Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology

College of Engineering
Department of Ceramics, Metallurgical and Mining Engineering

LEACHING AND CEMENTATION OF ROASTED COPPER SULFIDE ORE

ADVENT FEL BAÑEZ, DAYLE TRANZ DAÑO, RONNIE ESTOLANO,

SARAHLYN JOSOL, NOVY JEAN PADUA

METE 157N: HYDROMETALLURGY LABORATORY

ABSTRACT

Ten 60 g roasted copper sulfide ore samples were weighed and placed in its corresponding 1000 mL
beaker filled with 600 mL of sulfuric acid with different concentrations. These mixture were then
leached with different specified time using improvised mechanical stirrer and then filtered. The filtrate
produced is the pregnant solution. After leaching, the copper ions from the filtrate was recovered via
cementation using aluminum strip metal. This experiment investigates the factors that affect the
recovery of cemented copper. Results show that as the leaching time is increased, the color of the filtrate
becomes dark. The dark color entails that high amounts of copper oxide metal have reacted to the
lixiviant, producing a large amount of Cu2+ in the filtrate which raises the recovery of copper in
cementation. Also, the recovery is dependent on the amount of aliquot and size of aluminum strip used.
Smaller strips require lesser volume of aliquots in order to extract all of the copper contained in it. Other
factors that affects the recovery is the concentration of lixiviant, which when increased, increases the
concentration of Cu2+ in the filtrate.

INTRODUCTION

About 80% of the world’s copper-from-ore
originates in Cu-Fe-S ores. Cu-Fe-S minerals
are not easily dissolved by aqueous solutions,
the vast majority of copper extraction from
these minerals are pyrometallurgical. The
extraction entails isolating an ore’s Cu-Fe-S
mineral particles into a concentrate froth
flotation, smelting this concentrate to molten
high-Cu matte, converting the molten matte to
impure molten copper and fire-and electro-
refining this impure copper to ultra-pure
copper.
The remaining 20% of primary copper
production comes from hydrometallurgical
processing of copper oxide and chalcocite ores.
The copper is recovered by leaching. Copper
leaching is dissolving Cu from minerals into
aqueous solution-almost always dilute sulfuric
acid. However, copper sulfide ores are
insoluble in dilute acidic leaching solution, but
a very high extraction can be obtained if the
copper ore is in oxidized condition. This is done
by roasting in which the copper concentrate is
partially oxidized to produce "calcine"
and sulfur dioxide gas.
Copper resources become increasingly depleted
and the number of low-grade refractory copper
ore grows over time. Thus, the need to develop
a low-cost, environment-friendly and high
economic benefit process of recovering copper
from ore should be given more attention. The
extraction of copper from ore has been
performed on various fields of metallurgy such
as pyrometallurgy and bio-chemical processes,
the most popular for low-grade tailings, which
causes serious erosions on equipment leading to
high production cost. This gave way to
hydrometallurgical processes becoming the
most viable and promising approach to treat
copper sulfide ore.

LEACHING AND CEMENTATION. Submitted to Engr. Mona Lisa Pacaña, Instructor. Page 1 of 7
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY metal placed in the solution or melt. The
cementation reaction between copper ions
This experiment aims to: containing solution and metallic aluminum
particles occurs according to the following
 Know the effect of leaching time to the reaction:
color and recovery of copper.
 Know the effect of different 𝐶𝑢2+ + 2𝐴𝑙 0 → 3𝐶𝑢0 + 2𝐴𝑙 3+
improvised mechanical stirrer used in
leaching
 Study the effect of time on the rate on METHODOLOGY
the rate of removal of cemented copper
sulfide Materials
 Determine other factors that affect the The materials and equipment used in this
recovery of copper. experiment were improvised mechanical stirrer,
1000 mL beaker, graduated cylinder, filter
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY paper, stirring rod, wash bottle, analytical
balance, hot plate and aluminum strip.
With rapid industrial development and greater
use of chemical products, high grade ores have Experimental Procedure
depleted. As a result, the hydrometallurgical
methods have gained a great importance Dilute Sulfuric
in recovering metallic values from industrial Acid Preparation
wastes and low grade ores. In this experiment,
in varying amount of concentration of sulfuric
acid and the amount of agitation time will
determine the effectiveness of the roasting- Leaching Proper
leaching process. Moreover, cementation
method will determine the efficiency in the
extraction of copper.

THEORY Cementation
Proper
Sulfide ores of copper are insoluble in dilute
sulfuric acid leaching solutions, but a very high
extraction can be obtained if the copper ore is
in the oxidized condition. The problem is to
convert the sulfide into the oxide form. This can Data Gathering
be done by giving the sulfide ore an oxidizing-
sulfatizing roast. Copper sulfate is soluble in
water, so acid will be saved in the leaching
process if copper sulfate is present.
Theoretically, at temperature 9000C, roasting Analysis
converts copper sulfides into optimum amounts
of copper sulfates and copper oxides. With
these two compounds, leaching is now possible.
Theoretically, leaching of Cu-O using dilute Figure 1. Process Flow Chart
sulfuric acid follows the reaction:
Dilute Sulfuric Acid Preparation
𝐶𝑢𝑂 + 𝐻2 𝑆𝑂4 → 𝐶𝑢 2+
+ 𝑆𝑂42− + 𝐻2 𝑂
In preparing 6% sulfuric acid, 38.125 ml of
On the other hand, in cementation process 96% concentrated sulfuric acid is diluted with
known as metal displacement process where a water up to 610 ml mark in an Erlenmeyer flask.
metal ion presented in a solution or melt is This volume of concentrated sulfuric acid is
reduced to the metallic state with a more active determined using the dilution equation,
considering 6% and 610 ml as the final or

LEACHING AND CEMENTATION. Submitted to Engr. Mona Lisa Pacaña, Instructor. Page 2 of 7
desired concentration and volume, respectively. Cementation
Only 600 ml of this solution will be used in
leaching. The extra 10 ml is reserved as the The 6% H2SO4-pregnant solution from the
solution is stored for several days before its leaching process was placed in a 1000 ml
usage and there could be any evaporation beaker and 1.301 g of aluminum strip was
happened. added. The solution is then heated to near
boiling with frequent stirring. The heating of
The same procedure is done for preparing 10% solution was stop, when clear solution was
sulfuric acid. However, the concentration of the achieved. Aluminum strip was removed and
concentrated sulfuric acid utilized is 98%, cement copper was recovered through filtration.
which serves as the initial concentration. The Both the residue remaining in the filter paper
final concentration and volume is 10% and 610 and the aluminum strip was placed in an
ml, respectively. evaporating dish, and was dried in an oven. The
𝐷𝑖𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛: 𝐶1 𝑉1 = 𝐶2 𝑉2 weight of the cement copper was determined
Let C1= initial concentration and recorded. The process was then repeated,
C2= final concentration but this time using the 10% pregnant solution
V1= initial volume and 1.394 g of aluminum strip.
V2= final volume
𝐶1 𝑉1 = 𝐶2 𝑉2
𝐶2 𝑉2 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
𝑉1 =
𝐶1
For 6% of H2SO4 Each group weighed approximately two-60 g
(6%)(610 𝑚𝑙) sample for leaching, pre-roasted for 1 hour
𝑉1 = using the Muffle-Furnace. The obtained
(96%)
𝑉1 = 38.125 𝑚𝑙 roasted samples were poured in a 1000-mL
For 10% of H2SO4 beaker filled with 600 mL sulfuric acid. This
was then leached with different H2SO4
(10%)(610 𝑚𝑙) concentration, 6% and 10% respectively with
𝑉1 = varying amounts of leaching time shown in
(98%)
Table 1.
𝑉1 = 62.245 𝑚𝑙
Table 1. Leaching Data
Leaching Roasted Roasted
Filtered
Leaching ore ore Volume of
Volume of
Each group has taken 60 grams of sample from Time Sample Sample Dilute
Pregnant
their respective accumulated roasted (in used in used in Sulfuric
Solution
minutes) 6% 10% Acid used
chalcopyrite ore. Individually, each sample is ( in mL)
H2SO4 H2SO4
placed in its corresponding 1000 mL beaker
600
filled with 600 mL of 6% sulfuric acid prepared 30 60.006 60.004 600
from previous meeting. After that, the ore
samples in the container were leached by 50 60.002 60.009 600 600
agitating the solution using portable stirrers, at
different lengths of time at 30 minutes, 50 70 60.003 60.008 600 600
minutes, 1 hour and 10 minutes, 1 hour and 30
minutes and 1 hour and 50 minutes. After 90 60.002 60.000 600 600
leaching, the solution is filtered using a pre-
weighed filter paper to separate the solids and 110 60.000 60.003 600 600
liquids. The filtrate or pregnant solution is then
subjected to cementation to extract the copper
from it. On the other hand, the residue After leaching, the mixtures were filtered using
remaining in the filter paper dried in order to a pre-weighed filter paper to obtain a pregnant
measure the remained solids as well as to solution which is also equivalent to the volume
account for losses if there are any. of sulfuric acid utilized. The filtrate is the
source of aliquot that will be used in
cementation.

LEACHING AND CEMENTATION. Submitted to Engr. Mona Lisa Pacaña, Instructor. Page 3 of 7
 Table 2. Recovery of metal using different concentrations of dilute H2SO4

Leaching Aliquot of Aliquot of Weight of Weight of Percent of Percent of

Time Pregnant Pregnant Copper (Cu) Copper (Cu) Copper Copper
(in Solution Solution by by (% Cu) by (% Cu) by
minutes) Used in Used in Cementation Cementation Cementation Cementation
6% 10% obtained in obtained in in 6% H2SO4 in 10%
H2SO4 H2SO4 6% H2SO4 10% H2SO4 H2SO4
(in mL) (in mL) (in grams) (in grams)
0.204993167 9.209386041
30 400 100 0.082 0.921
0.282485876 11.65825126
50 400 100 0.113 1.166
0.744962752 25.96653779
70 400 100 0.298 2.597
1.659944669 21.33
90 400 100 0.664 2.133
0.5775 23.68881556
110 400 100 0.231 2.369

The removal of copper from solution involves
two main processes, including adsorption of
copper ions on the metallic aluminum surface
and cementation of copper ions onto the metal.
In practice, the amount of aluminum
consumed is always higher than the theoretical
amount, thus, the amount of metallic aluminum
used in the experiments has been
proportionally increased with increasing initial
copper ion concentration, and amount of
solution that undergo cementation. When the
amount of metal is increased, the effective
surface area will be higher, and as a result, the
amount of cemented copper will increase.
Table 2 shows the volume of aliquots used in
cementation. Notice that different volumes
were used because the aluminum strip utilized
is small in size. Small dimensions of aluminum
strip is not enough to extract all the copper
contained in the 400 mL of aliquot. This is
evident by not attaining a clear pregnant
solution after hours of the first cementation.
With this, for the second cementation, since the
size of aluminum strip used is the same, the
volume of aliquot is adjusted to cater all of the
copper contained in it.
solution is strong enough which peeled off
some of the deposits from the metal surface.
However, the weights of the peeled copper is
still accounted as the solution is filtered after
the cementation process.
On the other hand, examining the temperature
effect on the cementation rate, it was
observed that the copper deposit was not
coherent on the reducing metal surface at
temperatures higher than its boiling point while
was coherent at lower temperatures.
With the 6% H2SO4 results, it can be seen that
there is a trend in the first three values, in which
as the leaching time is increased, the recovery
is also increased. However, this trend is not
constant with the fourth and fifth values.
Possible reasons for this are the discrepancies
in preparing the specific concentration of
sulfuric acid and the degree of stirring evident
in the produced color of pregnant solution.
During the agitation, it brings fresh solvent into
contact with undissolved solid. Thus, good
agitation, the more copper is dissolved in the
pregnant solution and the color becomes a more
pronounced blue.

Also, since the cementation reactions are Also, it should be pointed out that the filter
mostly diffusion controlled, the reaction rate papers containing the sample for 30, 50, 70 and
can be accelerated by stirring. The aliquots 110 were burned during drying in the oven.
were stirred frequently. The agitation of the Only the sample for 90 minutes is dried

LEACHING AND CEMENTATION. Submitted to Engr. Mona Lisa Pacaña, Instructor. Page 4 of 7
properly. And since the first cementation was
stopped and the solution did not turned to be
clear, not all of the copper is extracted. These
cannot be a strong source of any conclusion.
On the other hand, with 10% H2SO4 results, a
recognizable trend can be seen except for the
third value which has the largest weight of
recovered cemented copper. Throughout the
experiment, it is noticed that pregnant solution
in 70 minutes attained the darkest color
followed by the pregnant solution in 110
minutes. With these, the intensity of color is
proven to have an effect on the recovery of
copper. As the solution gets darker in shade, the
more copper can be recovered which also
consumes more time for cementation.
However, it should be pointed out that different
kinds of stirrer were utilized by different
groups. It was observed that the mixture
leached for 70 minutes was over-agitated as
there was an observed formation of a whirlpool
during the agitation. Thus, the velocity of the
stirrer is too much which produced a very dark
blue color of the filtrate.
Obtaining the weights of the cemented copper,
the %Cu with respect its original roasted weight
can be calculated. The results can be found in
the last two columns of Table 2.
𝑤𝑡. 𝑜𝑓 𝐶𝑢 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ
%𝐶𝑢 = 𝑥 100
𝑤𝑡. 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑜𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑂𝑟𝑒
Figure 2. The relationship between time and
weights of cemented copper recovered
Cemented Copper
3
2.5
2 evidence about the factors and its effect to the
1.5
1 LEACHING AND CEMENTATION. Submitted to Engr. Mona Lisa Pacaña, Instructor. Page 5 of 7
0.5
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Recovering copper with aluminum plates
by cementation reaction was
investigated in this experiment. Cementation is
a simple and easy to control technique that
allows the recovery of valuable metals in their
metallic and reusable form. The recovery of
cemented copper is affected by different factors
such as the leaching time, concentration of
lixiviant, color of the solution and temperature.
It was observed that solutions that contained
high amounts of Cu2+ is darker in color.
The increased leaching time offered higher
chances for the roasted sample particles to react
with lixiviant by stirring. Also, temperature is
also monitored because at temperatures higher
than the boiling point of the solution, cemented
copper cannot be produced.
For the concentration, more acidic or higher
concentration of sulfuric acid is more effective
in leaching although this cannot be proved by
the experiment since there is a disruption in the
process of the first cementation.
For the other materials utilized, the efficiency
of cementation also depends on the size of
aluminum strip and amount of aliquots used. In
order to attain a clear solution in cementation,
small volumes of aliquot should be used.
It was observed in the experiment that different
kinds of mechanical stirrers were used with
different speeds. Other mixtures were over-
agitated as there was an observed whirlpool
during agitation which produces a dark blue
color in the pregnant solution.
Although there is a lack of concrete source of
recovery of cemented copper, conclusions can
still be deduced from the trends of the results
excluding the outlier results.

Thus, it is highly recommended that the said

activity must have more trials to have a more
concrete results. Further, same kind of
mechanical stirrers should be used. Also, other
factors such as the size of aluminum strip and
particle size can also be varied to see its effect
to the recovery of copper.

REFERENCES

Bartlett, R. W. 1998. Solution Mining:

Leaching and Fluid Recovery of Materials, 2nd
ed. Amsterdam: Gordon and Breach Science
Publishers.

Davenport, W. (2002). Extractive Metallurgy of

Copper: Extracting Copper from Copper Iron-
Sulfide-Ores (4th ed).Oxford, England:
Elsevier Ltd.

Demirkiran, N., & Kunku A. (2011).

Recovering of Copper with Metallic
Aluminium. Transactions of Nonferrous Metals
Society of China, 26, 2778-2782 .Retrieved 20
May, 2016, from
http://www.ysxbcn.com/down/upfile/soft/2011
123102/32-p2778-23164.pdf

Gupta, C.K., & Mukherjee, T.

K.(1990).Hydrometallurgy in Extraction
Process.Boca Raton,Florida:CRC Press,Inc

Greenough, Jack S., (1932). The Recovery of

Copper in Sulfide Ores by Roasting, Leaching,
and Electrolysis. Bachelors Theses andReports,
1928 - 1970. Paper 21

Taylor, J.C., Schlechten, A.W., & Butts, A.

(2016).Copper Processing. In Encyclopaedia
Britannica Online. Retrieved from
https://www.britannica.com.

Zhao, Yaming, et.al.(2015).Recovery of

Copper from Copper Sulfide Concentrate by
Sulfation Roasting.Scientific Research
Publishing Inc.
“Unit Process in Extractive Metallurgy-
Hydrometallurgy”. Retrieved from:
htttps://archive.org/details/UnitProcessInExtra
ctiveMetallurgy-Hydrometallurgy

LEACHING AND CEMENTATION. Submitted to Engr. Mona Lisa Pacaña, Instructor. Page 6 of 7
APPENDIX

Leaching

Cementation

LEACHING AND CEMENTATION. Submitted to Engr. Mona Lisa Pacaña, Instructor. Page 7 of 7