Process improvement and kinetic study on copper leaching from low-grade cuprite ores

Process improvement and kinetic study on copper leaching from low-grade cuprite ores in sulfuric acid solution are presented in this paper. Effects of major leaching parameters on copper leaching efficiency are determined. The results indicate that copper minerals in the raw ores are mainly cuprites. The reaction rate of this ore increases with an increase in temperature, reaction time, sulfuric acid concentrations and decrease in the particle size of ore. Leaching of about 92.5% of copper is achieved using 0.125-0.074 mm ore particle size at a reaction temperature of 353 K for 180 min reaction time with 150 g/dm3 sulfuric acid. The solid/liquid ratio was maintained constant at 1:15. Leaching kinetic indicates experimental data complies with shrinking core mode (SCM). It is found in the study that agitation rate is not an influential factor on leaching rate and that the dissolution rate is controlled by surface chemical reaction. The average activation energy of the process is determined to be 45.28 kJ mol-1, and the reaction order of H2SO4 is 0.8093.