii sulfide. It is a liquidliquid extraction process used to purify and concentrate solutions obtained from the leaching of ores. Pdf solvent extraction and separation of copper and zinc. The parameters that affect the extraction of copper ions with this biphasic. Solvent extraction equilibria in copper iiiron iii. Pdf solvent extraction of copperii from concentrated leach liquors.
This process uses a series of physical steps and high temperatures to extract and purify copper from copper sulfide ores, in four basic steps. This page looks at the extraction of copper from its ores, its purification by electrolysis, and some of its uses. Extraction of copperii ions from aqueous solutions with a. He observed that upto 9798% cu was extracted with negligible coextraction of zn, fe, cd and co. Reagent improvements have led the way, but they have been accompanied by innovations in leaching and improvements in electrowinning.
The problems related to the separation of undesirable and toxic metals are also discussed. This is similar to the electrolysis that is done in a school lab. Solvent extraction of cu, mo, v, and u from leach solutions of copper. The results of extraction experiments show that lix984 is a very selective copper ii extractant. Heap leaching of oxide copper ores and cathode copper recovery by solvent extraction sx and elec trowinning ew has been well. In chile, the worlds largest copper producer, solvent extraction process sx will. Uidliquid extraction copper ion extraction preconcentration. The operations are typically heap and dump leaching, with permanent pads rather than onoff pads to minimize operational costs. Copper processing, the extraction of copper from its ores and the preparation of copper metal or chemical compounds for use in various products. Selective separation of copper and nickel by solvent. Solvent extraction applied to the recovery of heavy metals. There are two ways of smelting copper, one is pyrometallurgy, the other hydrometallurgical.
Reaction of the ore over quite a long time and on a huge scale with a dilute acid such as dilute sulfuric acid to produce a very dilute copper ii sulfate solution. Separation of copper and zinc from hudson bay mining and smelting discharge was studied by owusu 11 using lix 622. The most common types of ore, copper oxide and copper sulfide, undergo two different processes, hydrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy, respectively, due to the different. Trends covered are fiberreinforced plastic construction mixer box and settler designs, reverse flow settlers, and advanced mixer design. In low tenor copper solutions this is insignificant because the change in. With innovative products, global field support and industry leading technical expertise, basf mining solutions provides sustainable solutions which increase productivity, recovery and flexibility throughout the mining operations including leaching, solvent extraction. Extraction may also be used to remove impurities from a feed stream. Introduction extraction is a way of separating solutes. This solution, known as pregnant liquor, is recovered and then contacted with an organic solvent, referred to as the extractant, in the solvent extraction stage sx. When the sulphuric acid copper lsxew flow sheet figure 1 was put forth by the minerals. Gcse chemistry extraction of copper thermal decomposition.
The ore is fed to a crusher where it is broken down to a specified maximum size and passed through to a conveyor. Dec 08, 2014 for the love of physics walter lewin may 16, 2011 duration. Pdf growing role of solvent extraction in copper ores. The copper bearing aqueous phase is advanced to the electrowinning ew stage of the process while the barren organic phase is returned to the extraction stage of the process. A theoretical treatment of the solvent extraction of metal chelates is also given. This chapter briefly describes the technology for producing copper, from exploration, through mining and milling, to smelting and refining or solvent extraction and electrowinning. Hariharan et al reported the extraction of iron using topo from various acid medium and found quantitative. A process of solvent extraction of copper which treats an aqueous chloride solution containing copper and iron as a concomitant element to separaterecover copper, comprising. Some copper ores may contain only small amounts of copper.
Before you get too bogged down in the extraction of copper, make sure that you need it for whatever syllabus you are using. Liquid liquid extraction of copper ii, cadmium ii and. In this process copper is transferred from an impure anode to the cathode of an electrolytic cell. The copper solvent extraction produces acid in the aqueous phase, as shown in equation 1. Sulfide ores are generally processed using pyrometallurgy, the extraction and purification of metals by processes involving the application of heat. Solvent extraction sx of copper ii from ammonia solutions proceeds similarly to that from acidic solutions, but complexation of metal m by ammonia ligands must be considered. He observed that upto 9798% cu was extracted with negligible co extraction of zn, fe, cd and co.
The electrolyte is copper sulphate cuso4 mixed with a little amount of h2so4 to increase the electrical conductivity. The copper transfer between the aqueous and organic phases takes place in mixers and the phases are separated in settlers. Copper today around 25% of the worlds copper is recovered using solvent extraction and solvent extraction is considered to be the lowest cost production route for the production of quality cathode. Solvent extraction is regarded as one of the most applicable methods of extracting copper from pregnant liquid solution. Extraction of copper mining, concentration, smelting. Pdf solvent extraction and electrowining from copper leaching. Copper can be extracted from nonsulfide ores by a different process involving three separate stages. Although the first largescale application of copper recovery by solvent extraction sx took place in zambia in the early 1970s, it is only in the last decade that this technology has become widely employed in this part of the world and is now a mainstay unit operation. Solvent extraction and separation of copper and zinc from. The equipment used for the solvent extraction process varies considerably. These are called low grade ores and have less than 1% copper.
In the stripping units, copper is stripped from the loaded organic solution to the electrolyte solution. It contains impurities mainly iron but little amount of as, zn, pb, ag and au may also be present. A number of factors in combination are used to determine the number of mixersettler extraction stages required for a specific duty. Although the first largescale application of copper recovery by solvent extraction sx took place in zambia in the early 1970s, it is only in the last decade that this technology has become widely employed in this part of the world and is now a mainstay unit operation in most copper hydrometallurgical flowsheets. Abstract solvent extraction is regarded as one of the most applicable methods of extracting copper from pregnant liquid solution. Flotation tailings from copper production are deposits of copper and other. The concentration of ore is required and it is done by the froth flotation method. The concept of coextraction selective stripping was used for many metal couples. The amount and quality of copper extraction are depend on. Lix solvent extractants are recognized throughout the copper industry as the go to reagent for copper recovery. Extraction isotherm for copper indicates that a total of four stages are required for complete extraction of copper whereas, complete extraction of zinc could be achieved in three stages using the phase ratio of 1. Control of an industrial copper solvent extraction process. The chapter begins with an overview of the history of cop. The conversion of copper consists of a series of physical and electrochemical processes.
Kordosky synopsis the concept of selectively extracting copper from a lowgrade dump leach solution followed by stripping the copper into an acid solution from which electrowon copper cathodes could. Abstractsolvent extraction is regarded as one of the most applicable methods of extracting copper from pregnant liquid solution. The commonest ore used in the extraction of copper is chalcopyrite cufes 2 also known as copper pyrites and other such sulfides. The cathode plates are coated with graphite in order to remove depositing copper. How hydrometallurgy and the sxew process made copper the. The extraction process does not require the addition of a complexing agent or ph control of the aqueous phase. Copper that is mined from copper ore, after beneficiation, becomes high quality copper concentrate. Basfs broad range includes aldoxime and ketoxime extractants and incorporates blends formulated to specific customer needs operational challenges. The percentage of copper in the actual ore is too low for direct extraction of copper to be viable. Development group of general mills in 1960 solvent extraction had. Displacement of copper from copper oxide, using carbon.
It was also adopted in ammonia systems for cuni separation. Blocks of blister copper are used as anodes and thin sheets of pure copper act as cathodes. This book is comprised of six chapters and begins with an overview of solvent extraction and how it can be used to solve important theoretical problems concerning the composition and. Copper extraction refers to the methods used to obtain copper from its ores. These impurities adversely affect the electrical as well as mechanical properties of copper. Copper recovery by solvent extraction has progressed from a.
This book is comprised of six chapters and begins with an overview of solvent extraction and how it can be used to solve important theoretical problems concerning the composition and stability of soluble and insoluble metal complexes. Extraction of copper at elevated feed concentrations sgs. This experiment involves the extraction of copper from an aqueous copper sulfate solution using a solution of lix a copper complexing agent in kerosine. Copper extraction displacement and electrolysis teaching. Castroa a mechanical engineering department, university of minho, 4800058 guimar. In its pure form or as an alloy, copper cu is one of the most important metals in society.
Generally, copper extraction follows the sequence see figure below. Originally designed for ocr gateway science b and is graded using this specification. Introduction the most important operation in hydrometallurgy is leaching of properly prepared. The resulting rich electrolyte solution is led to the electrowinning process. Copper ores include copper ii oxide and copper ii sulfide. The equilibrium constants of copper and iron were determined for the copper ii iron iii lix984orfom sx1 system. Solvent extraction and electrowinning sxew is a twostage hydrometallurgical process that first extracts and upgrades copper ions from lowgrade leach solutions into a solvent containing a chemical that selectively reacts with and binds the copper in the solvent. The extraction percentages were influenced by the nature of the r3 group. Extraction of copperii ions from aqueous solutions with.
Copperii oxide can be reduced by reaction with carbon some copper ores may contain only small amounts of copper. Il interacting system by washing with a strong acid. As both reactions take time it is worth students setting up their practicals and completing the worksheet tasks as the experiments run. Journal of hazardous materials b120 2005 1118 solvent extraction applied to the recovery of heavy metals from galvanic sludge j. Solvent extraction and separation of copper and zinc from a.
Copper was effectively extracted and separated from other metals in two stages at a. Both machine and human productivity have increased dramatically. The influence of the equilibration time on copper and nickel extraction was studied by contacting equal volume of the aqueous solution ph 9. For the love of physics walter lewin may 16, 2011 duration. In the electrowinning stage of the process the copper is reduced electrochemically from copper sulfate in solution to a metallic copper cathode. Solvent extraction is a frequently used technology in hydrometallurgy. Parameters that influence the process, such as ph, extractant concentration, and the aqueousorganic ao ratio were investigated. Growing role of solvent extraction in copper ores processing article pdf available in fizykochemiczne problemy mineralurgii 4242. Copper ii oxide can be reduced by reaction with carbon. Process of solvent extraction of copper sumitomo metal. Our range of solvent extraction reagents are produced at our state of art facility. Flow diagram of the copper solvent extraction process. Here the copper is extracted away from the aqueous phase leaving behind most of the impurities that were in the leach solution.
Runs will be made at different feed and stirring rates, in some cases under conditions in which the streams leaving the mixersettler are in equilibrium. Copperii extraction from ammonia leach solution 329 more costeffective, because it requires less stages comparing to the first way of separation. With innovative products, global field support and industry leading technical expertise, basf mining solutions provides sustainable solutions which increase productivity, recovery and flexibility throughout the mining operations including leaching, solvent extraction, flotation, solidliquid separation and tailings management. Status, operating practices and challenges in the african copper belt kathryn c. Beneficiation by froth flotation of ore to give copper concentrate optional partial roasting to obtain oxidized material or calcines 2. Methods have evolved and vary with country depending on the ore source, local environmental regulations, and other factors.
Solvent extraction of copper, nickel and zinc by cyanex 272 article pdf available in international journal of physical sciences 72012. Copper cobalt africa, incorporating the 8th southern african base metals conference livingstone, zambia, 68 july 2015 southern african institute of mining and metallurgy 257 copper solvent extraction. The average equilibrium constants of copper ii and iron iii were estimated to be 15. Copper recovery by solvent extraction has progressed from a technology with limited application for copper recovery from dilute sulfuric acid leach solution to a. Then, after being smelted, refined copper and copper products are yielded. The method used to extract copper from its ores depends on the nature of. Pdf solvent extraction of copper, nickel and zinc by. Modem diluents receive extensive quality control to ensure high. The pure metal has a facecentred cubic crystal structure, and. Copper recovery using leachsolvent extraction electrowinning technology.
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