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heap leaching Copper
Copper heap leaching
Copper tank leaching

Copper Ore Extraction to Cathode Copper

Metalcess Intelligent provides turn-key solution package for the Copper extraction projects from various types Copper ore to produce LEM grade A Copper cathode, including optimal technological process determination, engineering design, equipment fabrication, guidance for installation and commissioning, and staff training. Copper oxide ore can be directly extracted by leaching process, with no benefication process required to produce Copper concentrate firstly even when the Copper grade is supper low in the ore. Heap leaching and tank leaching are two major leaching process applied in industrial scale, followed by solvent extraction and electro-winning to produce cathode Copper. Copper Sulfide ore will firstly be treated with flotation process to be enriched as qualified Copper concentrate. For large capacity project, smelting furnace (TSL, Copper matte)-PS convertor (crude Copper)-Anode furnace (anode copper) -Electro-refining(cathode copper) would be suggested especially when there is Gold in the ore. Fluidized bed furnace - leaching -SX-EW is more suggested for medium project as it as lower investment, while high pressure oxygen leaching process is applied for Copper sulfide ore small scale project.

Copper Oxide Ore Extraction Technology
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Copper Oxide Ore Extraction Technology

Low-grade Copper oxide ore can be directly leached without going through the beneficiation process for concentration. 

The typical process for high grade Copper oxide ore is Stirred leaching (tank leaching) - thickner - CCD washing - Solvent Extraction - Electrowinning (TL-SX-EW). 

For Copper-Cobalt ore, an additional by-process of neutralizing Iron removal and cobalt precipitation with magnesium oxide will be adopted to produce crude cobalt hydroxide. 

The typical process for Low-grade copper oxide ore is Heap leaching -solvent Extraction - Electrowinning (HL-SX-EW).

Through the above process, cathode Copper (Cu >99.96%) can be produced. The investment for heap leaching can be 30-40% lower than that for tank leaching. Generally, tank leaching process are adopted by high-grade copper oxide ore more. Yet to shorten the investment recovery time and handle the fine powder ore that cannot be used in heap leaching, some smelters will use both tank leaching and heap leaching simultaneously, or directly use the tank leaching process. Currently, the lowest Cu grade of Copper oxide ore processed by tank leaching can reach < 1%.

The Copper solvent extraction process normally adopts two stages of extraction and one stripping.

Copper Sulfide Ore Extraction Technology
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Copper Sulfide Ore Extraction Technology

Copper oxide ore is mainly the product of sulfide Copper ore oxidized from the surface of ore veins. With continuous deep mining, the ore oxidation rate gradually decreases, and the development and utilization of deep sulfide Copper ore have been gradually prioritized. 

The low-grade sulfide Copper ore normally has good beneficiability and can be firstly enriched into sulfide Copper concentrate by flotation process, and then undergoes subsequent Cu extraction process: 

Pyrometallurgical smelting and converting: The sulfide Copper concentrate will be firstly smelted to produce Copper matte, then the Copper matte is converted into crude Copper by converting, which will enter the anode furnace to generate anode Copper. The anode Copper can be sold out directly or go through the electro-refining process to produce LEM A grade Cathode Copper. This process is suitable for large-scale (>30000ton/year) projects or Copper-gold mines. Gold is captured by Copper during pyrometallurgy process and enters the anode sludge/slime during electroly-refining, which can be recovered through subsequent anode slime recovery processes. TSL - PS Converter - Anode furnace - Electrorefining system is the typical configuration. 

Sulfuric acid roasting (boiling furnace/fluidized bed furnace) - Leaching-SX-EW: This process can produce exhaust gas with stable sulfur dioxide content, which is very suitable for 98% sulfuric acid production. It is more suitable for 10,000-30,000 tons/year smelters. The investment is relatively small. Boiling furnace/fluidized bed furnace- Leaching - SX- EW + acid production system is the typical configuration. 

Oxygen pressure leaching: Oxygen pressure leaching as an enhanced metallurgical process can handle more complex metal sulfide ores, with a high metal extraction rate and significant iron removal effect. The advantage is that only an oxygen pressure reactor needs to be invested, and it can directly produce sulfuric acid, which can be used in the leaching process of Copper oxide ore. It is suggested for sulfide ore and oxide ore mixed ores with ≤10,000 tons/ear capacity.

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