Study and Suitable Method Selection for Copper Leaching from Its Oxide Ore: Case Study of Ghare Tappeh Copper Ore

Document Type : research - paper

Authors

Sahand University of Technology

Abstract

Gare Tappeh copper oxide ore with 1.21% copper is located in Maku city, west Azerbaijan province. Acid and alkaline reagents were used for copper leaching of this ore. Sulphuric acid leaching was done in pH 0.8, 1.3 and 1.5 for 2 hours. More than 95% copper leached in acidic medium. Despite the high copper recovery, two major problems of high acid consumption and difficulty in filtration were observed. To overcome these problems, selective copper leaching was done in ammonia and ammonium carbonate medium. The results showed that ammonia and ammonium carbonate concentration, solid to liquid ratio and particle size are the most important parameters. In 3M ammonia, 0.3M ammonium carbonate, solid to liquid ratio 1:10, agitation speed 500rpm, 20 ºC temperature and 60 minutes leaching time, copper recovery was 94%. Kinetic model in ammonia solution showed that activation energy is 16 Kj/mol and reaction is controlled by diffusion. Comparison of acid and alkaline leaching showed that the ammonia leaching is suitable for copper recovery from Gare Tappeh copper ore
 

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References

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History

  • Receive Date: 25 January 2014
  • Revise Date: 15 June 2015
  • Accept Date: 08 September 2015

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