Abstract
In this study, weak acid in the curing and leaching stages of copper ore was incorporated, and we analyzed its effect on the dissolution of copper and final impurities. The weak acid corresponds to a wastewater effluent from sulfuric acid plants produced in the gas treatment of copper smelting processes. This effluent is basically water with high acidity (pH-value low at 1), which contains several toxic elements and some valuable metals. The results indicated that there is no positive or negative effect on the incorporation of the weak acid in the curing stage, while the case of the leaching stage is favored. Toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) and synthetic precipitation leaching procedure (SPLP) toxicity tests were performed on the solid leaching residues, determining that they accomplish the stability ranges of the impurities (Pb, Cd, Hg, Cr, Ba, Se, As, and Ag).
Highlights
The most common metallurgical procedures to produce copper of high grade from copper sulfides are by means of froth flotation and pyrometallurgical processes
The effect of the weak acid on curing the curing stage was tested in a series of batch tests
The current findings support the relevance of weak acid incorporation into the copper ore curing
Summary
The most common metallurgical procedures to produce copper of high grade from copper sulfides are by means of froth flotation and pyrometallurgical processes. Froth flotation produces copper concentrate with some trace elements that are considered impurities, principally arsenic and antimony, and minor elements such as Cd, Hg, Pb, Bi, Se, and Te. The most common mineralogical species associated with toxic impurities present in copper concentrates are enargite (Cu3 AsS4 ), arsenopyrite (FeAsS), rejalgar (AsS), tennantite (Cu12 As4 S13 ), tetrahedrite (Cu12 Sb14 S13 ), and famatinite (Cu3 SbS4 ) [1,2,3,4,5,6]. In the case of arsenic, 1–2% is distributed into the matte, 1.5–5% into the slag, 16–20% into the dust, and 77–80% into the off-gas [12]
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