Acid equilibrium during bioleaching of alkaline low-grade sulfide copper ore

This article reports the study on acid equilibrium during bioleaching of alkaline low-grade copper sulfide ore. Adding auxiliary agents 1# （sulfur） and 2# （pyrite） makes bacterial leaching of copper and acid production carried out simultaneously because the auxiliary agents can be oxidized by bacteria and the oxidation products involve acid. The acid required for dissolving alkaline gangue during bacterial leaching is produced, and acid equilibrium is reached during the ore bio-leaching. The recovery of copper reaches more than 95%.

Co-extraction of valuable metals and kinetics analysis in chlorination process of low-grade nickel-copper sulfide ore

To efficiently co-extract Ni and Cu from low-grade nickel-copper sulfide ore,chlorination roasting with NH;Cl followed by a water leaching process was investigated.The results show that 98.4%Ni and 98.5%Cu can be synchronously extracted when the ore particle size is 75-80μm,the roasting time is 2 h,the mass ratio of NH;Cl to ore is 1.6:1 and the roasting temperature is 550°C.The evolution behavior of various minerals was elucidated using X-ray diffraction(XRD)coupled with scanning electron microscopy(SEM).The kinetics of the chlorination process based on the differential thermal and thermogravimetric analysis(DTA-TG)data was analyzed by Kissinger method and Flynn-Wall-Ozawa(FWO)method.The chlorination process of low-grade nickel-copper sulfide ore mainly contains two stages:the decomposition of NH;Cl and the chlorination of ore.The maximum apparent activation energies(Ea)at two stages are determined to be 114.8 and 144.6 kJ/mol,respectively.The condensed product of exhaust gas is determined to be ammonium chloride,which can be recycled as the reactant again,making the process economic and clean.

Recovery of Zn, Pb, Fe and Si from a low-grade mining ore by sulfidation roasting-beneficiation-leaching processes

To recover Zn, Pb, Fe and Si from a low-grade mining ore in the Lanping basin, Yunnan Province, China, a novel technology using the roasting with pyrite and carbon followed by beneficiation and hydrochloric acid leaching was proposed. Firstly, several factors such as pyrite dosage, roasting temperature, carbon powder dosage, holding time and particle size affecting on the flotation performance of Zn(Pb) and magnetic separation performance of Fe were simultaneously examined and the optimum process parameters were determined. A flotation concentrate, containing 17.46% Zn and 3.93% Pb, was obtained, and the Zn and Pb recoveries were 86.04% and 69.08%, respectively. The obtained flotation tailing was concentrated by a low-intensity magnetic separator. The grade of iron increased from 5.45% to 43.45% and the recovery of iron reached 64.87%. Hydrochloric acid leaching was then carried out for the magnetic separation tailing and a raw quartz concentrate containing 81.05% SiO2 was obtained. To further interpret the sulfidation mechanism of smithsonite, surface morphology and component of the sample before and after reactions were characterized by XRD and EPMA-EDS. The aim was to achieve the comprehensive utilization of the low-grade mining ore.

The 982 Ma Re-Os age of copper-nickel sulfide ores in the Baotan area,Guangxi and its geological significance

Re-Os dating on copper-nickel sulfide ores from the Baotan area, Guangxi, yielded an ore-forming age of 982±21 Ma(2σ), which demonstrates that copper-nickel sulfide deposits and their related mafic-ultramafic rocks occurred in the same period of time with the ophiolites in northeastern Jiangxi. Both of them are the products of collision-convergence between the Cathaysian plate and Yangtze plate and the subsequent extensional environment. Calculation of the γOs of the 982 Ma copper-nickel sulfide ores and its correlation with Re/Os indicate that injection-type massive ores display lower γOs values(-15.6 to -8.2) and lower Re/Os ratios(0.32 to 0.43), while basal liquation-type ores have γOs= -27.9 to -7.3 and Re/Os=5.36 to 11.24. This suggests that these copper-nickel sulfide ores and their related mafic-ultramafic rocks were derived from a Re-depleted mantle source and that contamination with some crustal material occurred during their intrusion.

ACTIVATION MECHANISM OF AlCl_3 DURING THE LEACHING OF Cu-Ni ORE WITH FeCl_3

After Cu-Ni ore powder pre-soaked in AlCl3 solution.the leaching ratios of copper andnickel can increase obviously.By X-ray diffraction analyses,electron energy spectrum analysesand electrochemical experiments,it is affirmed that,the activation of aluminum ion includestwo aspects:one is the surface change of the ore by the absorption of hydrolysates,and the oth-er is the change of semiconductor characteristics of the metal sulfides by impurity aluminum ionentering the lattice,so that leaching reactions are accelerated.