A statistical approach to the experimental design of the sulfuric acid leaching of gold-copper ore



Título del documento: A statistical approach to the experimental design of the sulfuric acid leaching of gold-copper ore
Revista: Brazilian journal of chemical engineering
Base de datos: PERIÓDICA
Número de sistema: 000308897
ISSN: 0104-6632
Autors: 1
Institucions: 1Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Departamento de Engenharia Metalurgica e de Materiais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. Brasil
Any:
Període: Sep
Volum: 20
Número: 3
Paginació: 305-315
País: Brasil
Idioma: Inglés
Tipo de documento: Artículo
Enfoque: Experimental, aplicado
Resumen en inglés The high grade of copper in the Igarapé Bahia (Brazil) gold-copper ore prevents the direct application of the classic cyanidation process. Copper oxides and sulfides react with cyanides in solution, causing a high consumption of leach reagent and thereby raising processing costs and decreasing recovery of gold. Studies have showm that a feasible route for this ore would be a pretreatment for copper minerals removal prior to the cyanidation stage. The goal of this experimental work was to study the experimental conditions required for copper removal from Igarapé Bahia gold-copper ore by sulfuric acid leaching by applying a statistical approach to the experimental design. By using the Plackett Burman method, it was possible to select the variables that had the largest influence on the percentage of copper extracted at the sulfuric acid leaching stage. These were temperature of leach solution, stirring speed, concentration of sulfuric acid in the leach solution and particle size of the ore. The influence of the individual effects of these variables and their interactions on the experimental response were analyzed by applying the replicated full factorial design method. Finally, the selected variables were optimized by the ascending path statistical method, which determined the best experimental conditions for leaching to achieve the highest percentage of copper extracted. Using the optimized conditions, the best leaching results showed a copper extraction of 75.5%
Disciplines Ingeniería
Paraules clau: Ingeniería metalúrgica,
Cobre,
Oro,
Lavado,
Acido sulfúrico,
Menas
Keyword: Engineering,
Metallurgical engineering,
Copper,
Gold,
Sulfuric acid,
Leaching,
Ores
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