Abstract

The main purpose of these studies was to study the chemical and mineralogical composition of the ore of the Kenshoky-1 deposit with subsequent search experiments on the extraction of copper from ore material by sulfuric acid leaching. During the research it was established that the ore belongs to the type of oxidized cuprous sandstone and along with copper it contains a significant amount of lead and a small amount of zinc. The main minerals of copper and lead in this ore are carbonate – malachite and cerussite. A fairly significant amount of the lead phosphate mineral pyromorphite is present. The main minerals in the waste rock are quartz, orthoclase, and clinochlorine. Iron, according to diffractometric analysis, is bound in clinochlore. The search experiments on copper leaching from the mentioned ore by sulfuric acid solutions showed that even at room temperature and sulfuric acid concentration in the solution of 11.3 g/dm3 extraction of copper in aqueous solution of more than 60% is achieved, and the main technological factors influencing the process of copper leaching are duration, concentration of sulfuric acid in the initial solution, intensity of agitation and the ratio of solid and liquid phases. The concentration of copper in the resulting pregnant solution was, depending on the concentration of sulfuric acid from 6.32 to 10.15 g/dm3 , which is insufficient for further processing of solution by electrolysis, therefore, productive solutions must be additionally saturated with copper by returning pregnant solution to the head of the process. Lead behavior during prospecting studies was not studied, but due to low solubility of lead sulfate in aqueous solutions, the main part of lead should remain in the cake

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