IP Library Granted Patent US 7,842,120
Granted Patent B2
US 7,842,120 · App. 12/219,894 · Granted Nov 30, 2010

Method of obtaining copper from ore

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 7,842,120
App. No.
12/219,894
Granted
Nov 30, 2010
Kind
B2
Abstract

A method of obtaining copper from feedstock includes: providing feedstock into acid solution including chloride and bromide of one of alkali metal and alkali earth metal, and one of chloride of copper and iron and bromide of copper and iron; leaching monovalent copper and divalent copper with use of oxidizing power of at least one of iron ion and copper ion, with air being blown into the acid solution under an atmospheric pressure at a temperature less than a boiling point of the acid solution; solid-liquid separating the acid solution; blowing air into the solution; oxidizing copper in the solution; coprecipitating iron and impurity; extracting copper from the solution from which deposition including the coprecipitate is separated; obtaining the extracted copper into sulfuric acid solution as copper sulfate; obtaining copper from the copper sulfate; and recycling hydrochloric acid generated in the extracting in another copper leaching.

Claims (18)

1. A method of obtaining copper from sulfide ore including copper (hereinafter referred to as feedstock) comprising:

providing the feedstock into acid solution, the acid solution including chloride and bromide of one of alkali metal and alkali earth metal, and one of chloride of copper and iron and bromide of copper and iron;

leaching monovalent copper and divalent copper from the feedstock with use of oxidizing power of at least one of iron ion and copper ion in the acid solution, with air being blown into the acid solution under an atmospheric pressure at a temperature less than a boiling point of the acid solution;

solid-liquid separating the acid solution after the leaching;

blowing air into the solution after the solid-liquid separation;

oxidizing copper in the solution;

coprecipitating iron and impurity that are leached into the acid solution from the feedstock;

extracting copper from the solution after the oxidizing from which deposition including the coprecipitate is separated;

obtaining the extracted copper into sulfuric acid solution as copper sulfate;

obtaining copper from the copper sulfate; and

recycling hydrochloric acid generated in the extracting in another copper leaching, wherein:

the step of leaching the copper includes a plurality of leaching stages in which leached residue is moved to next stage in order;

the solution after the leaching of monovalent copper and divalent copper is distributed into each of the leaching stages; and

each solution after the leaching is extracted and mixed, and is used in the oxidizing.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein total of chloride ion and bromide ion in the acid solution is 120 g/L to 200 g/L.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the copper is leached at a temperature more than 70 degrees C.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the leached copper is obtained with one of solvent extraction method, ion-exchange method, electrolytic winning method, electrolytic displacing method and a combination thereof.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising milling and grinding more than 80% of the feedstock into grains having grain size of less than 40 μm.

Assignments (5)
CHANGE OF ADDRESS Recorded Aug 11, 2021
From: JX NIPPON MINING & METALS CORPORATION
To: JX NIPPON MINING & METALS CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 057160/0114 →
CHANGE OF ADDRESS Recorded Feb 7, 2017
From: JX NIPPON MINING & METALS CORPORATION
To: JX NIPPON MINING & METALS CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 041649/0733 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Oct 19, 2010
From: NIPPON MINING HOLDINGS, INC.
To: JX NIPPON MINING & METALS CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 025163/0030 →
MERGER Recorded Oct 14, 2010
From: NIPPON MINING & METALS CO., LTD.
To: NIPPON MINING HOLDINGS, INC.
Reel/Frame 025141/0441 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 6, 2008
From: ABE, YOSHIFUMI; HOSAKA, HIROSHI; TAKEBAYASHI, KAZUAKI; ISHIGURO, YASUNARI; YOSHIMURA, AKIRA
To: NIPPON MINING & METALS CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 021370/0356 →