Method for recovering copper from copper-containing materials using direct electrowinning

Abstract

A method for recovering copper from a copper-containing ore, concentrate, or other copper-bearing material to produce high quality cathode copper from a leach solution without the use of copper solvent extraction techniques or apparatus. A method for recovering copper from a copper-containing ore generally includes the steps of providing a feed stream containing comminuted copper-containing ore, concentrate, or other copper-bearing material, leaching the feed stream to yield a copper-containing solution, conditioning the copper-containing solution through one or more physical or chemical conditioning steps, and electrowinning copper directly from the copper-containing solution, without subjecting the copper-containing solution to solvent extraction.

1 . A method for recovering copper from a copper-containing material comprising the steps of: 
 providing a feed stream comprising a copper-containing material and acid;    separating at least a portion of said acid from said copper-containing material in said feed stream to yield a leaching feed stream comprising a copper-bearing material and an acid stream;    leaching at least a portion of said leaching feed stream to yield a copper-containing product stream;    conditioning said copper-containing product stream without the use of solvent extraction techniques to yield a copper-containing solution suitable for electrowinning;    electrowinning copper from at least a portion of said copper-containing solution to yield cathode copper and a lean electrolyte stream.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said step of providing a feed stream comprising a copper-containing material comprises providing a feed stream comprising a copper sulfide ore or concentrate.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said separating step comprises reacting at least a portion of the copper in a copper-containing electrolyte stream in the presence of sulfur dioxide, whereby at least a portion of said copper in said copper-containing electrolyte stream precipitates as copper sulfide onto at least a portion of the copper-containing material in said feed stream.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said leaching step comprises pressure leaching at least a portion of said leaching feed stream at a temperature of from about 100 to about 250° C.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said copper-containing product stream comprises a copper-containing solution and a residue, and wherein said conditioning step comprises subjecting at least a portion of said copper-containing product stream to solid-liquid separation, wherein at least a portion of said copper-containing solution is separated from said residue.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein said conditioning step further comprises blending at least a portion of said copper-containing solution with at least a portion of one or more copper-containing streams to achieve a desired copper concentration in said copper-containing solution.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein said conditioning step further comprises blending at least a portion of said copper-containing solution with at least a portion of one or more copper-containing streams to achieve a copper concentration of from about 20 to about 75 grams/liter in said copper-containing solution.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of using at least a portion of said acid stream yielded from said separating step in at least one of heap leaching, vat leaching, dump leaching, stockpile leaching, pad leaching, agitated tank leaching, or bacterial leaching operations.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of recycling at least a portion of said lean electrolyte stream to the separating step.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 3  further comprising the step of recycling at least a portion of said lean electrolyte stream to the separating step.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of recycling at least a portion of said lean electrolyte stream to the conditioning step.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 5  further comprising the step of recycling at least a portion of said lean electrolyte stream to the conditioning step.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the steps of: 
 recycling a portion of said lean electrolyte stream to the separating step, and    recycling a portion of said lean electrolyte stream to the conditioning step.    
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 3  further comprising the steps of: 
 recycling a portion of said lean electrolyte stream to the separating step, and    recycling a portion of said lean electrolyte stream to the conditioning step.    
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 5  further comprising the steps of: 
 recycling a portion of said lean electrolyte stream to the separating step, and    recycling a portion of said lean electrolyte stream to the conditioning step.    
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of reducing the amount of acid in said leaching feed stream using a solid-liquid separation device.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein said step of reducing the amount of acid in said leaching feed stream further comprises reducing the impurities in said leaching feed stream.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said conditioning step comprises controlling the copper concentration of said copper-containing solution such that the copper concentration of said copper-containing solution entering the electrowinning step is maintained at a level of about 40 grams/liter.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said step of providing a feed stream comprising copper-containing material comprises providing a feed stream comprising copper sulfide ore or concentrate having a P80 of from about 5 to about 75 microns.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of utilizing said lean electrolyte in a solvent extraction operation.