Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. has developed a novel hydrometallurgical process for producing not only copper metal but also iron metal from copper concentrates. Because copper concentrates generally contains the same amount of iron as copper, cost-effective rejection of the iron is a key issue for the development of the process. Conventional hydrometallurgical processes produce a large volume of goethite or hematite for disposal and the residues are not environmentally friendly. In the novel Sumitomo hydrometallurgical process, copper is leached effectively from chalcopyrite concentrates using chlorine gas, followed by purification through solvent extraction and electrowinning for copper and iron recovery. This process has many advantages such as the minimization of the volume of solid waste by the recovery of metallic iron and the production of high purity copper. Iron metal with a purity of more than 98 percent can be recovered from the purified raffinate. This paper presents the results of the batch and continuous tests of the process flowsheet.
展开▼
机译：Sumitomo Metal Mining Co.，Ltd。开发了一种新的液态冶金工艺，不仅生产铜金属，还产生来自铜浓缩物的铁金属。因为铜浓缩物通常含有相同量的铁作为铜，所以经济有效的铁是该过程发展的关键问题。常规的液压冶金方法产生大量的甲酸盐或赤铁矿，并且残留物不对环保。在新型的Sumitomo液压冶金工艺中，铜通过氯气有效地从氯气胶石浓缩物中浸出，然后通过溶剂萃取和电解纯化用于铜和铁回收。该过程具有许多优点，例如通过恢复金属铁和高纯度铜的生产最小化固体废物的体积。纯化的萃余液可以回收纯度超过98％的铁金属。本文介绍了流程流程的批量和连续测试的结果。
展开▼
