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Leaching Behaviors of Yulong Refractory Oxide Copper Ores from Tibet in Sulfuric Acid Solutions

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Abstract

Yulong copper mine is located in the Changdu region in the eastern mountainous area of Tibetan Plateau, where the elevation of mining area is over 4500 m. At present, the oxide ores from Yulong No. II bodies are refractory to direct agitation leaching in sulfuric acid media under normal leaching conditions. In this research, the mineralogical characteristics of this type of copper ores have been examined using automated mineral liberation analysis (MLA) integrated with scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that this type of copper ores had an extremely high binding rate due to the encapsulation of copper-bearing minerals within gangue minerals, such as kaolinite clay. For the agitation leaching process of Yulong copper ores in sulfuric acid media, the effects of leaching parameters were investigated on copper extraction, aluminum and iron dissolution, respectively. The studied parameters include liquid/solid ratio, agitation speed, leaching temperature, initial sulfuric acid concentration and particle size. The results of kinetic analysis of the leaching data under various leaching temperature indicated that the agitation leaching of copper ores belongs to diffusion control, giving an activation energy of 6.86 kJ/mol for copper extraction, 6.99 kJ/mol for aluminum dissolution and 14.96 kJ/mol for iron dissolution, respectively. Copper recovery from agitation leaching after ball milling as high as 85% was obtained, whereas the direct leaching process resulted in the recovery of only 60% in sulfuric acid solutions. The high-efficiency and low-cost recovery method for this type of oxide copper ore from Tibet Yulong Mines still needs further development in the future.

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Acknowledgements

The work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation (Nos. 52074136, 51974140 and 51904124), Jiangxi Provincial Cultivation Program for Academic and Technical Leaders of Major Subjects (Nos. 20212ACB204015 and 20212BCJL23052), the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Education Science and Technology Research Project (Nos. GJJ210875 and GJJ210834), the Jiangxi University of Science and Technology Landing Project (Nos. 2020033 and 2021027), and the Distinguished Professor Program of Jinggang Scholars in institutions of higher learning, Jiangxi Province.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Materials, Metallurgy and Chemistry, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, No.86 Hongqi Ave., Ganzhou, 341000, People’s Republic of China

    Jian Wang, Yi Liu, Yonghao Lu, Kang Yan, Ruixiang Wang, Yue Pan & Jinhui Li

  2. Ganzhou Engineering Technology Research Center of Green Metallurgy and Process Intensification, Ganzhou, 341000, People’s Republic of China

    Jian Wang, Kang Yan, Ruixiang Wang, Yue Pan & Jinhui Li

  3. Tibet Yulong Copper Co., Ltd., No.22 West City Road, Chengdu, 854000, People’s Republic of China

    Wenlong Xu

  4. Jiangxi College of Applied Technology, No.9 Wenfeng Road, Ganzhou, 341000, People’s Republic of China

    Zhifeng Xu

  5. Key Laboratory of Ionic Rare Earth Resources and Environment, Ministry of Natural Resources, Ganzhou, 341000, China

    Zhifeng Xu

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  1. Jian Wang
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  2. Yi Liu
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Correspondence to Ruixiang Wang, Yue Pan, Jinhui Li or Zhifeng Xu.

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Wang, J., Liu, Y., Lu, Y. et al. Leaching Behaviors of Yulong Refractory Oxide Copper Ores from Tibet in Sulfuric Acid Solutions. J. Sustain. Metall. 9, 982–998 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40831-023-00700-6

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