Patent ID: 6451089
Filing Date: 2002-09-17
Classification: C22B,Y02P

Abstract:
A method for recovering copper from a copper-containing material, consisting essentially of:providing a feed stream comprising comminuted copper-containing material; reacting at least a portion of said feed stream with at least a portion of a copper-containing lean electrolyte steam in an acidic environment to yield a precipitation product stream comprising a solid copper-bearing precipitate; subjecting said precipitation product stream to solid-liquid separation to yield a solution stream comprising acid and an inlet stream comprising copper-containing material and the remaining acid; optionally, conditioning at least a portion of said inlet steam to alter at least one physical parameter selected from the group consisting of: temperature, pressure, volume, solids content, composition, and density; subjecting at least a portion of said inlet stream to pressure leaching to yield a product slurry comprising a copper-containing solution and a residue; optionally, reducing the temperature and pressure of said product slurry in a flash tank; separating at least a portion of said copper-containing solution from said residue using a physical separation technique; optionally, blending at least a portion of said copper-containing solution with at least a portion of one or more copper-containing streams to yield a copper-containing product stream having a desired copper concentration; electrowinning copper from said copper-containing solution or said copper-containing product stream to yield cathode copper and a copper-containing lean electrolyte stream; optionally, recycling at least a portion of said copper-containing lean electrolyte stream from said electrowinning step to said reacting step; optionally, recycling at least a portion of said copper-containing lean electrolyte stream from said electrowinning step to said blending step.