Chalcopyrite leaching in acid media: a review

Abstract

In the modern practice of copper production, more attention is increasingly being given to the possibility of treating low-percentage sulphide ores that cannot be treated with conventional procedures (crushing, grinding, flotation). In addition, the processes of obtaining copper from complex sulphide concentrates, which cannot undergo pyrometallurgical processing, are increasingly being investigated. In most cases, the extraction of copper from such raw materials is achieved by applying the leaching procedures. Since chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) is the most abundant copper sulphide mineral, a great part of the research is focused on studying the behaviour of chalcopyrite in the leaching process, because processes of copper extraction from increasingly poor raw materials may be created using results of these studies. In addition, the main goal of these researches is to investigate the kinetics and mechanism of oxidation of chalcopyrite under the influence of various oxidants (O-2, Fe3-, H2O2, chlorate ions, etc.) and in the same time obtaining data necessary for the development of copper production process that could satisfy increasingly technological, economic and environmental stringent criteria. This paper presents the existing knowledge of chalcopyrite leaching and phenomena that follow chalcopyrite oxidation in acidic sulphate and chloride solutions.