producing cathode copper from refractory glutenite copper ore, which falls under the technical field of metallurgy.

This method prepares cathode copper by subjecting the refractory glutenite copper ore to sequential processes: crushing and granulation, curing treatment, heap leaching, solvent extraction and electrowinning. Prior to the heap leaching process, raw ore particles are treated with sulfation curing pretreatment. The pretreatment not only enables copper to be dissociated from gangue and other associated minerals, but also achieves the effect of loosening the ore structure and increasing its porosity, which facilitates the heap leaching process, raises the leaching rate by 10% to 20%, and creates favorable conditions for subsequent cathode copper production.

The cathode copper produced by this method features high purity and large output. The method effectively improves the copper leaching rate and recovery rate of refractory glutenite copper ore, realizes more efficient utilization of mineral resources, and boosts economic benefits.

The method for recovering copper from copper sulfide ore comprises the following steps:

(1) Grind the copper ore into 100-120 mesh using a ball mill;

(2) Put the ground copper ore into an agitation tank, and add hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, nitric acid, water and reagents to carry out chlorination reaction;

(3) Perform solid-liquid separation on the reacted solution obtained in step (2) to obtain a copper chloride solution and filter residue;

(4) Pump the copper chloride solution into an electrolytic cell for electrolysis, add a flocculant, and control the voltage, current amount and copper concentration to deposit copper in the electrolyte on the cathode plate;

(5) Return the circulating solution after copper recovery to the leaching process.

The whole process of the present invention is rationally designed, with low energy consumption and cost, and high dissolution leaching rate and electrolytic recovery rate of copper from copper ore. Experiments show that the copper recovery rate is over 95%, which enables comprehensive utilization of copper resources. It is applicable to both low-grade and high-grade copper ores, can reduce environmental pollution, protect the environment, and is of great significance.

This process involves the following steps:

1、Run-of-mine ore undergoes crushing and screening. The +50mm particle size fraction is transported to the stockyard for heap construction, while the -50mm fraction is subjected to acidic ore washing treatment.

2、Sulfuric acid is added to the washing solution to remove part of the alkaline gangue during ore washing. After solid-liquid separation and precipitation of the washing solution, the acid solution is recycled for reuse.

3、After treatment in the acidic ore washing system, the +0.074mm sand fraction is conveyed to the stockyard for heap construction, and the -0.074mm mud fraction is sent to the agitation leaching section.

4、The agitation leaching solution is combined with the heap leaching solution, then fed into the solvent extraction and electrowinning (SX-EW) process, ultimately yielding cathode copper products.

This process boasts advantages including short flow, simple equipment, low investment, low operating cost, and minimal environmental impact. It further resolves issues such as poor permeability in heap leaching and low copper leaching rate caused by the presence of mud and the dissolution-precipitation of alkaline gangue. It improves copper recovery efficiency and enables the comprehensive utilization of high-mud low-grade copper oxide ore resources.

Comprehensive Utilization Processes of Tailings from Gold Ore Concentrators

Gold tailings are solid wastes generated after gold ore undergoes mineral separation processing. If not handled scientifically and rationally, they will not only occupy large quantities of land resources but also cause certain environmental pollution. With continuous changes in the international gold market, China’s gold industry is facing unprecedented challenges. Therefore, while vigorously advancing mining and mineral separation technologies, emphasis should also be placed on strengthening the comprehensive utilization processes of tailings from gold ore concentrators.

1、Classification Treatment Process：This process involves processing selected ore samples via a spiral chute to separate them into coarse sand, middlings, and fine mud, followed by gold extraction from the coarse sand.

2、High-Intensity Magnetic Separation Process for Iron Removal：This process is designed to reduce the iron content in ore and enhance the purity of gold ore. When applied to tailings treatment, it aims to remove iron elements from ores that have been processed by spiral chutes, enabling the tailings to meet the basic requirements for ceramic production.

3、Desulfurization Process：Even after classification treatment and high-intensity magnetic iron removal, some sulfur impurities still remain in mine tailings. Pyrite is the mineral with the highest sulfur content and can be completely removed during the reverse flotation process following high-intensity magnetic iron separation. However, adding only xanthate cannot eliminate all sulfur elements from the remaining ore, making desulfurization treatment necessary.

This copper ore treatment process is designed for refractory and leaching-resistant copper ores, and it consists of three core procedures: leaching, solvent extraction, and electrowinning.

The specific process flow is as follows: Crushed ore is charged into the leaching tank, and the leaching solution is pumped into the same tank. After one complete leaching cycle, the leaching solution is discharged into a low-level storage tank, filtered through a filtration device, and then pumped into a high-level storage tank.

The leaching solution in the high-level storage tank flows by gravity into the extraction-stripping tank. The raffinate is recycled back to the leaching system for reuse; the stripping solution flows into the electrowinning tank; and the electrowinning tail solution is transferred to the tail solution storage tank.

This invention adopts a composite leaching agent, which features strong adaptability and applicability, making it suitable for leaching various types of copper ore resources. Furthermore, using the Lix54-199 alkaline copper extractant for extraction eliminates the need for anti-corrosion treatment of facilities and equipment, reducing initial investment. The leaching agent can be recycled, cutting down on operational costs and avoiding environmental pollution.

According to this method, the ore is ground and leached into a sulfuric acid-containing solution via trivalent copper under atmospheric pressure. When copper sulfide is leached, trivalent iron is reduced to divalent iron, which is oxidized back to the trivalent state by oxygen during the leaching process.

Leaching is performed in a closed reactor, where insoluble gases that rise from the solution and accumulate in the upper section of the reactor are recycled back into the suspension composed of solution, solids, and gases. The leaching is carried out under conditions where divalent and trivalent iron are present, and preferably with dissolved copper (acting as a catalyst to facilitate leaching). The conditions are adjusted such that the pyrite in the ore remains substantially undissolved.

Combined Flotation-Acid Leaching Process for Treating Low-Grade Mixed Copper OrThe flotation process comprises three steps. Firstly, a novel high-efficiency collector MA is used as the collector for sulfide copper ore to conduct direct flotation of sulfide copper ore. 

Subsequently, oxidized copper ore is recovered through sulfidization flotation and direct flotation respectively: the novel high-efficiency collector MA serves as the collector for sulfidization flotation, while sodium oleate is employed as the collector for direct flotation of oxidized copper ore. The flotation mixed concentrate is centrally subjected to acid leaching treatment, and the filtrate is collected after filtration.

This method improves the copper recovery rate and reduces production costs by integrating mineral processing and metallurgy. Additionally, it is simple and easy to implement.

This is a method for producing sponge copper from discarded copper oxide ore, applicable to such ore with a copper content of 0.5% or higher.

Crush the discarded copper oxide ore into 2-4 cm gravel, place it in a stainless steel boiler, add water until the gravel is completely submerged, then add dilute sulfuric acid with a concentration of 40%-60% at a dosage of 20-30 kg per ton of gravel. Heat the stainless steel boiler at a temperature not lower than 100℃ for a duration of no less than 8 hours. Remove the gravel from the boiler and discard it, while retaining the reacted solution in the boiler.

Transfer the reacted solution to a reaction tank, add iron filings and stir. When the solution turns pale, drain the wastewater, fish out the iron filings, and the remaining substance in the reaction tank is sponge copper.

This method boasts the advantages of high recovery rate, low cost, high profitability, simple and feasible process, ease of operation, no pollution, and no exhaust gas emission.

Method for Hydrometallurgical Extraction of Copper from Combined Copper Oxide Ore

The method comprises the following steps:

1、Crush and then grind the combined copper oxide ore to obtain ore powder;

2、Pretreat the ore powder with an alkaline solution to obtain a pretreatment solution and pretreatment residue;

3、Perform acid leaching treatment on the pretreatment residue, and obtain a copper-containing acid leaching solution after filtration;

4、Extract copper from the copper-containing acid leaching solution to obtain sponge copper.

The present invention first pretreats the ore powder of combined copper oxide ore with an alkaline solution, then achieves the leaching of copper from the combined copper oxide ore via the acid leaching process, and further recovers to obtain a sponge copper product. The invention exhibits a significant extraction effect on copper in combined copper oxide ores where the occupancy rate of the copper binding phase reaches 40% or more, with the copper leaching rate ranging from 80% to 93.5%.