Selective extraction and recovery of copper

A process for selectively recovering copper from an acidic chloride solution containing copper, comprising:

• contacting said acidic chloride solution containing copper with an extractant, said extractant selectively extracting copper as copper chloride from said acidic chloride solution;
• contacting said acidic chloride solution from which copper has been selectively extracted by said extractant with a hydrogen ion exchange extractant, said hydrogen ion exchange extractant selectively extracting substantially all copper remaining in said acidic chloride solution;
• contacting said extractant containing copper extracted from said acidic chloride solution as copper chloride with a relatively neutral aqueous stripping solution to strip copper from said extractant thereby forming an aqueous stripping solution pregnant with copper;
• contacting said aqueous stripping solution pregnant with copper with said hydrogen ion exchange extractant, said hydrogen ion exchange extractant selectively extracting copper from said aqueous stripping solution pregnant with copper;
• and
• contacting said hydrogen ion exchange extractant containing copper extracted from said acidic chloride solution and said pregnant aqueous stripping solution with an aqueous acidic stripping solution to strip copper from said hydrogen ion exchange extractant thereby forming an aqueous acidic stripping solution pregnant with copper, saleable copper being recoverable from said pregnant aqueous acidic stripping solution.

A process for selectively recovering copper from an acidic chloride solution containing copper, comprising:

• contacting said acidic chloride solution containing copper with an extractant, said extractant selectively extracting copper as copper chloride from said acidic chloride solution;
• contacting said acidic chloride solution from which copper has been selectively extracted by said extractant with a hydrogen ion exchange extractant, said hydrogen ion exchange extractant selectively extracting substantially all copper remaining in said acidic chloride solution;
• contacting said extractant containing copper extracted from said acidic chloride solution as copper chloride with a relatively neutral aqueous stripping solution to strip copper from said extractant thereby forming an aqueous stripping solution pregnant with copper;
• contacting said aqueous stripping solution pregnant with copper with a second hydrogen ion exchange extractant, said second hydrogen ion exchange extractant selectively extracting copper from said aqueous stripping solution pregnant with copper;
• contacting said hydrogen ion exchange extractant containing copper extracted from said acidic chloride solution with an aqueous acidic stripping solution to strip copper from said hydrogen ion exchange extractant thereby forming an aqueous acidic stripping solution pregnant with copper, saleable copper being recoverable from said pregnant aqueous acidic stripping solution;
• and
• contacting said second hydrogen ion exchange extractant containing copper extracted from said pregnant aqueous stripping solution with a second aqueous acidic stripping solution to strip copper from said second hydrogen ion exchange extractant thereby forming a second aqueous acidic stripping solution pregnant with copper, saleable copper being recoverable from said second pregnant aqueous acidic stripping solution.

A process for selectively recovering copper from an acidic chloride solution containing copper, comprising:

• contacting said acidic chloride solution containing copper with an extractant, said extractant selectively extracting copper as copper chloride from said acidic chloride solution;
• contacting said acidic chloride solution from which copper has been selectively extracted by said extractant with a mixture of a first hydrogen ion exchange extractant and a second hydrogen ion exchange extractant, said mixture selectively extracting substantially all copper remaining in said acidic chloride solution;
• contacting said extractant containing copper extracted from said acidic chloride solution as copper chloride with a relatively neutral aqueous stripping solution to strip copper from said extractant thereby forming an aqueous stripping solution pregnant with copper;
• contacting said aqueous stripping solution pregnant with copper with said mixture, said mixture selectively extracting copper from said aqueous stripping solution pregnant with copper;
• contacting said mixture containing copper extracted from said acidic chloride solution and said pregnant aqueous stripping solution with a first aqueous acidic stripping solution to strip copper from said first hydrogen ion exchange extractant of said mixture thereby forming a first aqueous acidic stripping solution pregnant with copper, saleable copper being recoverable from said first pregnant aqueous acidic stripping solution;
• and
• contacting said mixture containing copper extracted from said acidic chloride solution and said pregnant aqueous stripping solution with a second aqueous acidic stripping solution to strip copper from said second hydrogen ion exchange extractant of said mixture thereby forming a second aqueous acidic stripping solution pregnant with copper, saleable copper being recoverable from said second pregnant aqueous acidic stripping solution.