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AssigneeCyprus Metallurgical Processes Corporation
InventorsDuane N. Goens, Paul R. Kruesi
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A process is disclosed for separating cuprous chloride from a solution comprising cuprous chloride and one or more of a number of metal impurities, the process comprising crystallizing the cuprous chloride from the solution in the presence of copper as cupric chloride in a concentration of at least about 20 grams per liter. In one embodiment, the process is employed for recovering substantially pure copper from copper sulfide concentrates containing one or more metal impurities, the basic process comprising leaching the copper sulfide concentrates with ferric chloride to produce a leach solution comprising cuprous chloride, cupric chloride, ferrous chloride and the metal impurities, crystallizing a substantial portion of the cuprous chloride from the leach solution in the presence of cupric ion in a concentration of at least about 20 grams per liter in order to produce substantially pure cuprous chloride and a mother liquor, separating the crystallized cuprous chloride from the mother liquor, reducing the crystallized cuprous chloride to substantially pure elemental copper, treating a substantial portion of the mother liquor with oxygen and hydrochloric acid to produce iron oxide, cupric chloride and ferric chloride, and treating the remainder of the mother liquor in order to remove the impurities.
A process for improving the separation of cuprous chloride from at least one impurity selected from the group consisting of antimony, bismuth and arsenic wherein the cuprous chloride and impurities are in solution comprising:
In a process for recovering copper from copper sulfide ores and concentrates containing at least one metal impurity selected from the group consisting of antimony, bismuth, and arsenic comprising leaching the copper sulfides to product a leach solution cmprising cuprous chloride, cupric chloride, ferrous chloride and the metal impurities;
In a process for improving the separation of cuprous chloride from at least one impurity selected from the group consisting of antimony, bismuth and arsenic, wherein the cuprous chloride and impurities are in solution with at least one cuprous chloride solvent selected from the group consisting of the alkali metal chlorides, the alkaline earth metal chlorides, hydrochloric acid and ferrous chloride wherein the separation is performed by crystallizing a substantial portion of the cuprous chloride from the solution, the improvement comprising performing the separation in the presence of cupric ion being maintained at a concentration of at least about 20 grams per liter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.