Experimental study on the comprehensive utilization of low-grade copper ore resources in a high-latitude cold region
The low-grade copper ore in a high-latitude cold region consists of primary copper sulfide ore,secondary copper sulfide ore,and copper oxide ore.The ore properties gradually change with the depth of the ore body.Under natural temperature,medium temperature,or acidic conditions,tennantite and tetrahedrite in the primary copper sulfide ore,secondary copper sulfide ore,and combined copper oxide ore are easily leached.For shallow low-grade copper ore,sulfuric acid column leaching in atmospheric temperature was conducted at temperatures of 13 ℃-23 ℃ for 34 d,followed by medium-temperature bio-oxidation column leaching with leaching bacteria added at temperatures of-23 ℃-30 ℃,achieving a copper leaching rate of 65.01%.For medium-deep low-grade copper ore,a pilot test was conducted under conditions of ore particle size-50 mm and a column leaching time of 288 d,achieving a copper leaching rate of 41.66%.