Mineralogical Observation Made During the Kinetic Dissolution Study of Chalcopyrite Mineral in Sulphate Media under Free pH at Room Temperature

Abstract

An attempt to determine the various phenomena at play and leaching mechanism of chalcopyrite dissolution, was conducted on a chalcopyrite concentrate. The study was performed at atmospheric conditions (room temperature) in a stirred Erlenmeyer flask with 10% solid at free pH in acidic sulphate system. It appears that, the mineral dissolution is to some extent dependent on the pH. The Cu dissolution curve was characterized at the early stage by a rapid withdrawal of both copper and solid residue. Leachate solid residue characterization results, obtained from the X-ray diffraction revealed the presence of intermediate minerals phases including bornite, covelite and chalcocite. Thermodynamic calculations predict that the dissolution of bornite and chalcocite would be spontaneous while covelite was found to be refractory. In addition to that, sulfur and gangue related mineral were identified as the dissolution reaction products.