What is the best method to extract copper?

What is the best method to extract copper?

First, the ore is treated with dilute sulphuric acid. This trickles slowly down through the ore, over a period of months, dissolving copper to form a weak solution of copper sulphate. The copper is then recovered by electrolysis. This process is known as SX-EW (solvent extraction/electrowinning).

What method can be used to extract copper from copper solutions?

The ore is treated with dilute sulfuric acid. This trickles slowly through the ore dissolving copper to form copper sulfate. The copper is recovered by electrolytic refining. Advantages of this process are: See for further information on the leaching process.

How is copper extracted using sulfuric acid?

Leaching Oxide Ores with Sulfuric Acid

1. Crushed ore is carefully dumped into a leakproof lined valley created in an open pit mine.
2. Dilute sulfuric acid is poured over the crushed ore using an irrigation system.
3. Copper sulfate solution is collected in the pregnant leach pond then pumped to the solvent extraction plant.

Why is extraction of pure copper expensive?

Large areas of land, where this ore was once quarried, are contaminated with low percentages of copper sulfide. Copper would be too expensive to extract from this contaminated land using the traditional method of quarrying and then heating in a furnace.

How can metals be extracted?

There are 3 main methods of extracting metals from their ore. They are reduction of the ore with carbon, reduction of the molten ore by electrolysis, and reduction of the ore with a more reactive metal.

What is produced when metals react with dilute acids?

Dilute acids react with relatively reactive metals such as magnesium, aluminium, zinc and iron. The products of the reaction are a salt plus hydrogen gas.

Why is it so expensive to extract copper from contaminated?

Copper is found in the Earth’s crust as an ore containing copper sulfide. Large areas of land, Copper would be too expensive to extract from this contaminated land using the traditional method of quarrying and then heating in a furnace.

How is bioleaching used to extract copper?

Bioleaching involves the use of microorganisms to catalyze the oxidation of iron sulfides to create ferric sulfate and sulfuric acid. Ferric sulfate, which is a powerful oxidizing agent, then oxidizes the copper sulfide minerals and the copper contained is then leached by the sulfuric acid formed.

How do you extract copper oxide?

To extract copper, you mix copper oxide powder with carbon powder. You then heat the mixture strongly for a few minutes in a crucible. It is important to keep a lid on the crucible, otherwise the carbon will react with oxygen in the air, rather than with the copper oxide.

How do you extract copper sulfate from ore?

Reaction of the ore (over quite a long time and on a huge scale) with a dilute acid such as dilute sulfuric acid to produce a very dilute copper (II) sulfate solution. Concentration of the copper (II) sulfate solution by solvent extraction.

What is the solvent extraction process of copper?

The final phase of the solvent extraction process employs a strong acid to strip the copper from the organic solution, producing a blue, enriched copper-bearing solution that is treated at an electrowinning plant.

How do you extract copper from chalcopyrite?

Extracting copper from its ores. The copper (II) ions in the chalcopyrite are reduced to copper (I) sulphide (which is reduced further to copper metal in the final stage). The iron in the chalcopyrite ends up converted into an iron (II) silicate slag which is removed.

How to prepare copper oxide from sulphuric acid?

Method place some sulfuric acid in a conical flask and warm it in a water bath add a spatula of copper oxide powder to the acid and stir with a glass rod continue adding copper oxide powder until it is in excess