Combined heap leaching process for copper ore
Technical Field
The invention relates to a combined heap leaching process of copper ore, in particular to a process for leaching copper oxide ore by acid generated by biologically oxidizing copper sulfide minerals.
Background
The traditional treatment process of copper ore is divided into two types according to the different properties of the copper ore, one type is copper sulfide ore, the treatment process is a flotation pyrometallurgical copper smelting process, and the main procedures comprise ore crushing, ore grinding, flotation concentrate pyrometallurgy and electrolysis; the other kind is copper oxide ore, the processing technology is copper extraction technology by sulfuric acid leaching method, and the main procedures include ore crushing, sulfuric acid leaching, extraction and electrodeposition. The pyrometallurgical copper smelting process has the defects of high quality requirement on flotation concentrate, complex treatment process, complex technical equipment, high investment, high cost, high energy consumption, heavy environmental pollution, difficulty in meeting the quality requirement of high-purity copper on products and the like, and is not suitable for the development of copper resources with low grade, remote geographical positions and inconvenient traffic. The copper extraction process by the sulfuric acid method needs a large amount of sulfuric acid consumption, and has the problems of difficult sulfuric acid transportation, high cost and safety if copper oxide ore resources with remote geographical positions and inconvenient traffic are processed. With the exhaustion of high-grade and easily-exploited copper resources, only the copper resources in low-grade and remote areas are exploited, but the exploitation by the existing traditional technology has no economic benefit. For example, in the Tibet, a certain copper ore has been proved that the storage capacity of copper metal is 650 ten thousand tons, the upper part is copper oxide ore, the lower part is copper sulfide ore, the average copper grade is 0.94%, and the traditional dressing and smelting process can not be developed and utilized. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a new process.
Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to provide a novel copper extraction process, which is a full-wet copper extraction process and is particularly suitable for treating low-grade copper ore, copper ore resources with remote geographical positions and inconvenient traffic. The process has the advantages of short flow, simple equipment, investment saving, low cost, no pollution, waste utilization, improvement of copper recovery rate, comprehensive utilization of copper mine resources in remote areas and capability of obtaining greater economic, environmental and social benefits.
In order to achieve the purpose, the invention adopts the following design scheme: a combined heap leach process for copper ores, comprising the steps of:
(1) bacterial heap leaching of copper sulphide ores;
(2) carrying out heap leaching on copper oxide ore by using raffinate obtained after copper extraction of the bacterial heap leaching solution of the copper sulfide ore in the step (1);
(3) purifying the copper-containing leaching solution;
(4) extracting and back-extracting copper in the purified liquid;
(5) electrodeposition of copper.
The bacterial heap leaching of the copper sulfide ore is to use Thiobacillus ferrooxidans Retech III (T.F.R.III for short) as ore leaching bacteria, perform repeated growth culture and domestication by using a 9K basic culture medium to obtain the ore leaching bacteria with strong specificity of the Thiobacillus ferrooxidans Retech III, and spray or drip leaching the copper sulfide ore with the ore granularity of 5-100 mm by using a high-iron dilute sulfuric acid solution of the bacteria. The bacterium is a mixed bacterium of thiobacillus ferrooxidans, thiobacillus thiooxidans and micro spirillum ferrooxidans. Gram-negative bacteria, rod-shaped, acidophilic, chemoautotrophic. The original copy of culture preservation and survival evidence is disclosed in patent application No. 02128831.3 (preserved in China center for type culture Collection (Wuhan university) with the preservation registration number CCTCC No: M200033).
The criterion of the finishing of the repeated growth culture process of the Thiobacillus ferrooxidans Retech III mineral leaching bacteria is that the color of the bacteria liquid is changed into mauve, the pH value of the solution reaches 2.15-2.35, the potential reaches over 520(mv, VS.SCE), and the bacteria concentration reaches 107The culture period is 12-48 hours per ml.
The Thiobacillus ferrooxidans Retech III specific ore leaching bacteria are domesticated ore leaching bacteria obtained by adding copper sulfide ore powder serving as an energy substance of the Thiobacillus ferrooxidans Retech III bacteria into tap water for culturing and performing multiple-cycle transfer domestication culture.
In the process of bacteria heap leaching of copper sulfide ore, the spraying liquid contains special ore leaching microorganisms 105~107The leaching solution is used for leaching a metal oxide/ml, the oxidation-reduction potential of the spraying solution is 300-600 mv (VS. SCE), and the PH value of the leaching system is 1-3; mineral leaching bacteriaThe strain is domesticated bacteria of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans Retech III, and has strong specificity on leaching of copper sulfide ore. The chemical reactions that take place are mainly:
the bacteria used for the bacterial heap leaching of the copper sulphide ore also comprise ferrous oxide Thiobacillus (Thiobacillus ferrooxidans) or ferrous oxide micro spirillum (Leptospirillum ferrooxidans) or Thiobacillus thiooxidans (Thiobacillus thiooxidans) or ferrous oxide acidophilus ferrooxidans or sulfothiobacillus thiooxidans (Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans) or Sulfobacillus thiooxidans or Sulfolobus thiolobus acidophilus or Sulfolobus thiolobus.
The use of the above mentioned species is essentially the same as that of the Retech III species, the only difference being the temperature at which they are used. The optimal growth temperature of acidophilic iron (acidophilic microorganisms) or thermothiobacillus thiooxidans or acidophilic thiooxidans is 45-55 ℃; the optimal growth temperature of Sulfolobus (Sulfolobus) or Sulfolobus archaea (Sulfolobus likekechaea) is 60-85 ℃.
In the heap leaching of copper oxide ore, crushing the copper oxide ore to the granularity of 50-500 mm; then heaping, wherein the heaping method is the same as that of bacterial heap leaching of copper sulfide ores; and then spraying or dripping the ore heap with a dilute sulfuric acid solution generated by bacterial heap leaching of copper sulfide ores, wherein the pH value of a leaching system is 1-3. The chemical reaction mainly comprises the following steps:
in the purification operation of the copper-containing leachate, the leachate enters a liquid collecting tank for precipitation and clarification, the precipitation and clarification are carried out in 2-4 stages, and the clear liquid of the last stage enters the copper extraction process.
And (3) extracting and back-extracting the purified solution with copper, adopting Lix984N or M5640 and the like as an extracting agent of the copper, adopting lamp kerosene or No. 260 kerosene as a diluent, carrying an organic phase, carrying out back extraction with copper electrodeposition barren liquor, sending the back extraction solution to an electrodeposition process for electrodeposition, and returning the organic phase after the back extraction to an extraction section for circular extraction. The extraction stage number is 2-3 stages, and the back extraction stage number is 1-2 stages. The concentration of the extracting agent is 5-15 vol%, compared with (O/A) 1: 2-1.5: 2, the extraction time is 1.5-5 min, and the concentration of the back extraction sulfuric acid is 150-250 g/L. The extractant consumes 1.0-3.5 kg/t of cathode copper, and the diluent consumes 75-200 kg/t of cathode copper.
And (4) carrying out electrodeposition on the copper electrodeposition stripping solution in a copper electrodeposition process to obtain a high-purity cathode copper product containing 99.99% of copper. The electrodeposition process conditions are as follows: electrodeposition stock solution (strip liquor) Cu2+The concentration is more than or equal to 45g/L, the total iron concentration of the electrohydrops is less than or equal to 5g/L, and the electrohydrops H2SO4The concentration is 150-200 g/L, the electrodeposition temperature is 40-45 ℃, the voltage between cells is 1.8-2.2V, and the current density is 160-200A/m2。
Drawings
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a process flow of an embodiment of the present invention
Detailed Description
As shown in fig. 1, 1 is t.f.r.iii leaching bacteria, which are subjected to adaptive acclimation and amplification culture 2, copper sulfide ore 3 is subjected to crushing 4, theore particle size is 5-100 mm, then heaping 5 is carried out, t.f.r.iii dedicated enhanced leaching bacteria after acclimation and amplification culture are added while heaping, 6 is spray leaching or drip leaching, then the leaching solution is sent to purification 7 for precipitation and impurity removal, copper-containing purification solution enters extraction 8 for copper extraction, part of raffinate returns to bacterial leaching 6 of copper sulfide ore, the other part returns to copper oxide ore for drip leaching 15, loaded organic phase is subjected to back extraction 9, unloaded organic phase returns to extraction 8 for recycling, back extract enters electrodeposition 10 for copper electrodeposition, high-purity cathode copper product 11 is obtained, and electrowinning barren liquor returns to back extraction 9 to be used as a back extractant of the process. The step 12 is that the copper oxide ore is crushed 13 and sent to a pile 14, then dilute sulphuric acid solution (extraction barren solution) generated by the bacterial heap leaching of the copper sulfide ore is sprayed for carrying out the acid leaching 15 of copper, and the leaching solution and the bacterial leaching solution of the copper sulfide ore are combined and enter a purification process 7.
The present invention will be further illustrated by the following examples
Example 1
The Tibet Yulongyue ore is one of the ultra-large copper deposits in China, is located in the west of a mud cave region in Dada county, east of Tibet, and has copper oxide ore on the surface, wherein the copper oxide ore mainly comprises malachite and chalcopyrite and a small amount of chalcanthite; the metal mineral is mainly limonite; the gangue minerals are mainly clay minerals and carbonate minerals. The lower part of the ore deposit is copper sulfide ore, and the copper-containing minerals mainly comprise copper blue, chalcocite, bornite, chalcocite, chalcopyrite and the like; the metal minerals are mainly pyrite and limonite; the gangue minerals are mainly aluminosilicate minerals and a small amount of carbonate minerals. The average copper grade of the deposit is 0.94%.
(1) Bacterial heap leaching of copper sulphide ores
Obtaining original leaching bacteria: the original ore leaching strain is Thiobacillus ferrooxidans Retech III (T.F.R.III for short), is inoculated into a 9K basic culture medium with the pH value of 1.5-1.78 according to the volume concentration of 10 percent, and is fed into a constant temperature shaking table with the temperature of 30 ℃ and the rotating speed of 150 revolutions per minute for culture. The 9K basic culture medium comprises the following nutrient components: (NH) in 1 liter of culture4)2SO43.0 g, KCl 0.1 g, K2HPO40.5 g, MgSO4·7H2O0.5 g, Ca (NO)3)20.01 g, FeSO4·7H2O44.43 g. When the color of the bacteria liquid is changed into purple red, the pH value of the solution reaches 2.15-2.35, the potential reaches more than 520(mv, VS.SCE), the culture period is 24-48 hours, and the bacteria concentration reaches 107When the bacterial strain is more than one/ml, the bacterial strain can be used for leaching and domesticating.
Obtaining the special mineral leaching bacteria of the Yulong copper sulfide ore: adding the powder of the Yulong copper sulphide ore (the granularity is less than 0.076mm and accounts for 98 percent) into tap water, controlling the concentration of ore pulp to be 5-10 percent (weight percentage), controlling the pH to be 1.5-1.78, and culturing by a constant temperature shaking table at the temperature of 30 ℃ and the rotating speed of 150 r/min. Through 4 times of circulating transfer domestication culture, the leaching bacteria with strong specificity to the Yulongyu copper oreand the bacteria concentration of 10 are obtained6More than one strain per ml, the potential of the bacterial liquid reaches more than 520(mv, VS. The bacterial liquid can be connected into spraying liquid for ore leaching.
Crushing Tibet yulong copper sulfide ore to a particle size of less than 35 mm; then piling, wherein in the piling process, the ores are kept to form a natural pile with multiple holes as much as possible, and meanwhile, the ore pile is sprayed with a high-iron dilute sulfuric acid solution which accounts for 10-15% of the weight of the piled ores and contains domesticated bacteria of ore leaching bacteria Thiobacillus ferrooxidans Retech III; after the building pile is finished, using a high-iron dilute sulfuric acid solution containing Thiobacillus ferrooxidans Retech III for domesticating exclusive ore leaching microorganismsSpraying the ore heap at a spraying speed of 10-20L/(m)2H) concentration of mineral-leaching microorganisms in the spray liquor of 106~107The leaching solution is used for leaching a plant, wherein the leaching solution is used for leaching a plant, the concentration per ml, the oxidation-reduction potential of the spraying solution is 400-600 mv (VS. SCE), and the pH value of the leaching system is 1.3-1.8. When the concentration of copper ions in the leaching solution reaches 1.5g/L, the leaching solution enters a purification process.
And when the leaching rate of copper in the ore reaches more than 80%, the leaching is finished.
(2) Heap leaching of Yulong copper oxide ore
Coarsely crushing the Yulong copper oxide ore until the granularity is less than 100 mm; then piling, wherein the piling method is the same as that of the bacteria heap leaching of the jade dragon copper sulfide ore; then, 1/3-2/3 of the amount of dilute sulfuric acid solution (namely extraction barren solution) generated by bacteria heap leaching of the Yulong copper sulfide ore is used for dripping the ore heap, and the dripping speed is 5-15L/(m)2H), controlling the pH value of the leaching system to be 1.7-2.5. When the concentration of copper ions in the leaching solution reaches 1.5g/L, the leaching solution enters a purification process.
And when the leaching rate of copper in the ore reaches more than 85%, the leaching is finished.
(3) Purification of copper-containing leachate
And (3) feeding the qualified leachate of the Yulong copper sulfide ore and the copper oxide ore (shown in table 1) into a liquid collecting tank for 2-stage sedimentation and clarification, and feeding the clear liquid of the second stage into the next working procedure for copper extraction.
TABLE 1 acceptable leachate Components
Analytical elements
|
Cu(g/L)
|
Fe(g/L)
|
Pb
|
Zn
|
Ca
|
Mg
|
Mn
|
Content (mg/L)
|
4.32
|
2.25
|
0.56
|
98.21
|
156.54
|
18.48
|
21.32
|
Analytical elements
|
As
|
Ag
|
Au
|
Co
|
SiO2 |
K2O
|
Al
|
Content (mg/L)
|
5.33
|
<0.01
|
0.26
|
20.46
|
132.53
|
0.56
|
523.47
|
(4) Extraction and back extraction of copper from purified liquor
Lixivium after purification adopts Lix984N as copper extractant, No. 260 kerosene as diluent, the loaded organic phase is back extracted by copper electrodeposition barren liquor, the back extracted liquor is sent to the electrodeposition process for electrodeposition, and the organic phase after back extraction is returned to the extraction section for circular extraction. The extraction stage is 2 stages, and the back extraction stage is 1 stage. The concentration of the extracting agent is 7-10 vol%, compared with (O/A) 1-1.5, the extraction mixing time is 3min, and the concentration of the back extraction sulfuric acid is 170-180 g/L. The consumption of the extractant Lix984N is 2.5-3 kg/t cathode copper, and the consumption of the diluent No. 260 kerosene is 90-100 kg/t cathode copper.
TABLE 2 composition of the stripping solution
Analytical elements
|
Cu(g/L)
|
Fe(g/L)
|
Pb
|
Zn
|
Ca
|
Mg
|
Mn
|
Content (mg/L)
|
55
|
0.72
|
2.13
|
12.32
|
52.45
|
10.11
|
4.32
|
Analytical elements
|
As
|
Ag
|
Au
|
Co
|
SiO2 |
K2O
|
Al
|
Content (mg/L)
|
2.12
|
<0.01
|
0.06
|
47.96
|
23.25
|
3.25
|
57.48
|
(5) Electrodeposition of copper
And the stripping solution enters the electrodeposition process of copper for electrodeposition. The electrodeposition process conditions are as follows: electrodeposition stock solution (strip liquor) (seeTABLE 2) Cu2+The concentration is more than or equal to 45g/L, the total iron concentration of the electrohydrops is less than or equal to 5g/L, and the electrohydrops H2SO4The concentration is 170-180 g/L, the electrodeposition temperature is 40-42 ℃, the voltage between cells is 2V, and the current density is 180A/m2. The quality of the cathode copper product is shown in Table 3.
TABLE 3 quality of cathode copper products
Analysis of
Element(s)
|
Cu+Ag
|
Fe
|
Ni
|
Zn
|
Pb
|
As
|
Sb
|
Bi
|
Sn
|
P
|
S
|
Content (wt.)
(%)
|
99.996
|
0.00041
|
0.00019
|
0.00010
|
0.00015
|
0.00010
|
0.00010
|
0.00013
|
0.00010
|
0.00010
|
0.00098
|
The invention has the following effects: the product is high-purity cathode copper containing 99.99 percent of copper, acid generated by bioleaching sulfide ore can be utilized, no pollution is caused, and the method can be used for developing copper ore resources which are remote in geographic position, inconvenient to transport and unavailable in the traditional dressing and smelting process and expanding the utilization range of the copper ore resources.