Process for the dissolution of copper metal

A process for producing a copper-containing aqueous solution product, said process comprising:

• providing in a packed tower a copper mass having a three dimensional open network permeable to an aqueous solution;
• providing an aqueous leach liquor comprising water, monoethanolamine, and (HMEA)2CO3, wherein said aqueous leach liquor is produced by forming an aqueous composition comprising between 0.5% and 30% by weight of carbon dioxide and about 30% and about 45% by weight of monoethanolamine;
• providing air, oxygen, or mixture thereof;
• and
• contacting the aqueous leach liquor with the air, oxygen, or mixture thereof and with the copper mass, thereby causing dissolution of a portion of the copper mass and forming the copper-containing aqueous solution product, wherein the aqueous leach liquor pH is between 8 and 13 and the temperature is between 25° C. and 100° C., and wherein the aqueous leach liquor dissolves between 100 grams and 130 grams of copper per liter of aqueous leach liquor in 48 hours or less.

A process for producing a copper-containing aqueous solution comprising:

• providing an aqueous leach liquor comprising water, monoethanolamine, and carbon dioxide, wherein the temperature of the leach liquor is maintained at a temperature between 25° C. and 100° C. and the pH of the leach liquor is between 9 and 12.5;
• providing oxygen;
• and
• contacting the leach liquor and the oxygen with copper metal, thereby causing dissolution of at least a portion of the copper metal and forming the copper-containing aqueous solution.