Removal of iron from sythetic copper leach solution using a hydroxy-oxime chelating resin

Salicylic acid, amino carboxylic acid, amino phosphonic acid and hydroxy-oxime resins were employed to adsorb iron from a synthetic copper leach solution containing 40 g/L of Cu2 + and 36 g/L of Fe3 +. It was found that a hydroxy-oxime resin, named Z-Fe, has excellent adsorption selectivity on Fe3 +. Desorption behavior of the resin was studied by two step elutions using dilute H2SO4 and oxalic acid solution, respectively. After optimizing the adsorption-elution processes, the extent of removal of iron from the simulated copper leach solution using resin Z-Fe was 89.83%, while copper recovery could reach 100% in closed circuit processing.