MEXICANA DE COBRE Leaching of Cu

solids r a tc in t he re - pulpin g s tep. to e v alua t e

t h e e f f e c t o f i n t e r m e d i a t e a c i d c onc en t ra tio n s
o n th e d is sol ut ion a nd p ot en t ial r e -c r y st al liz a tio n
o f t he r n et al sul fa t e s, o n the lines of the recent
test work a t La C aridad.

The use of e thanol to promote crys tallization of th e

metal sulfa te hydra tes migh t also be w or t h
i n ve s tig a tin g, a lt hou gh re por t s in dic at e th a t i t i s
o nl y e ff ec ti v e ab ov e p H 1.5. ( S. A k t a s , " A no v e l p u r i fi c a t i o n m e t h od f o r c o p p e r s ul f a t e
u s i n g e t h a n ol , H y d r o m e t a ll u r g y , 106 (2011). 175 -178).

8.5 Treatment of the Leach Liquor prior to SX-EW

A s n o t e d a bo v e , t h e p ro d uc t s ol u t i o n f r o m t h e W a s h c i rc ui t i s c u r r e n tl y p r o j ec t e d t o
c on ta in 30 g/ L C u , 2 0 g/ L F e a nd 20 0 - 25 0 g/ L H ,S O4. T he di ss o l ved i ro n i s
p r e d o m in a n t l y i n t h e f e r r ic fo r m. T h e co p p e r i s to b e r ec o v e r e d a s c a t hod e b y S X -E W i n
a n e x i s t i n g ci r cu i t t r e a t i n g h e ap l e ac h p r e gn a n t s o l u ti o n, b u t t h e p r oc e s s s t e p s t o m a k e
t h e le ach solu t ion s ui ta b l e as f e ed t o suc h a c irc ui t ha v e no t be e n d e fin ed. A t en -fol d
dilution of the leach solution with water or a heap leach solution would give satisfactory
concentrations of copper and ferric iron, but too much free acid (20 -25 g/L H2SO4) for the SX
feed, which should be in the pH 1 to 2 range. The simplest approach is proba bly to n e u tr al iz e
t h e f re e acid wi t h lim e s ton e to -p H 2, bu t thi s i s r el a ti ve l y e xp en si v e, tu rns t he aci d in to a
w as t e s tr ea m an d p rod uce s la rg e amo un t s of g yp su m for di spo sa l.

Anoth er po te nti al t re at men t r ne thod w hic h c ould r educ e th e ac id t o c opper ra tio

s i g n i fi c a n t l y i s Ec o -T e c I n c ' s i o n e x c h a n g e A P U s y s t e m , w h ic h h a s b e e n w id e l y a p pl i e d
t o th e r eco v er y o f u ndil u te d s ul fur ic ac id f rom copp er r efi ne r y bl e ed s tr ea rn s. ( eco-
t e c . co m ). H ow e v e r , t h i s t e c h no lo g y i s d e s i gn e d t o r e co v e r t h e a c i d w i t h a r e d u c ed
a m o u n t ( -2 5 % ) o f t h e co n t a i n e d m e t a l s s u c h a s n ic k e l co p p e r a n d ir o n , an d w o ul d
p rob abl y onl y r eco v er 75 -8 0% of t h e cop pe r to t he low aci d SX f ee d solu ti on .

Perh aps a mor e ec ono mic app roac h w ould b e to (Miz e the di lut ed high ac id l eac h
s olu ti on as t h e l eac ha n t in a h eap or v a t l ea ch, w hich woul d u s e th e aci d fo r l eac hi ng
c o pper o xid es a nd ne ut rali zing ac id -c o nsu ming ga ngu e mine ral s and c o uld po te nti all y
u s e th e fe rr ic sul fa t e to le ac h seco nd ar y c opp er s ulf id es. Thi s o p tion i s wo rt h e xp lori ng.

8.6 Recovery of Leached Silver

A l t h o u g h t h e b e h a v io u r o f s i l v e r h a s no t b e e n f ol lo w e d i n t h e U A S L P t e s t w o r k , s o m e
d a ta a r e a v ail ab le f rom t he La C an da d te s t wo r k o f 200 8. Th e ind ica tio n s ar e t ha t ab ou t
75 % of t he si l ve r i n th e co nce n tr a te i s di s sol v ed i n th e c. H2S O4 l e ach an d i t is b eli e ve d
t h a t thi s sil v e r i s r e- pr eci pi ta t ed i n th e W a sh ci rcu it a s sil v er ox id e (A g20) an d r epo r ts to
t h e l e ac h r e s id u e. Th i s s il v e r c ou ld po t e n ti a ll y b e re c o v e r ed b y le a c hi ng i n a n
a m moni a. ' sol ut ion a nd p r ecipi t a te d as s il ve r c hlor id e.

8.7 Flotation of the Leach Residue

The leach residue consists of pyrite (-55%). molybdenite and unreacte d chalcopyrite
-5%), elemental sulfur (-25%) and insoluble gangue minerals (-15%). It has been
observed that the elemental sulfur selectively coats the pyrite when the leach slurry is
cooled. The conceptual flow sheet includes a flotation step, originally intended for MoS. ,
recovery, but other separations may be possible, such as partly-reacted CuFeS2 from
the sulfur-coated FeS, although no test 32 work has been done on this step It is
unlikely