# US 2022/0033932 A1 · Method of Processing a Pyrite-Containing Slurry > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2022/0033932 A1 - Document ID: US20220033932A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 16/944,379 - Filed: 2020-07-31 - Published: 2022-02-03 - Earliest claimed: 2020-07-31 - Assignees: Rio Tinto Technological Resources Inc. - Applicants: Rio Tinto Technological Resources Inc. - Inventors: Adam James Burley; Javiera del Pilar Alcayaga Zuñiga; Yure Anton Mladinic Muñoz - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20220033932A1 ## CPC - C22B 15/0067: {with acids or salts thereof} - C22B 1/005: {Preliminary treatment of scrap (C22B1/02 - C22B1/26 take precedence)} - C22B 1/14: Agglomerating; Briquetting; Binding; Granulating - C22B 3/06: in inorganic acid solutions {, e.g. with acids generated in situ; in inorganic salt solutions other than ammonium salt solutions} - C22B 3/18: with the aid of microorganisms or enzymes, e.g. bacteria or algae - Y02P 10/122: by capturing or storing CO2 - Y02P 10/20: Recycling - C22B: PRODUCTION AND REFINING OF METALS (electrolytic C25); PRETREATMENT OF RAW MATERIALS - Y02P: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS ## Abstract A method of processing a pyrite-containing slurry including removing pyrite from the pyrite-containing slurry and forming (i) an inert stream and (ii) a pyrite-containing material. Using the pyrite-containing material in a downstream leach step in which pyrite in the pyrite-containing material generates acid and heat that facilitates leaching a metal, such as copper or nickel or zinc or cobalt, from a metal-containing material. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of removing copper from a low-grade copper-containing material having copper sulfide minerals comprising (a) obtaining a pyrite-containing slurry from a tailings dam or directly from a tailings stream of an ore processing plant; (b) removing pyrite from the pyrite-containing slurry by floating pyrite-containing particles and forming (i) an inert stream and (ii) a pyrite-containing material including pyrite-containing particles; (c) mixing a low-grade copper-containing material having copper sulfide minerals with the pyrite-containing material and forming agglomerates, and (d) leaching copper from the copper-containing material in the agglomerates from step (c) with a leach liquor and microbes, wherein the pyrite in the pyrite-containing material generates acid and heat that facilitates leaching copper from the copper-containing material, and wherein the microbes oxidize ferrous iron to ferric iron. ### Claim 2 (canceled) ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method defined in claim 1 wherein the pyrite removing step (b) includes a size separation step which separates larger particles from the pyrite-containing slurry before removing pyrite from the pyrite-containing slurry. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method defined in claim 3 wherein the pyrite removing step (b) includes reducing the size of the larger particles in a size reduction circuit and returning the reduced-sized particles to the size separation step. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The method defined in claim 4 wherein the pyrite removing step (b) includes selecting operating conditions so that pyrite particles in the pyrite-containing material have a required particle size distribution for the leaching step (d). ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The method defined in claim 5 wherein the pyrite particles in the pyrite-containing material have a particle size of P80 of ≤1 mm. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The method defined in claim 5 wherein the pyrite particles in the pyrite-containing material have a particle size of P80 of ≤250 μm. ### Claim 8 (canceled) ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method defined in claim 1 wherein the pyrite removing step (a) includes thickening and/or filtering the pyrite-containing material and de-watering the pyrite-containing slurry and forming a pyrite-containing concentrate. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method defined in claim 1 includes using the inert stream as a source of water in processing plants for recovering metal from the copper-containing material. ### Claim 11 (canceled) ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The method defined in claim 1 wherein pyrite is 1-10 wt. % of the total mass of the copper-containing material and the pyrite-containing material. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The method defined in claim 1 wherein the leaching in step (d) includes: i. heap leaching copper from a heap of the agglomerates and producing a pregnant leach liquor contain copper in solution; and ii. recovering copper from the pregnant leach liquor. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The method defined in claim 13 wherein the low-grade copper containing material includes rock. ### Claim at position 15 15-17. (canceled) ### Claim 18 (depends on 1) The method defined in claim 1 wherein the microbes are bacteria and archaea. ### Claim 19 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3 wherein the inert stream is a source of water for recovering metal from the copper-containing material. ### Claim 20 A method of removing copper from a low-grade copper-containing material having copper sulfide minerals comprising: (a) obtaining a pyrite-containing slurry from a tailings dam or directly from a tailings stream of an ore processing plant; (b) removing pyrite from the pyrite-containing slurry by floating pyrite-containing particles and forming (i) an inert stream and (ii) a pyrite-containing material that includes pyrite-containing particles, including selecting operating conditions so that pyrite particles have a required particle size distribution for leaching step (d); (c) mixing a low-grade copper-containing material having copper sulfide minerals with the pyrite-containing material and forming agglomerates, and (d) leaching copper from the copper-containing material in the agglomerates from step (c) with a leach liquor and microbes, wherein the pyrite in the pyrite-containing material generates acid and heat that facilitates leaching copper from the copper-containing material, and wherein the microbes oxidize ferrous iron to ferric iron. ### Claim 21 A method of removing copper from a low-grade copper-containing material having copper sulfide minerals comprising: (a) obtaining a pyrite-containing slurry from a tailings dam or directly from a tailings stream of an ore processing plant; (b) removing pyrite from the pyrite-containing slurry by the steps of separating larger particles from the remaining pyrite-containing slurry, reducing the size of the larger particles in a size reduction circuit and returning the reduced-sized particles to the size separation step, and floating pyrite-containing particles in the remaining slurry and forming (i) an inert stream and (ii) a pyrite-containing material, including selecting operating conditions so that pyrite particles have a required particle size distribution for leaching step (d); (c) mixing a low-grade copper-containing material having copper sulfide minerals and the pyrite-containing material and forming agglomerates, and (d) leaching copper from the copper-containing material in the agglomerates from step (c) with a leach liquor and microbes, wherein the pyrite in the pyrite-containing material generates acid and heat that facilitates leaching copper from the copper-containing material, and wherein the microbes oxidize ferrous iron to ferric iron.