Conversion of chalcopyrite to copper oxide in hypochlorite solution for selective leaching of copper in dilute sulfuric acid solution

In the present study, development of a novel oxidation route to convert chalcopyrite to tenorite for leaching of copper has been described. Initially chalcopyrite was converted into tenorite/copper oxide (CuO) under alkaline region using electro-generated chlorine as an oxidant. Various process parameters such as chlorine sparging rate, temperature, and reaction time were investigated. It was found that 93.8% chalcopyrite converted to tenorite at 60 °C in 300 min when chlorine sparging rate was 0.69 mmol min−1 while, maintaining the pulp density of 10 g/L and pH of the solution between 11−12.7 using dilute sodium hydroxide solution. The oxidized sample containing tenorite phase was leached in dilute sulfuric acid solution at 30 °C and 10 g/L pulp density for 60 min. It was observed that pH of the solution plays a crucial role to enhance the selective recovery of copper. Almost 88% of copper along with 43.1% iron were leached out when pH of the leaching solution was varied between 0.9−1.2. However, negligible dissolution of iron with almost same percentage of copper leaching (88.2%) was observed with the solution having pH 2.7−3.2. Enhanced copper leaching efficiency of up to 99.3% was achieved in the same pH range (2.7−3.2) at 60 °C within 30 min.