Extractive Metallurgy of Copper 6Th Edition Mark E Schlesinger Full Chapter
Extractive Metallurgy of Copper 6Th Edition Mark E Schlesinger Full Chapter
MARK E. SCHLESINGER
Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO,
United States
KATHRYN C. SOLE
Sole Consulting, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa; University
of Pretoria, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
WILLIAM G. DAVENPORT
Emeritus Professor, Department of Materials Science and
Engineering, University of Arizona, Tuscon, AZ, United States
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ISBN: 978-0-12-821875-4
1. Overview 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Oreerock differentiation in the mine 2
1.3 Extracting copper from coppereironesulfide ores 5
1.4 Hydrometallurgical extraction of copper 11
1.5 Melting and casting cathode copper 14
1.6 Recycle of copper and copper alloy scrap 14
1.7 Safety 16
1.8 Environment 16
1.9 Summary 17
References 18
Suggested reading 18
Further reading 18
v
vi Contents
Index 555
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Preface to the sixth edition
When we began this revision in 2019, the price of copper was $2.60/lb. As we com-
plete it today, the price is $4.38/lb. By the time you read these words, it may be back
down to $2.60 again! Regardless, it has been some time since there was so much interest
in the availability and technology of copper supply. The long-term prospects for the
industry appear to be bright, and prospectors are scouring the globe for ore, from
mountaintops in the Andes to the bottom of the oceans. The lists of top-producing mines
and smelters in this book demonstrate the increase in capacity of the industry from our
previous edition.
Technology advances in the industry over the previous decade have been largely
evolutionary rather than revolutionary. The most significant developments include the
following:
• the adoption of Chinese bottom-blown and side-blown bath smelting and converting
technology;
• the creation of flowsheets for handling increasingly complex ores and concentrates;
• improved technology for processing high-strength off-gases;
• higher current densities in electrorefining and electrowinning practice.
Other things have not changed. The PeirceeSmith converter is still the primary
means of producing blister copper; flash furnaces are still being commissioned for
concentrate smelting, and casting processes are still largely the same. Some technologies
have more value than previously thought!
There has also been a change in the creative team behind this book. Matt King has
decided to find other uses for his nights and weekends; in his place, we welcome to
the group Dr. Gerardo Alvear Flores, currently based in Singapore. Gerardo has vast
experience in the copper industry, which has taken him over his career to multiple con-
tinents and production facilities, and his experience will enhance our efforts and improve
our direction.
As with previous efforts, this edition of Extractive Metallurgy of Copper is largely a
product of the copper industry as a whole, since so many engineers and scientists
volunteered their time and expertise (along with photographs and drawings) to make
sure we got it right. Our guides included
Ken Armstrong (Chemetics)
Nigel Aslin (Glencore)
Martin Bakker (Glencore)
Michele Beacom (CIM)
Juan Carrasco (Glencore)
xiii
xiv Preface to the sixth edition
Overview
1.1 Introduction
Copper is most commonly present in the earth’s crust as coppereironesulfide and
copper sulfide minerals, primarily chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) and chalcocite (CuS2). The
concentration of these minerals in a mine is low. Typical copper ores contain from
0.3% Cu (open pit mines, Fig. 1.1) to 1.7% Cu (underground mines, Fig. 1.2). The
rest is noneconomic rock. Pure copper metal is mostly produced from these ores by
concentration, smelting, and refining (Fig. 1.3).
Copper also occurs to a lesser extent in oxidized minerals (carbonates, oxides,
hydroxysilicates, sulfates). Copper metal is usually produced from these minerals by
leaching, solvent extraction, and electrowinning (Fig. 1.4). These processes are also
used to treat chalcocite (Cu2S).
Figure 1.1 Open pit Cu mine. Note the new blast holes, top right, and blasted ore to the left of them.
The shovel is placing blasted ore in the truck from where it will go to processing. The water truck is
suppressing dust. The front-end loader is cleaning up around the shovel. The shovel is electric. Its insu-
lated power wire mostly lies on the surface except over the wire bridge under which all vehicles travel
to and from the shovel. (Photograph courtesy of FreeporteMcMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.).
Figure 1.2 Underground mining operation. Underground mine showing wheeled mining machine.
The drills on the right end of the vehicle are drilling up into the ore body. The drilled holes are
subsequently filled with explosive which, when detonated, break the ore and drop the ore pieces
onto the mine floor. The ore pieces are then elevated to the mine surface where they are crushed
and sent to processing. A new mine in Arizona contains w1.5% Cu, 0.04% Mo in chalcopyrite and
molybdenite minerals. w120 kilotonnes per day of this ore will be mined w2300 m below ground
level. About one-fourth of the world’s mined copper is obtained by underground mining; the
remainder is by surface mining. (Purchased from Roslyn Budd: www.buddphotography.com.au).
A third major source of copper is scrap copper and copper alloys. Yearly production of
copper from recycled used objects is 15%e20% of mine production. In addition, there
is considerable remelting and refining of scrap generated during fabrication and manu-
facture. Total copper production in 2018 (mined and from end-of-use scrap) was 25
million tonnes.
This chapter introduces the principal processes by which pure copper is extracted
from ore and scrap. It also indicates the relative industrial importance of each. Finally,
it discusses worker safetydbecause it is so important.
Comminution
Flotation
Drying Drying
Other smelting
processes*
Submerged tuyere
smelting Flash smelting Vertical lance Direct-to-copper
smelting smelting
Matte (50-70%Cu)
Converting
Anode refining
and casting
Electrorefining
Melting
Molten copper
Continuous casting
Make-up H2SO4
3 3
~10 kg H2SO4/m , ~0.4 kg Cu/m
Ore 'heap'
Collection dam
3
pregnant leach solution, 2 to 5 kg Cu/m
Solvent
extraction
3
Electrolyte, 45 kg Cu/m
Electrowinning
Melting
molten copper
Continuous casting
Reagent
Addition
Sulfide ore-
water mixture,
0.5% Cu
Tailing: low in
Cu minerals,
0.05% Cu
Figure 1.5 Schematic view of flotation cell. Reagents cause CueFe sulfide and Cu sulfide minerals in
the ore to attach to rising air bubbles, which are then collected in a short-lived froth. This froth is
dewatered to become concentrate. The unfloated waste passes through several cells before being dis-
carded as a final tailing. Many types and sizes (up to 300 m3) of cell are used (Chapter 3).
6 Extractive Metallurgy of Copper
using chemical reagents (collectors) that make the Cu minerals water-repellent while
leaving waste minerals covered by water (i.e., wetted).
This water repellency causes Cu mineral particles to attach to the flotation cell’s rising
bubbles while the other mineral particles remain unfloated. The floated minerals overflow
the cell in a froth that, when dewatered, becomes w25% Cu concentrate. The low-Cu
waste rock particles underflow the cell. They are dewatered and sent to tailing ponds.
Flotation is preceded by crushing and grinding the mined Cu ore to small (w100 mm
diameter) particles. Its use has led to adoption of smelting processes that efficiently smelt
finely ground solids.
A video of mining and mineral processing may be seen in The Mining Process at Copper
Mountain Mine. This mine produces 30,000 tonnes of ore and 160,000 tonnes of waste
rock per day.
Figure 1.6 Metso Outokumpu oxygen-enriched air flash furnace. Flash furnaces are typically 20 m
long and 7 m wide. They smelt 1000e3000 tonnes of concentrate per day.
Overview 7
Simultaneously, the iron oxide is fluxed with quartz to give a low melting point
molten slag. A representative reaction is
1220 °C 30 °C 1250 °C
The concentrate’s gangue (waste rock) minerals also dissolve in the molten slag.
Reactions (1.1) and (1.2) are both exothermic; they supply most of the smelting
process’s heat requirement.
The products of smelting are (a) molten sulfide matte (55%e70% Cu) containing
most of the Cu in the concentrate and (b) molten oxide slag with as little Cu as possible.
The molten matte is subsequently converted (oxidized) in a converting furnace to form
impure molten copper. The slag is treated for Cu recovery, then discarded or sold
(Chapter 10).
SO2-bearing offgas (10e60 volume% SO2, remainder mostly N2) is also produced.
SO2 is harmful to flora and fauna, so it must be removed before the offgas is released
to the atmosphere. This is done by capturing the SO2 as sulfuric acid (Chapter 11).
Matte smelting is mostly done in flash furnaces (Fig. 1.6). It is also done in top lance
and submerged tuyere furnaces (Chapter 6). Three smelters smelt Cu-rich concentrate
directly to molten copper (Chapter 10). This is unusual because single-furnace smelting
with normal (25% Cu) concentrate produces too much high-Cu slag.
1.3.3 Converting
Copper converting is oxidizing the intermediate molten matte from smelting with air or
oxygen-enriched air. It removes Fe and S from the matte to produce crude (99% Cu)
molten copper. This molten copper is subsequently sent to fire- and electrorefining.
Most converting is done in cylindrical PeirceeSmith converters (Fig. 1.7a), but newer
continuous converting processes are eating into this dominance (Chapter 8).
Figure 1.7a PeirceeSmith converter for producing molten “blister” copper from molten CueFeeS
matte. Typical production rates are 200e600 tonnes of copper per day. Oxygen-enriched air or air
“blast” is blown into the matte through submerged tuyeres. Silica flux is added through the converter
mouth or by air gun through an endwall. Offgas is collected by means of a hood above the converter
mouth. (From Chapter 2.1 - Copper Production in Treatise on Process Metallurgy, Volume 3: Industrial
Processes, 1st Edition, Copyright Elsevier 2013 Pages 534e624).
Figure 1.7b Positions of PeirceeSmith converter for charging, blowing, and skimming. SO2 offgas
escapes the system unless the hooding is tight. A converter is typically 4 or 4.5 m diameter. (Credit:
Used with permission from Mettop, https://mettop.com/api/cdn/uploads/1493364462_7v372frw.pdf
Figure 4).
'blister' copper
Copper making (b) occurs only after the matte contains less than about 1% Fe, so that
most of the Fe can be removed from the converter (in slag) before copper production
begins. Likewise, significant oxidation of copper does not occur until the sulfur content
of the copper falls below w0.02%. Blowing is terminated near this sulfur end point. The
resulting molten blister copper (1200 C) is poured out and sent to refining, whereupon
the converter is refilled with molten matte and the process starts again.
Because conditions in the converter are strongly oxidizing and agitated, Peircee
Smith converter slag inevitably contains 4%e8% Cu. This Cu is recovered by settling
and/or ambient temperature froth flotation. The resulting low-Cu slag is then discarded
or sold (Chapters 10 and 20).
SO2, 8e12 vol.% in the converter offgas, is a byproduct of both converting reactions.
It is combined with smelting furnace gas and captured as sulfuric acid. There is, however,
some leakage of SO2(g) into the atmosphere during charging and pouring. This problem
is encouraging development of continuous converting processes. The most prominent of
these is flash converting (Chapter 8).
Figure 1.8 Casting of anodes for electrorefining. (Photo courtesy of Miguel Palacios.).
Overview 11
Many anode impurities are insoluble in this electrolyte (Au, Pb, Pt metals, Sn). They
do not interfere with the electrorefining. They are collected as solid slimes and treated for
Cu and byproduct recovery, Chapter 20.
Other impurities, such as As, Bi, Fe, Ni, and Sb, are partially or fully soluble.
Fortunately, they do not plate with the copper at the low voltage of the electrorefining
cell (w0.3 V). They must, however, be kept from accumulating in the electrolyte to
avoid physical contamination of the cathode copper. This is done by continuously
bleeding part of the electrolyte through a purification circuit.
An older form of the process is to plate cathode copper onto thin pure copper sheets.
In this case the entire cathode is lifted from the cell, washed, and sent to users.
Cu2+(aq) + SO2–
4 + 2RH → R2Cu + 2H+ + SO2–
4
(1.7)
in pregnant leach solution in organic solvent in organic solvent in aqueous solution,
recycle to leach
20 m
Mixer Distributor
'fence'
Barren leach solution,
recycle to acid makeup
and leach, 0.3 kg Cu/m
Cu-pregnant
leach solution Barren organic
3 kg Cu/m extractant
Figure 1.9 Schematic view of solvent extraction mixer-settler for extracting Cu from pregnant leach
solution into organic extractant. The Cu-loaded organic phase goes forward to another mixer/setter
(“stripper”) where Cu is stripped from the organic into pure, strongly acidic, high-Cu electrolyte for
electrowinning. The process is continuous.
Overview 13
This shows that a low-acid (i.e., low H⁺) aqueous phase causes the organic extractant
to load with Cu (as R2Cu). It also shows that a strong acid solution causes the organic to
unload (i.e., strip).
Thus, when organic extractant is contacted with weak acid pregnant leach solution
[step (a) above], Cu is loaded into the organic phase. Then when the organic phase is
subsequently put into contact with high (w180 g/L) H2SO4 electrolyte [step
(c) above], the Cu is stripped from the organic into the electrolyte at high Cu2⁺ strength,
suitable for electrowinning.
The extractants complex with considerable Cu but almost no impurities. They pro-
duce electrolytes that are strong in Cu (w50 g/L) but dilute in impurities.
1.4.2 Electrowinning
The Cu in the above electrolytes is mostly recovered by electrodepositing pure metallic
copper onto stainless-steel cathodes, Fig. 1.10. Electrowinning is similar to electrorefin-
ing except that the anode is inert, almost always 99% Pb alloy.
The cathode reaction is 60 °C
–
→
(1.8)
in sulfate electrolyte electrons from pure metal deposit
Figure 1.10 Plates of electrowon copper on stainless-steel cathodes after removal from an electro-
winning cell. These cathodes are w1 m wide and 1.3 m deep. They are carefully washed to remove
electrolyte. The copper plates are then stripped off in automatic machines and sent to market.
They typically contain <20 parts per million impurities. Note the polymer side stripsdthey prevent
copper from plating around the edges. (Photograph courtesy of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc).
14 Extractive Metallurgy of Copper
Black copper
(80+% Cu)
Rough copper
(95+%Cu) Induction or fuel-
fired furnace Shaft or
hearth furnace
Fire refining +
anode casting
Electrorefining
Cathodes
Melting
Figure 1.11 Flowsheet of processes for recovering copper and copper alloys from scrap. Low-grade
scrap is usually smelted in shaft furnaces but other furnaces (e.g., electric) are also used.
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Finally I left for Paris.
To economise as closely as possible we had to travel third class.
But what did that matter? That was only a detail. I was going to Paris
to succeed there or to sink into obscurity.
V
MY APPEARANCE AT THE FOLIES-BERGÈRE
Photo Lafitte
THE DANCE OF FLAME
From that day on I had adventure after adventure. Not until long
afterward was I able to get the benefit of my fifth dance. Some years
later I initiated at Paris the dance of the fire and the lily, and that
once again at the Folies-Bergère. I remember an ovation very similar
to that at my first appearance. This time, however, I was no longer
an unknown performer, as in 1892. I had numerous Parisian friends
in the house. Many of them came upon the stage to congratulate me,
and amongst them, Calvé. She took me in her arms, kissed me and
said:
“It’s wonderful! Loie, you are a genius.”
And two big tears coursed down her cheeks. I have never seen
Calvé prettier than at that moment.
Well, that is the story of my first appearance in Paris.
VI
LIGHT AND THE DANCE