ProjectTR – 19030A

Development of Technology for Treatment the Low-Grade Copper Concentrate with Increased Toxic Elements Content for the Environment Protection (2008-2010), funded by the Ministry of Science and Technological Development of Republic of Serbia

Organization: Technical Faculty at Bor, University of Belgrade
Participant organization: Institute for Technology of Nuclear and Other Mineral Raw Materials – ITNMS, Belgrade
Project leader: Nada Štrbac, Ph.D., professor, Technical Faculty at Bor
Project coordinator in ITNMS: Miroslav Sokić, Ph.D.

Objectives:

The copper content decrease in domestic ore deposits resulted in the necessity for treatment the ores located on the periphery of already exploited ore bodies, which have increased concentration of detrimental ingredients and trace elements, such as: Zn, Pb, As, Cd, Hg, Ni etc. This fact indicates the urgent need for process environmental parameters enhancement in the frame of existing production technology at TIR in Bor, what makes the fundamentals of this project. The objective is development of technological procedure for treatment the domestic low-grade copper concentrate with increased content of toxic ingredients.

In the first stage, the concentrate admixtures behaviour during oxidative roasting and copper concentrate melting process will be examined. Examinations will include the influence of admixtures content and process parameters (temperature, time, air flow, pressure and concentrate particles size) on thermodynamic and kinetic indicators of oxidation process. Accomplished analysis of admixtures concentration influence on the kinetics of oxidative roasting and melting process will be the basis for recommendation the methods for their content lowering in the environmentally reasonable manner.

In the second stage, the effect of different procedures for detrimental ingredients removal out of copper concentrate will be examined, and process optimization for treatment the copper concentrate that origins form Bor deposit will be evaluated. The main process characteristic is hydrometallurgical treatment of the concentrate for admixtures dissolving before the pyrometallurgical treatment starts. The following procedures aimed to decrease admixtures content will be examined: 1.alkaline leaching of concentrate using sodium sulphide, after fine grinding mechanical activation and 2. leaching of concentrate using sodium hypochlorite under alkaline conditions of oxidation, with dissolution of arsenic and other detrimental admixtures in the form of MeO43-, while chalcopyrite retains its sulphide form suitable for further pyrometallurgical treatment.

Relevant project result will reveal in full comprehension of physico-chemical parameters of the oxidative leaching process of concentrate with detrimental ingredients increased content, and based on it developed technology for their environmental friendly elimination. The technology of hydrometallurgical treatment of copper concentrate can be integrated in existing technology after flotation process, but before oxidative roasting process. In that way, the copper concentrate would have been free of detrimental admixtures, which were impossible to eliminate through the flotation treatment, and it could be subjected to unobstructed roasting in fluosolid reactor.

Investigators:

1. Miroslav Sokić, Ph.D., research associate, ITNMS
2. Vladislav Matković, M.Sc., research assistant, ITNMS
3. Branislav Marković, M.Sc., research assistant, ITNMS
4. Nada Štrbac, Ph.D., professor, Technical Faculty at Bor
5. Ivan Mihailović, Ph.D., assistant professor, Technical Faculty at Bor
6. Milovan Vuković, Ph.D., assistant professor, Technical Faculty at Bor
7. Slavica Prvulović, Ph.D., assistant professor, Technical Faculty at Bor
8. Milorad Ćirković, M.Sc., research associate, Institute of mining and metallurgy at Bor
9. Aleksandra Ivanović, research strudent, Institute of mining and metallurgy at Bor