1530 Patrick Taylor
1530 Patrick Taylor
1530 Patrick Taylor
Processing
Technologies for
Treating High Arsenic
Copper Concentrates
Patrick R. Taylor
G.S. Ansell Distinguished Professor of Enargite from Butte, Montana
Chemical Metallurgy
Director, Kroll Institute for Extractive
Metallurgy
Colorado School of Mines
Introduction
Conventional methods to
extract copper from sulfide
ores using pyrometallurgy
have been used for decades
and more than 75% of
primary copper is recovered
using these methods.
Even though conventional
processing is highly efficient,
the depletion of clean
copper sulfide ore reserves
requires new strategies to
extract the copper with Converter Aisle
certain levels of impurities.
Introduction
Group 15 elements (As, Sb and
Bi) are difficult to handle in
conventional copper smelting.
Environmental regulations
have resulted in avoidance of
high-arsenic copper sulfide
concentrates and led to
increased smelter penalties
and lower acceptable amounts
of arsenic in the concentrates
treated.
An example from the US is
presented:
Arsenic Plant
Example from a US Cu Smelter
LIMITS &
PENALTIES
Tons
Process Options
Both pyrometallurgical and
hydrometallurgical processes
have been evaluated for the
extraction of copper from
enargite concentrates.
Most research has focused
on hydrometallurgical
methods, as they are
generally thought to be more
environmentally benign and
Multi-hearth Furnace
less capital intensive.
Pyrometallurgy
High arsenic content represents
a barrier to direct smelting of
enargite concentrates and makes
the value of the concentrates
greatly diminished.
For those reasons, the arsenic
must be minimized before
smelting to obviate the need to
collect and treat volatile arsenic
compounds and to decrease slag Fluidized Bed - Outotec
Gas CO2
Na2CO3
Exhaust
Preliminary Water
Pelletizer Roasted
Product Bin
Proposed
Rotary Kiln
Flowsheet
Leached
Leached Solution Fe2(SO4)3
Product
As Precipitation
(Solid-Liquid Separation)
Filtering
Solid
Agitated Leaching Tanks Thickener Disposal
Leached Tank
Solid
Product
Solutio
n
Filtering
Tank
SMELTER
H2SO4
Soda Ash Roasting
Controlled oxidation, soda ash roasting may
be a method to eliminate the need for
extensive arsenic collection and conversion in
the off gas and acid manufacturing.
The major obstacle is the cost of the soda ash
and ferric sulfate for arsenic precipitation.
Research is underway to evaluate reagent
regeneration using EDU.
El Indio
The enargite concentrate (23
wt.% Cu, 15 wt.% Fe, 35 wt.%
S, 10 wt.% As and 0.8 wt.%
Sb).
Treated in a 14-hearth 6.5 m
diameter Nicholas-
Herreschoff roaster in the
temperature range 500°C -
700ºC with an oxygen
amount of less than 0.5%.
This made the process
essentially a neutral roasting.
El Indio
The residence time of the feed was about 3
hours.
The outlet gases were captured in two
cyclones, where the collected dust was fed
back to the roaster and the un-oxidized gases
(sulfur and arsenic trisulfide) were oxidized in
a combustion chamber with excess air
through an exothermic reaction at a
temperature of 750 ± 25ºC
El Indio
Then the oxidized gases were cooled down to 350°C -
400ºC in a heat exchanger and directed to an
electrostatic precipitator.
The dust, which contained high precious metal values,
was mixed with flotation concentrates.
The dust free gases were further quenched down to
120 ± 5ºC with cold air in which a major part of the
arsenic was condensed and removed from the gas
phase as arsenic trioxide (white powder).
The final gas stream was released to the atmosphere.
Sulfation Roast
B. Chambers (2012) evaluated sulfation roasting of
enargite
Calcines produced at two temperatures, 500 and 750 C.
They indicated that while high copper extraction and
arsenic fixation rates could be achieved, the sulfation
roasting reactions are highly exothermic and significant
cooling water would need to be added.
Due to these issues, it is likely that partial roasting
operations would not be economically favorable in
greenfield operations.
However, niche applications of this process in operations
with existing copper SX/EW facilities in good acid markets,
have the potential to be economically favorable.
Sulfation Roast Flow Sheet
Acid Bake Process
Safarzadeh, et al (2012) evaluated acid bake and leach
of enargite.
Preliminary experiments showed that the acid-bake
leach process could be adapted and used for the
treatment of enargite concentrates.
Low-temperature (100-400 ºC) sulfuric acid baking of
an enargite concentrate followed by water-leaching
was evaluated.
Results indicate the thermal transformation of
enargite to copper sulfate during sulfuric acid baking,
with most of the arsenic being released from the
concentrate into the gas phase for baking at 400 ºC.
Acid Bake Process
The condition for maximum copper
extraction (~100%) from the concentrate was
found to be 400 ºC, sulfuric acid amount of
0.5 mL/g of concentrate, and 2 h baking time.
Part of the arsenic was captured in the form
of arsenopyrite (FeAsS).
XRD analysis proved the presence of some
arsenic in the form of claudetite (As2O3) in
the baked concentrate.
Acid Bake Process Possible Flow Sheet
CMI NESA Process
Oudenne (2006) reviewed CMI NESA thirty years
of the treatment of arsenical and antimonical
bearing concentrates and other complex
metallurgical byproducts.
The importance of preliminary mineralogical
characterization is emphasized as a preliminary
step for the success of the roasting.
Stage selective roasting appears may be an
attractive and efficient route for the treatment
of complex concentrates.
Principles Of The Selective Roasting Process