2017-Sustainable Industrial Processing Summit
SIPS 2017 Volume 1. Barrios Intl. Symp. / Non-ferrous Smelting & Hydro/Electrochemical Processing
| Editors: | Kongoli F, Palacios M, Buenger T, Meza JH, Delgado E, Joudrie MC, Gonzales T, Treand N |
| Publisher: | Flogen Star OUTREACH |
| Publication Year: | 2017 |
| Pages: | 264 pages |
| ISBN: | 978-1-987820-61-4 |
| ISSN: | 2291-1227 (Metals and Materials Processing in a Clean Environment Series) |
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The CESL Copper-Arsenic Process: Sustainable Processing of Enargite-Bearing Copper Concentrates
Keith Mayhew1; Patricio Barrios2; Susan Stocker1; Colin Joudrie3;1TECK RESOURCES LIMITED, Richmond, Canada; 2AURUBIS, Hamburg, Germany (Deutschland); 3TECK RESOURCES LIMITED, Vancouver, Canada;
Type of Paper: Regular
Id Paper: 378
Topic: 6
Abstract:
Current practices for the processing of high-arsenic copper concentrates include: blending with large quantities of clean concentrate; roasting to produce a low-arsenic calcine; and direct smelting in a small number of custom smelters that accept arsenic-bearing concentrates. A sustainable processing alternative to process arsenic-bearing concentrates is via hydrometallurgy, including medium temperature leaching or total oxidative leaching at high temperature. The CESL Cu-As Process, a medium temperature and pressure hydrometallurgical leaching process, has achieved all operating and environment requirements in pilot and demonstration scale campaigns on several blends of high-arsenic concentrates containing up to 10% arsenic content. The benefits of the CESL Cu-As Process for processing of high-arsenic copper concentrates include >97% copper recovery to cathode coupled with >99% deportment of arsenic to stable residues with no particulate, sulphur dioxide, or liquid emissions. Short- and long-term stability tests on residue from the CESL Cu-As Process have proven the stability of arsenic in the crystalline ferric arsenates (basic ferric arsenate sulfate � �Type 2 Scorodite� � and scorodite) which presents an opportunity to sustainably and safely process high-arsenic enargite-bearing copper concentrates.