Selective leaching of chloride from copper oxide minerals
AssigneeThe Hanna Mining Company
InventorsDennis D. Chilcote, Donald J. Kaczyski
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for extracting chloride ions from copper-hydroxy-chloride containing copper oxide ore comprising the steps of (a) contacting said ore with an aqueous solution of the basic salt of a Group I-A or Group II-A metal in a leaching stage to extract chloride ions from said ore and dissolve said chloride ions in said solution; (b) removing part of said solution from the mixture of ore and solution as a bleed stream for chloride disposal; and (c) separating said ore from the remainder of said solution.
Claims30
A method for extracting chloride for copper-hydroxy-chloride containing copper oxide ore comprising the steps of
- (a) contacting said ore with an aqueous solution of the basic salt of a Group I-A Group II-A metal in a leaching stage to extract chloride ions from said ore and dissolve said chloride ions in said solution, said salt including an anionic portion with a valence of minus one or minus two, the molar ratio of said anionic portion to the chloride ions in said ore being in the range of about 5:1 to about 1:1 when the valence of said ionic portion is minus one and about 5:2 to about 1:2 when the valence of said ionic portion is minus two;
- (b) removing part of said solution from the mixture of ore and solution as a bleed stream for chloride disposal;
- and
- (c) separating said ore from the remainder of said solution.
The method of claim 15 with the step of introducing part of said separated solution into said leaching stage.
A method for leaching chloride from copper oxide ore wherein at least part of the copper is present as atacamite/paratacamite comprising the steps of
- (a) contacting copper-hydroxy-chloride containing copper ore with an aqueous leach solution of the basis salt of sodium, potassium, calcium or magnesium in a leaching state, the anionic portion of said salt being hydroxyl, carbonate or hydrogen carbonate, the molar ratio of said anionic portion of said salt to the chloride ions in said ore being in the range of about 2:1 to about 1:1 when hydroxyl or hydrogen carbonate is used and about 1:1 to about 1:2 when carbonate is used, said ore and solution remaining in contact in said leaching stage for about five minutes to about ten hours, the temperature of said solution being in the range of about 20.degree. C. to about 100.degree. C.;
- (b) removing said ore and solution from said leaching stage in the form of a slurry and introducing said slurry into a thickener wherein part of the liquor is removed from said slurry as a bleed stream for chloride disposal;
- (c) removing the remaining slurry from said thickener;
- (d) washing said remaining slurry;
- (e) filtering the washed slurry in a filter stage wherein particulate ore is separated from said slurry;
- and
- (f) introducing the filtrate separated from the particulate ore in said filter stage into said leaching stage.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.