Copper SX/EW

Basic Principles and

Detailed Plant Design

May 2020

ALTA Metallurgical Services, Melbourne, Australia

www.altamet.com.au
 Copper SX/EW Basic Principles
and Detailed Plant Design
May 2020

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 SHORT COURSE

Copper SX/EW Basic Principles

and Detailed Plant Design

Presented by

Alan Taylor
ALTA Metallurgical Services

May 2020

Copper SX/EW Basic Principles & Detailed Plant Design 1

 Short Courses
course outline and presenter

Copper SX/EW Basic Principles and Detailed Plant Design

This practically oriented course has been put together over many years and is both a valuable introduction
for newcomers and a useful refresher for old hands.

Course Presenter

Alan Taylor, Metallurgical Consultant and Managing Director, ALTA Metallurgical Services
Alan has 40+ years’ experience in the metallurgical, mineral and chemical processing industries in
Australasia, New Zealand, North and South America, Africa, Asia and Europe. Alan draws from his
extensive first-hand experience with major engineering firms and as an independent consultant focussing
on project development. He has worked on a wide variety of projects from the late 1960s - a period which
has seen the introduction of many new technical developments. Detailed experience

s
Course Outline

ge
Key SX functions Simplified flowsheet
Simplistic chemistry & implications
Applications
History
Reasons for growth
Pa
Alternative processes Precipitation of cement copper with scrap iron
Direct electrowinning
Copper powder production
Copper oxide production
e

Cuprous chloride precipitation

Precipitation of copper sulphide with H2S or sodium sulphide
Replacement of SX by ion exchange (IX)
pl

Replacement of EW by copper sulphate production

Organic liquids in SX Extractants
m

Modifiers
Diluents
Organic stability
Sa

Organic selectivity
Typical flowsheets SX
EW
Ancillary facilities:
- Crud treatment
- Solutions holding tank
- Reagent facilities
Variations in SX circuits:
- Series-parallel
Split circuit
SX contractors Mixer-Settlers:
- Types used for commercial copper SX
- Types used for commercial non-copper SX
- Types piloted for copper SX
Column contactors
Centrifugal contactors
 Short Courses
course outline and presenter

Course Outline (continued)

SX ancillary facilities SX crud

Clay treatment of organic
Electrolyte clean-up
Loaded organic clean-up
Raffinate clean-up
EW cells Principle of operation
Alternative designs
Anodes and cathodes
EW materials handling Harvesting
Washing and stripping
Sampling, weighing, and banding
EW ancillary facilities Rectiformers

s
Acid mist control
Iron control

ge
Plant arrangement and Key considerations
layout Various SX arrangements
Various EW arrangements
SX fire protection Industry experience
Pa
Causes
Fire prevention measures
Fire protection systems
Fire containment and risk reduction system
Materials of construction SX area
e

EW area
Testwork Overall test program strategy
pl

Leach solution samples

SX test procedures
Scale-up and design Recommended guidelines for scale-up
m

criteria Typical design criteria

Plant operation Operating characteristics
Personnel
Sa

Instrumentation/controls
Sampling/analytical
Performance and risk
Industry trends
Example plant design Plant design criteria
review (course notes Basic process design calculations
only) Mixer-settler design
EW cell design
Tank and pond design
Other equipment design
Plant arrangement
Engineering notes
Equipment list
Design sketches
 RANCHERS BLUEBIRD, ARIZONA, 1965
FIRST COMMERCIAL COPPER SX-EW OPERATION

s
ge
Copper SX/EW Basic 14
Pa
Notes:

1. It was based on heap leaching of oxide ore.

e

2. The SX mix boxes were all located at the same end of the settlers.
pl

3. Pump-mix impellers were not used and Inter-stage transfer was by pumping.
4. Copper was deposited on copper staring sheets in EW.
m
Sa

Copper SX/EW Basic Principles & Detailed Plant Design 14

 ORGANIC SELECTIVITY

• The only significant element extracted by oxime copper extractants is ferric

iron.
• Copper-iron ratio of 500-2500 (under ideal conditions) depending on the
particular extractant.
• Actual chemical transfer is affected by the Cu:Fe ratio in the aqueous feed
solution.
• There is an additional transfer of both ferrous and ferric by physical
entrainment with the organic. This is a particular problem for the loaded
organic, as iron reduces current efficiency in EW.
• Other undesirable impurities which can be entrained in loaded organic include
chloride, manganese and nitrate.

s
• Chloride can also be transferred from the leach solution by entrainment to EW

ge
which has a very tight specification of 30 ppm Cl maximum.

Copper SX/EW Basic 51

Pa
Notes:
e

Effect of entrained impurities:

1. If the chloride level in the EW electrolyte exceeds about 30 ppm it tends to attack stainless steel cathode
pl

blanks causing difficulty in stripping the copper from the blanks. (However, it should be noted that a low
threshold chloride level of about 10 ppm is required as a surface smoothing agent.)
2. If manganese is transferred into the electrolyte circuit it can lead to permanganate formation which can
m

severely degrade the SX organic in the strip circuit. This has happened to a number of operations during
commissioning. If manganese is expected to be present, it is advisable to start with a minimum initial
buffer of about 0.5 g/L iron and monitor the Eh which should be less than 600 mv, then maintain a ferrous
iron/manganese ratio of 8-10/1in the electrolyte when in operation (Ref: Anglo American Chile paper,
Sa

ALTA 2011).
3. It has been found that a minimum of 1 g/l of total iron is usually necessary to prevent high Eh levels in the
electrolyte. At Chuquicamata, Chile, the total iron in electrolyte is 0.4-0.5 g/l to maintain high current
efficiencies in the cellhouse. Because of this low level of total iron, a very high solution Eh of 900 mV is
generated compared with 400 mV normally. The Eh is reduced by contacting the spent electrolyte with
copper scrap in a reduction tower. This reduces the manganese to Mn2+ and renders it benign to the SX
organic (Ref: MMS paper, ALTA 2010).
4. Cytec Solvay has introduced ACORGA OR formulations for SX solutions having high ORP (Ref: Cytec
paper, ALTA 2011).
5. Nitrate in solution can lead to severe attack on the organic – see next slide.

Copper SX/EW Basic Principles & Detailed Plant Design 51