Investigating of Nitric Acid Leaching of High-Sulfur Copper Concentrate

This article describes the problems of deterioration of the quality of processed raw materials due to depletion of mineral resources. It is proposed to use nitric acid for the processing of complex refractory low-grade concentrates containing non-ferrous and noble metals. It was found that the studied concentrate contains: sphalerite (26.9 %), pyrite (22.0 %), chalcopyrite (19.9 %), silica (13.9 %), alumina (5.5 %), galena (1.7 %), oxidized forms of iron (Fe2O3) (12 %). Gold and silver are associated with sulfide minerals. Typical reactions of interaction of these minerals with nitric acid are considered. A sufficiently high thermodynamic probability of these reactions in a wide temperature range is established. With the use of mathematical methods, the optimal conditions of the process of nitric acid leaching are selected: the ratio of L:S = 5:1; the concentration of nitric acid 10 mol/L; the duration of the process is 60 minutes. In this case, the extraction of copper, zinc, iron and sulfur into the solution was 99.00 %, 99.84 % 98.60 %, 88.51 %, respectively.