Ore Reserve = 150,000,000 Tons
Head Grade = 0.8% Cu
Life Mine = 15 years
Mineralogy = Malachite and Cuprite
Can anyone help me on our plant design if what process should we use in Copper Oxide ore??
Heap leaching if gangue acid consumption is not too high. Whole ore leaching might yield better results. Flotation might yield a smaller plant, but losses from "oxide" (= non-sulphide copper) might be too high. Got to do test work and evaluation to answer properly.
I am a heap leach guy, so my answer is biased. We have been making great strides in increasing recoveries in copper leach pads through subsurface leaching. So, just when you thought you got as much out as economically possible, we help with that extra bit at the end, which could pay for the entire closure plan.
As the ore is mainly oxide, heap leaching is preferred but as Frank clearly pointed it out lab or pilot scale testing is required to determine acid consumption. recovery, fluid flow aspects etc..
As saman said, if the ore mainly is oxide, heap leachign would be preferred.
You should analyze the composition of ore and conduct leaching tests to determine the acid consumption, recovery, compoistion of PLS.
Leaching would typically be the preferred option over flotation. However, as has been stated above it is necessary to conduct test work at lab and/or pilot scale to determine the necessary parameters for the operation, e.g. acid consumption, copper recovery, etc. Both ore and gangue minerals present will have an effect on leaching kinetics and acid consumption and these will vary both between and within deposits. It is not possible to assume that what 'works' at another operation will work at yours without proper testing and verification. If there is a significant quantity of highly reactive gangue present then leaching my not be economic. You may also need to consider SX/EW for copper extraction from the PLS.
Heap Leaching is the better or preferred option as said before, you will need to calculate sulfuric acid consumption (theory and practice or laboratory): malachite: CuCO3.Cu(OH)2 + 2 H2SO4 → 2 CuSO4 + CO2 + 3 H2O ; cuprite: Cu2O + H2SO4 → Cu + CuSO4 + H2O. you will need to make separation of PLS and gangue, so sedimentation it is preferred in many plants (CCD: counter-courant decantation) and later you can do SX/EW easy because solvent gangue (sand) is harmful for solvent extraction.
so for your process you can study respectively the following steps : 1)crashing, 2)milling, 3)Heap leaching, 4)sedimentation and SX/EW.
the capacity of your plants will depend to the production you need. if you defined copper cathode production per day, you can from there defined SX/EW copper concentration and flow, CCD flow rate, PLS (pregnant Leaching solution), ball mill and crushing capacity.
I can advice you some references such as: Alvayai, C., 2006. Traitement hydrométallurgique des minerais du Katanga; Bautista, R., 1984. Hydrometallurgical process fondamentals; González M., (2000), “Notas de curso de Hidrometalurgia”; Kitobo, W., 2009. Dépollution et valorisation des rejets miniers sulfurés du katanga. « cas des tailing de kipushi.
do you really want to decide on such a huge investment based on 4 parameters?
I would suggest go a little bit deeper on investigation otherwise you may hit the bump!!!
Heap leaching is preferred method for Cu oxide and/or carbonate ores if gangue acid consumption is not too high. Flotation is generally suitable for sulphide type Cu ores. Flotation of malachite and cuprite type of ores also possible after sulphidization of the ore with xantates type anionic collectors. But, Cu yield may not be as high as you desire and operation cost will be much higher as compared to heap leaching. Heap leaching requires coarser sizes as compared to flotation. Fine grinding can increase flotation costs significantly. Leaching of whole ore at coarser sizes might yield better results at low costs. However these should be tested in lab and pilot plant scales before industrial application. Flotation might yield a smaller plant, but metal losses might be too high.
Heap leaching is an industrial mining process to extract precious metals, copper, uranium, and other compounds from ore via a series of chemical reactions that absorb specific minerals and then re-separates them after their division from other earth materials. If your mine site is far from residential areas you can choose heap leaching. The mined ore is usually crushed into small chunks and heaped on an impermeable plastic and/or clay lined leach pad where it can be irrigated with a leach solution to dissolve the valuable metals.