Evaluation of copper in oxidized ores

In this study, flotation and leaching experiments were carried out on two different copper ore samples containing 2.17% and 1.63% Cu, provided from Diyarbakır region in Turkey.In the first part of the study, it was aimed to enrich copper in both ore by flotation method. The enrichment of the silicon-oxide copper ores containing copper by flotation method directly was not achieved. Therefore, both ore samples were sulphiditated by H2S and Na2S before flotation. The effects of amount of H2S, refreshing, collector reagents, particle size of on flotation experiments were investigated. In the flotation experiments, the best result was obtained from flotation of 500 g sulphidized ore, containing 2.17% Cu, sized to -100 mesh with 8,54 g H2S(g) and for ore containing 1.63% Cu sized to -100 mesh with 9.45 g H2S(g). Optimum flotation conditions for the ore were found as follows: collector type, diisobutyldithiophosphinate Aero 3418A; amount of collector, (1%) of collector 12.0 mL/100 g ore; 0.5 mL (1%) of MIBC was used as a foam; 3 mL (5 mg / mL) CuSO4 as a refreshing agent. Under the optimum conditions copper yield were obtained as 71.0% and 74.8% yield respectively. It was also found that the flotation yield of the sulphiditated second ore (1.63% Cu), which is obtained by sulphidizing the ore in the 1.0 M H2SO4 solution environment, is 82% and the remaining copper concentration is about 21% in the ore.In the second part of the study, sulfuric acid leaching was applied and various parameters were examined to ensure that the copper had passed through the acid solution at different parameters. Parameters such as acid concentration, leaching time, leaching temperature, particle size, solid/liquid ratio, H2O2, NaOH, CaO and O2 effects. First of all, the effect of acid concentration was investigated. H2SO4 was used at 0.5 to 2.5 M concentration but it was determined that the 1,0 M H2SO4 solution was more suitable when considering the economic situation of working in extraction experiments. In the experimental studies for first ore, in 60 minutes 96% of the copper was dissolved in the conditions that the solid-liquid ratio was 1/1 g/mL, the particle size was 100 mesh and the reaction temperature was the room temperature in the 1,0 M H2SO4 acid medium. For second ore in 90 minutes % 86 of copper was dissolved at the same conditions. In addition to all of this, the interaction of the second ore with 1.0 M NaOH solution before leaching with sulfuric acid solution resulted in a yield of 96% Cu. İt was obtained that HNO3, H2O2 and O2 increased leaching yield of 1.63% Cu-containing ore. In the electrolysis process, high purity copper was obtained from the leaching solution. Recovery of Al2 (SO4)3 and H2SO4 from the decopperized solution by electrolysis was studied.