Patent ID: 7485216

Claim:
A method of recovering copper from a copper-bearing material, comprising the steps of: (a) providing a feed stream comprising a copper-bearing material; (b) subjecting at least a portion of said feed stream to controlled fine grinding; (c) leaching at least a portion of said inlet stream in an oxidizing environment at an elevated temperature and pressure to yield a product slurry comprising a copper-bearing solution and a residue; (d) conditioning said product slurry without the use of solvent/solution extraction techniques to yield a copper-bearing solution suitable for electrowinning; (e) electrowinning copper from said copper-bearing solution to yield cathode copper and a copper-bearing lean electrolyte stream; (f) recycling a portion of said lean electrolyte stream to said leaching stage; and (g) treating at least a portion of said lean electrolyte stream using solvent/solution extraction techniques.