PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 16032726
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-07
Publication Date: 2019-01
Patent Classification: ["423", "041000"]

Abstract:
A hydrometallurgical method  80  for the removal at least one of iron, aluminum, arsenic, sulfur, nickel, cobalt, zinc and cadmium (impurities) from a copper concentrate to produce an upgraded copper concentrate  92,  the method comprising the step of: subjecting the copper concentrate to an acidic leaching process (NONOX leach  120 ) in a multi-compartment autoclave using a copper sulfate containing lixiviant under lowered electrochemical conditions, to implement a controlled removal of between 20% and 99% of at least one of the impurities to produce the upgraded copper concentrate. The NONOX leach  120  is conducted to produce the majority of required soluble copper sulfate from a partial oxidation of the feed copper concentrate in a first compartment  200  of the multi-compartment autoclave under particular conditions.

Claim (Index 1):
A hydrometallurgical method for the removal at least one of iron, aluminum, arsenic, sulfur, nickel, cobalt, zinc and cadmium (impurities) from a copper concentrate to produce an upgraded copper concentrate, the method comprising the step of:\n subjecting the copper concentrate to an acidic leaching process (NONOX leach) in a multi-compartment autoclave using a copper sulfate containing lixiviant under lowered electrochemical conditions, to implement a controlled removal of between 20 and 99% of at least one of iron, aluminum, arsenic, sulfur, nickel, cobalt, zinc and cadmium (impurities) to produce the upgraded copper concentrate, with reduced soluble copper losses in the discharge stream, and wherein the NONOX leach is conducted:\n to produce the majority of required soluble copper sulfate from a partial oxidation of the feed copper concentrate in a first compartment of the multi-compartment autoclave; \n to pass the partially oxidised slurry from the first compartment into the second and ensuing compartments of the multi-compartment autoclave; \n such that a division between the first compartment and the second and ensuing compartments does not permit transfer of unused oxidant gas from the first compartment to the second and ensuing compartments; \n to provide a non-oxidising atmosphere in the second and ensuing compartments such that a majority of the soluble copper in the partially oxidised slurry from the first compartment is uploaded onto the partially leached solids to provide the upgraded concentrate; \n employing elevated temperature and elevated pressure to suppress boiling in the leaching process; and \n utilising acid generated from the hydrolysis of ferric iron in the first compartment to re-dissolve the ferric iron in the non-oxidising conditions of the second and ensuing compartments.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 47.0
- Percentile: 95.0
- Lexical Diversity: 1.89189
- Patent Class: 423.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: open
- Component Type: 1
- Foreign Priority: True
- Related Applications: ['14652375', '15129687', '15222887', '15997329', '13503338']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.7935895362880229
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.5449900644960978
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.7687295891088304
- Mean Citation Score: 317.9695920000001
- Max Citation Score: 405.97174
- Similarity Product: 330.6455088541186

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 1
- Claim Label 103: 0
- Claim Label 112: 1
- Combined Label: 1
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test