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US 4,120,697 AGranted
Segregation-separation of copper from nickel in copper-nickel sulfide concentrates
AssigneeAmax Inc.
InventorsLamar D. Coffin, William R. Opie
Life of this patent
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AssigneeAmax Inc.
InventorsLamar D. Coffin, William R. Opie
Estimating the term…
Copper is separately recovered from at least one nickeliferous sulfidic material selected from the group consisting of ore, ore concentrates, mattes or other metallurgical intermediates by roasting the sulfidic material to produce a calcine, mixing the calcine with a particulate carbonaceous reductant and with at least one halide heat transformable to halogen or to hydrogen halide at a segregation roasting temperature in small but effective amounts to halogenate copper values contained in the calcine, heating the mixture to a segregation roasting temperature between about 650.degree. C and about 700.degree. C whereby copper values contained in the calcine react to form a halide which is transported as a halide to the particulate carbonaceous reductant and metallic copper is precipitated from the copper halide on the surface of the carbonaceous reductant. The precipitated metallic copper is recovered as a highly enriched concentrate containing at least about 90% of the copper contained in the starting sulfidic material.
The process for separating copper values from at least one nickeliferous sulfidic material selected from the group consisting of ore, ore concentrates, mattes, or other metallurgical intermediates which comprises roasting the sulfidic material to produce a calcine, mixing the calcine with at least one halide salt heat transformable to a halogen or hydrogen halide at a segregation roasting temperature in small but effective amounts to halogenate copper values contained in the calcine and a particulate carbonaceous reductant, heating the mixture to a segregation roasting temperature between about 625.degree. C. and 725.degree. C. whereby copper values contained in the calcine are halogenated, transported to the carbonaceous reductant and precipitated as metallic copper on the carbonaceous reductant, cooling the heated calcine mixture and separately recovering the metallic copper precipitate which has a copper to nickel ratio of at least eight times that of the sulfidic material.
The process for separating copper values from at least one nickeliferous sulfidic material selected from the group consisting of ore, ore concentrates, mattes, or other metallurgical intermediates which comprises roasting the sulfidic material to produce a calcine containing less than about 1% sulfur, mixing the calcine with sodium chloride in an amount between about 0.3% and about 0.5% and a particulate carbonaceous reductant in an amount between about 1.3 and about 1.6 moles of carbon per mole of copper, heating the mixture to a segregation roasting temperature between about 625.degree. C. and 725.degree. C. whereby copper values contained in the calcine are chlorinated, transported to the carbonaceous reductant and precipitated as metallic copper on the carbonaceous reductant, cooling the heating calcine mixture and separately recovering the metallic copper precipitate which has a copper to nickel ratio of at least eight times that of the sulfidic material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.