Process for recovery of copper from copper-bearing material using pressure leaching, direct electrowinning and solution extraction

1. A method of recovering copper from a copper-bearing material, comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a feed stream comprising a copper-bearing material;

(b) subjecting at least a portion of said feed stream to controlled fine grinding;

(c) pressure leaching at least a portion of said feed stream in an oxidizing environment at an elevated temperature and pressure to yield a product slurry comprising a copper-bearing solution and a residue;

(d) conditioning said product slurry without the use of solvent/solution extraction techniques to yield a copper-bearing solution suitable for electrowinning;

(e) electrowinning copper from said copper-bearing solution from said conditioning step to yield cathode copper and a copper-bearing lean electrolyte stream;

(f) recycling a portion of said lean electrolyte stream to said pressure leaching step;

(g) treating at least a portion of said lean electrolyte stream from said electrowinning step using solvent/solution extraction techniques; and

(h) directing at least a portion of a residue from said pressure leaching step to a heap, stockpile or other leaching operation.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said step (h) of directing at least a portion of a residue from said pressure leaching stage to a heap, stockpile or other leaching operation comprises the transfer of a residue comprising a sulfur-bearing material to such operation.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said step of providing a feed stream comprising a copper-bearing material comprises providing a feed stream comprising at least one of chalcopyrite, chalcocite, bornite, covellite, digenite, and enargite, or mixtures or combinations thereof.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said step of providing a feed stream comprising a copper-bearing material comprises providing a feed stream comprising a copper-bearing material and a solution stream comprising copper and acid.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said step of subjecting at least a portion of said feed stream to controlled fine grinding comprises reducing the particle size of said feed stream such that substantially all of the particles in said feed stream react substantially completely during pressure leaching.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein said step of subjecting at least a portion of said feed stream to controlled fine grinding comprises reducing the particle size of said feed stream to a P80 of less than about 25 microns.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein said step of subjecting at least a portion of said feed stream to controlled fine grinding comprises reducing the particle size of said feed stream to a P80 of from about 13 to about 20 microns.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein said step of subjecting at least a portion of said feed stream to controlled fine grinding comprises reducing the particle size of said feed stream to a P98 of less than about 25 microns.

9. The method of claim 5 , wherein said step of subjecting at least a portion of said feed stream to controlled fine grinding comprises reducing the particle size of said feed stream to a P98 of from about 10 to about 23 microns.

10. The method of claim 5 , wherein said step of subjecting at least a portion of said feed stream to controlled fine grinding comprises reducing the particle size of said feed stream to a P98 of from about 13 to about 15 microns.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein said leaching step comprises leaching at least a portion of said feed stream in a pressure leaching vessel at a temperature of from about 140° C. to about 230° C. and at a total operating pressure of from about 100 psi to about 750 psi.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein said step (h) comprises directing said residue by agglomerating said residue with ore material to be used in said heap, stockpile or other leaching operation.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein said step of pressure leaching said feed stream comprises pressure leaching said feed stream in the presence of a surfactant selected from the group consisting of lignin derivatives, orthophenylene diamine, alkyl sulfonates, and mixtures thereof.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein said conditioning step comprises subjecting at least a portion of said product slurry to solid-liquid separation, wherein at least a portion of said copper-bearing solution is separated from said residue.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein said conditioning step further comprises blending at least a portion of said copper-bearing solution with at least a portion of one or more copper-bearing streams to achieve a copper concentration of from about 15 grams/liter to about 80 grams/liter in said copper-bearing solution.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein a portion of said copper-bearing solution from said conditioning step is recycled to said pressure leaching step.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein said conditioning step comprises subjecting at least a portion of said product slurry to filtration, wherein at least a portion of said copper-bearing solution is separated from said residue.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein said conditioning step comprises separating at least a portion of said residue from said copper-bearing solution in said product slurry, and further comprises using at least a portion of said residue as a seeding agent in said pressure leaching step.

19. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of (i) using a portion of said lean electrolyte stream from said electrowinning step in a leaching operation.