Copper leaching from the chalcopyrite-bearing MoS2 concentrate by mixed chlorides solution

Abstract

In this study, the dissolution of copper sulfide minerals by the ferric (FeCl3) and ferrous (FeCl2) chloride leaching for upgrading the content of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) in a molybdenite concentrate was investigated. The effect of various parameters was studied on the copper dissolution behavior from the concentrate. In this matter, the copper dissolution was reached 94.84 % under the optimized leaching conditions. The kinetics of copper dissolution from the concentrate was established using a shrinking core model (SCM), and the process was controlled by diffusion, with a corresponding activation energy of 18.63 kJ mol-1 at the temperature range of 343-373 K. The amount of copper in the leachate was tested by the inductively coupled plazma-optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES) and the solid phase was studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Results of the experiments show that the content of MoS2 in the solid residue was increased up to 88.59 % after the leaching.