Oxidative leaching of an offgrade/complex copper concentrate in chloride lixiviants
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INTRODUCTION
S E V E R A L of the mixed sulfide deposits of copper, zinc, and lead are mineralogically so complex and interwoven that even very fine grinding does not enable the efficient production of clean/high-grade concentrates. Examples of such Cu-Zn-Pb deposits include the sulfide ores of Sikkim (India), Turkey, McArthur River (northern Australia), and New Brunswick (Canada). Pyrometallurgical processing of complex sulfide concentrates is generally ruled out on account of economic/ environmental considerations and their inability to treat offgrade concentrates on a small scale. Most of the successful approaches investigated during the past two to three decades for the treatment of complex sulfides can be grouped into sulfate-based, alkaline leaching, and chloride hydrometallurgical processes. ~1,2,31Chloride lixiviants seem to have an edge over the other reagents because of their proven ability to attack sulfides at low temperatures and pressures and recovery of the elemental sulfur as a by-product. Of the numerous chloride routes, FeC13 leaching of sulfides received a great deal of attention. During the past 15 years, at least half a dozen processes have been tested on semicommercial/pilot plant scale. The technologies developed by Cymet-Cyprus (Cyprus Metallurgical Processes Corporation), t4,5] Elkem (Elkem Spigerverket A / S , Oslo, Norway), ]61 N I M (National Institute of Metallurgy, Johannesberg, South A f r i c a ) , [7] UBC (University of British Columbia)-Cominco (Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada), t83 and N.V. NGOC, formerly Visiting Scientist with the Department of Metallurgical Engineering, Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, is with the National Institute for Nuclear Research, Hanoi, Vietnam. M. SHAMSUDDIN, Professor of Metallurgical Engineering, and P.M. PRASAD, Professor of Extractive Metallurgy, are with the Department of Metallurgical Engineering, Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221 005, India. Manuscript submitted December 12, 1988. METALLURGICAL TRANSACTIONS B
I.I.Sc. (Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India) [9,1~ have shown great potential for the production of copper by the FeCI3 leaching process. Notable among other chloride processes are C L E A R (Duval Corporation, Arizona) m,123 and Minemet Recherche ~13~ routes (based on CuC12 leaching) and also Zincex, ~141 Dextec, [151 and United States Bureau of Mines f16,17~ processes (based on leaching with aqueous chlorine, HC1, or chlorides such as NaCI and CaC12). Despite these successful studies, there is no "tailor-made" extraction technology for the treatment of any specific offgrade or complex sulfide concentrate. The Sikkim Mining Corporation (Rangpo, India) produces offgrade concentrates of copper, zinc, and lead on a small scale from their Dikchu complex sulfide deposit. Its copper concentrate has significant associations of galena, sphalerite, and pyrite; hence, it may be considered as a complex sulfide concentrate. No appropriate extraction technology has been dev
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