Open AccessTwo-stage leaching of copper-zinc concentrate containing tennantite
Author(s) -
Alena Artykova,
В. С. Меламуд,
A. Ya. Boduen,
А. Г. Булаев
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
iop conference series. earth and environmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.179
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1755-1307
pISSN - 1755-1315
DOI - 10.1088/1755-1315/548/6/062042
Subject(s) - bioleaching , chemistry , leaching (pedology) , zinc , copper , arsenic , residue (chemistry) , metallurgy , copper extraction techniques , environmental chemistry , pulp and paper industry , nuclear chemistry , environmental science , organic chemistry , materials science , soil water , soil science , engineering
The goal of the present work was to evaluate the possibility to improve bioleaching of Cu-Zn concentrate containing tennantite by means of using alkaline sulfide leaching (ASL). Concentrate contained 18.1% Cu, 6.2% Zn, and 1.7% As. ASL allows removing arsenic by means of destruction tennantite (Cu 12 A s4 S 13 ) that results in the formation of dissolved thioarsenite and CuS and CuS2 in solid residues. ASL was performed under the following conditions: 95°C, pulp density 20%, residence time 6 h, NaOH concentration 3.5M, Na 2 S concentration 1.5M. ASL residue contained 17.8% Cu, 6.4% Zn, and 0.2% As. Bioleaching of the concentrate and ASL solid residue was performed in stirred tank reactor under the following conditions: 40°C, pulp density 10%, residence time 20 d. Cu extraction reached 21 and 37%, while Zn extraction was 38 and 47% during concentrate and ASL residue bioleaching. The results obtained demonstrated that ASL pretreatment of the concentrate containing tennantite led to significant increase in copper extraction. Therefore, two-stage leaching including ASL and bioleaching may be considered as promising approach for processing tennantite-containing products since it allows avoiding emission of toxic gases and providing comparatively high copper and zinc extraction.