Method of recovering copper and precious metals

A method of recovering copper from copper-bearing sulfide ore and/or concentrate comprising the steps of:

• (a) leaching copper-bearing ore and/or concentrate under atmospheric or elevated pressure up to 300 kPa at a temperature below the boiling point of the leach solution in a sulfuric acid solution in the presence of one or more alkali metal or alkali earth metal halides, whereby the total halide concentration is from 30 to 115 g/L, to dissolve copper and to obtain a leaching liquor comprising copper, sulfur species, and halides in solution;
• (b) solid-liquid separating the leaching liquor to obtain a first aqueous pregnant leach solution and a copper depleted leaching residue;
• (c) extracting copper by solvent extraction from the first aqueous pregnant leach solution to obtain a first copper-containing loaded organic solution and a first aqueous raffinate;
• subjecting a bleed stream of the first aqueous raffinate to a copper hydroxychloride precipitation step;
• and after solid-liquid separation precipitating impurities from the copper-depleted solution;
• (d) stripping copper from the first copper containing loaded organic solution with an electrolyte solution to obtain a copper-depleted organic solution and a copper-containing electrolyte solution;
• and
• (e) recovering copper from the copper containing electrolyte solution.