The kinetics of dissolution of chalcopyrite in ferric ion media
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INTRODUCT
ION
CHALCOPYRITE (CuFeS2) is probably the most important copper ore mineral in the world today. Traditionally, chalcopyrite concentrates have been treated u s i n g s m e l t i n g technology. Both the c o s t - e n e r g y eff i c i e n c i e s and the SO2 pollution p r o b l e m s a s s o c i a t e d with s m e l t i n g a r e well known, but it should be noted that r e c e n t t e c h n o l o g i c a l a d v a n c e s a r e t e n d i n g to m i n i mize the pollution d i f f i c u l t i e s . 1,~ D u r i n g the past few y e a r s v a r i o u s copper h y d r o m e t a l l u r g i c a l p r o c e s s e s have b e e n advanced, g e n e r a l l y as a m e a n s of o v e r c o m i n g pollution p r o b l e m s involved in s m e l t i n g although other p o t e n t i a l a d v a n t a g e s s u c h as lower capital costs, r e c o v e r y of a useful i r o n product, bett e r c o n t r o l and a u t o m a t i o n as well as e c o n o m i c a l s m a l l s c a l e o p e r a t i o n have a l s o b e e n cited. C h a l c o p y r i t e is quite r e f r a c t o r y to h y d r o m e t a n u r g i cal p r o c e s s i n g and only f a i r l y potent s o l u t i o n s will d i s s o l v e it. Much of the r e s e a r c h and d e v e l o p m e n t activity i n this a r e a has c o n c e n t r a t e d on s o m e f o r m of f e r r i c ion leaching, e s p e c i a l l y f e r r i c c h l o r i d e l e a c h ing. F e r r i c chloride l e a c h i n g p r o c e s s e s d e s i g n e d to t r e a t c h a l c o p y r i t e c o n c e n t r a t e s have b e e n advanced f r o m the e a r l y p a r t of this c e n t u r y ; the f i n d i n g s of these o l d e r s t u d i e s have b e e n r e c e n t l y d i s c u s s e d in a r e v i e w a r t i c l e 3 and will not be r e p e a t e d at this t i m e . It is worth noting that t h e s e e a r l i e r e f f o r t s w e r e m o r e or l e s s doomed to e c o n o m i c f a i l u r e s i n c e they s i m p l y could not compete with e x i s t i n g s m e l t i n g p r o c e s s e s capable of d i s c h a r g i n g u n l i m i t e d a m o u n t s of SOs into the a t m o s p h e r e and b e c a u s e the h y d r o m e t a l l u r g i c a l e x p e r t i s e to handle complex and c o r r o s i v e c h l o r i d e s o l u t i o n s had not b e e n developed at that t i m e . With the growing c o n c e r n for p r o t e c t i n g the e n v i r o n m e n t , a new s e r i e s of h y d r o m e t a l l u r g i c a l p r o c e s s e s for t r e a t i n g copper c o n c e n t r a t e s was a d v a n c e d and f e r r i c ion l e a c h i n g p r o c e s s e s w e r e p r o m i n e n t a m o n g t h e s e . The United States B u r e a u of M i n e s developed a f e r r i c chloride l e a c h i n g p r o c e s s 4 which was able to e x t r a c t over 99 pct of the copper in a c h a l c o p y r i t e c o n c e n t r a t e J. E. DUTRIZAC, is Head, MetallurgicalChemistry Section, Mineral Sciences Laboratories, CANMET, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K 1A OG 1. Manuscript submitted December 9, 1977. METAL
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