Cu extraction from oxide ore

[kjavanb123]

Hi all,

Due to budget problem which is pretty global problem thesedays :-D i had to half my tailing and Ferromanganese recovery projects. But I did some testing on Azurite and Malachite ores couple of questions to the pros here.

1. The grinding size to reach a quicker production the finer the better right? what is the optimum size to crush the cu oxide ores?

2. what is the ratio of sulfuric acid to water to be used as the agent? I heard 167mL of concentrated sulfuric acid for 1liter of water? plz advise. Also at the end of process can we recycle the remaining liquid as the agent for next batch of process?

3. I did some tests and the iron plate also dissolved along with copper ions and it formed a brown yellow metal which according to some calculation is 63% Cu. how can i refine that to 99.9% Cu?

my plan is to have a trailer containing 2 tanks, a small mill, and a rectifier, and of course a diessel power generator. Locally the total cost is under $5000 USD. I can attach it to my truck and move it to the mine site which mostly have azurite and malachite at first 10-20m depth of the veins.

This has never been done before, so there is a chance it might work.


Thanks
Kev

 

[butcher]

with the price of fuel around here, I do not see how running a generator would make any profit, with a small operation,

 

[Irons]

Hi all,

Due to budget problem which is pretty global problem thesedays :-D i had to half my tailing and Ferromanganese recovery projects. But I did some testing on Azurite and Malachite ores couple of questions to the pros here.

1. The grinding size to reach a quicker production the finer the better right? what is the optimum size to crush the cu oxide ores?

2. what is the ratio of sulfuric acid to water to be used as the agent? I heard 167mL of concentrated sulfuric acid for 1liter of water? plz advise. Also at the end of process can we recycle the remaining liquid as the agent for next batch of process?

3. I did some tests and the iron plate also dissolved along with copper ions and it formed a brown yellow metal which according to some calculation is 63% Cu. how can i refine that to 99.9% Cu?

my plan is to have a trailer containing 2 tanks, a small mill, and a rectifier, and of course a diessel power generator. Locally the total cost is under $5000 USD. I can attach it to my truck and move it to the mine site which mostly have azurite and malachite at first 10-20m depth of the veins.

This has never been done before, so there is a chance it might work.


Thanks
Kev

Mineral specimens might be more valuable than the Copper.

 

[Lino1406]

copper out. Is not that so?

 

[butcher]

iron will displace copper.

 

[kjavanb123]

I still can't get pure copper out. Is there any liquid that can be mixed with leachant that removes all unwanted minerals in the azurite or malachite ore, so in return I can have a 99.9% pure copper? I still like to design a mobile plant that can process 4tons of fine copper carbonate oxide ore and produce pure copper.

Please let me know what equipments needed and what is the procedure.

Thanks
Kevin

 

[Lino1406]

you deal with those materials, you're
supposed to know which are the
unwanted minerals - give the names
and maybe someone can help with ideas

 

[Richard36]

Good Azurite and Malachite Specimens, especially those with good crystal structure,
are worth far more than the copper that they contain.

If dilute Sulfuric acid is used as a leach, the copper can be recovered by electrolysis. (Copper anode, and carbon cathode.) This process will plate out the copper from solution on the copper anode. 2 Stainless steel plates can be used as well to cause the copper to drop out of solution by passing DC through it, the solution filtered, the precipitate dried and melted with Borax to produce copper metal.

Sincerely; Rick. "The Rock Man".

 

[butcher]

a carbon source would be a good idea if trying to melt copper, as copper will oxidize easily, carbon will absorb the oxide (oxygen and convert to carbon dioxide gas) in melt. carbon source can be charcoal, flour, sugar and so on.

 

[Richard36]

a carbon source would be a good idea if trying to melt copper, as copper will oxidize easily, carbon will absorb the oxide (oxygen and convert to carbon dioxide gas) in melt. carbon source can be charcoal, flour, sugar and so on.

True,
If the ore is an Oxide, it can be mixed with charcoal and smelted to produce metallic copper.
This copper will not be pure, but it will be in a metallic state, which can be further refined in an electrolytic cell.

Sincerely; Rick. "The Rock Man".