Enhancing chalcopyrite leaching by tetrachloroethylene-assisted removal of sulphur passivation and the mechanism of jarosite formation
© 2019 Elsevier B.V. Chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) is the primary ore mineral for copper, but leaching of this mineral under atmospheric conditions is slow due to the formation of surface passivating phases such as elemental sulphur and jarosite. Here, we studied chalcopyrite leaching in a sulphuric aci...
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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ELSEVIER
2020
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| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP170101893 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/82058 |
| _version_ | 1848764467496615936 |
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| author | Kartal, M. Xia, F. Ralph, D. Rickard, William Renard, F. Li, W. |
| author_facet | Kartal, M. Xia, F. Ralph, D. Rickard, William Renard, F. Li, W. |
| author_sort | Kartal, M. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | © 2019 Elsevier B.V.
Chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) is the primary ore mineral for copper, but leaching of this mineral under atmospheric conditions is slow due to the formation of surface passivating phases such as elemental sulphur and jarosite. Here, we studied chalcopyrite leaching in a sulphuric acid solution at 75 °C and 750 mV (relative to the standard hydrogen electrode), and found that after adding 20 vol% of tetrachloroethylene (TCE) into the leaching solution, elemental sulphur was dissolved from chalcopyrite and surface passivation was removed at the early stage of leaching. The removal of surface sulphur significantly enhanced the leaching rate by approximately 600% compared with TCE-free leaching. However, adding dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) did not improve the leaching rate. At the later stage of leaching, the increasing concentrations of Fe3+ from the dissolution of chalcopyrite and K+ possibly from the dissolution of minor amount of gangue minerals resulted in the precipitation of a potassium jarosite layer on the surface of chalcopyrite. The jarosite shell did not passivate TCE-free leaching due to its porous structure. However, in the case of leaching with TCE, elemental sulphur filled the pores, and the jarosite shell became nearly impermeable, resulting in passivation after 80% copper extraction. This study demonstrates a way for effective removal of sulphur passivation at the early stage of chalcopyrite leaching by adding sulphur dissolving solvent such as TCE, but to prevent jarosite formation at the later stage of leaching, it is necessary to keep the concentrations of Fe3+ and K+ at low levels. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:19:49Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-82058 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:19:49Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | ELSEVIER |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-820582021-03-09T01:03:58Z Enhancing chalcopyrite leaching by tetrachloroethylene-assisted removal of sulphur passivation and the mechanism of jarosite formation Kartal, M. Xia, F. Ralph, D. Rickard, William Renard, F. Li, W. Science & Technology Technology Metallurgy & Metallurgical Engineering Chalcopyrite leaching Sulphur passivation Tetrachloroethylene Jarosite passivation FIB-SEM tomography XPS RAY PHOTOELECTRON-SPECTROSCOPY ELEMENTAL SULFUR FERRIC-CHLORIDE ELECTRONIC-STRUCTURE HYDROGEN-PEROXIDE DEGREES-C TOF-SIMS DISSOLUTION SULFIDE COPPER © 2019 Elsevier B.V. Chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) is the primary ore mineral for copper, but leaching of this mineral under atmospheric conditions is slow due to the formation of surface passivating phases such as elemental sulphur and jarosite. Here, we studied chalcopyrite leaching in a sulphuric acid solution at 75 °C and 750 mV (relative to the standard hydrogen electrode), and found that after adding 20 vol% of tetrachloroethylene (TCE) into the leaching solution, elemental sulphur was dissolved from chalcopyrite and surface passivation was removed at the early stage of leaching. The removal of surface sulphur significantly enhanced the leaching rate by approximately 600% compared with TCE-free leaching. However, adding dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) did not improve the leaching rate. At the later stage of leaching, the increasing concentrations of Fe3+ from the dissolution of chalcopyrite and K+ possibly from the dissolution of minor amount of gangue minerals resulted in the precipitation of a potassium jarosite layer on the surface of chalcopyrite. The jarosite shell did not passivate TCE-free leaching due to its porous structure. However, in the case of leaching with TCE, elemental sulphur filled the pores, and the jarosite shell became nearly impermeable, resulting in passivation after 80% copper extraction. This study demonstrates a way for effective removal of sulphur passivation at the early stage of chalcopyrite leaching by adding sulphur dissolving solvent such as TCE, but to prevent jarosite formation at the later stage of leaching, it is necessary to keep the concentrations of Fe3+ and K+ at low levels. 2020 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/82058 10.1016/j.hydromet.2019.105192 English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP170101893 ELSEVIER restricted |
| spellingShingle | Science & Technology Technology Metallurgy & Metallurgical Engineering Chalcopyrite leaching Sulphur passivation Tetrachloroethylene Jarosite passivation FIB-SEM tomography XPS RAY PHOTOELECTRON-SPECTROSCOPY ELEMENTAL SULFUR FERRIC-CHLORIDE ELECTRONIC-STRUCTURE HYDROGEN-PEROXIDE DEGREES-C TOF-SIMS DISSOLUTION SULFIDE COPPER Kartal, M. Xia, F. Ralph, D. Rickard, William Renard, F. Li, W. Enhancing chalcopyrite leaching by tetrachloroethylene-assisted removal of sulphur passivation and the mechanism of jarosite formation |
| title | Enhancing chalcopyrite leaching by tetrachloroethylene-assisted removal of sulphur passivation and the mechanism of jarosite formation |
| title_full | Enhancing chalcopyrite leaching by tetrachloroethylene-assisted removal of sulphur passivation and the mechanism of jarosite formation |
| title_fullStr | Enhancing chalcopyrite leaching by tetrachloroethylene-assisted removal of sulphur passivation and the mechanism of jarosite formation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Enhancing chalcopyrite leaching by tetrachloroethylene-assisted removal of sulphur passivation and the mechanism of jarosite formation |
| title_short | Enhancing chalcopyrite leaching by tetrachloroethylene-assisted removal of sulphur passivation and the mechanism of jarosite formation |
| title_sort | enhancing chalcopyrite leaching by tetrachloroethylene-assisted removal of sulphur passivation and the mechanism of jarosite formation |
| topic | Science & Technology Technology Metallurgy & Metallurgical Engineering Chalcopyrite leaching Sulphur passivation Tetrachloroethylene Jarosite passivation FIB-SEM tomography XPS RAY PHOTOELECTRON-SPECTROSCOPY ELEMENTAL SULFUR FERRIC-CHLORIDE ELECTRONIC-STRUCTURE HYDROGEN-PEROXIDE DEGREES-C TOF-SIMS DISSOLUTION SULFIDE COPPER |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP170101893 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/82058 |