Studies on hydrometallurgical processes using nuclear techniques to be applied in copper industry. II. Application of radiotracers in copper leaching from flotation tailings

Abstract

The use of radiotracers in the present study is intended to replace traditional steps of metal quantitative analysis (solution sampling and instrumental chemical analysis) and to allow real-time measurements of metal concentrations during the leaching process. In this study, 64Cu, an isotope of copper, was selected as a radiotracer. Samples of copper flotation tailings were irradiated in the Maria research reactor (Świerk, Poland) and mixed with an inactive portion of the milled fl otation waste. The leaching process was carried out in a glass reactor, and the radiation spectrum was measured using a gamma spectrometer. The material was then treated using various acids (sulphuric acid, nitric acid, acetic acid, citric acid, and ascorbic acid) in a wide range of their concentrations. Experiments with the radiotracer were conducted in sulphuric and nitric acids. The amount of the leached metal (copper) was calculated on the basis of the peak area ratio in the gamma-ray spectrum of the activated tailings and standard samples. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was also used to analyse the metal content. Maximum recovery of 56% Cu was achieved using 9 M HNO3, whereas the recovery was lowest for ascorbic acid (<1%). Both analytical methods were compared, and the results presented in this paper are in good agreement with radiometric measurements obtained using ICP-MS analysis.

The State of Critical and Strategic Metals Recovery and the Role of Nuclear Techniques in the Separation Technologies Development: Review

“…The 198 Au was found to be 25.7% in the sample. Other metals, such as 51 Ti with T 1/2 of 5.8 min at 320.1 KeV, were activated, and the amount was reported to be 0.46% in the Au ore [70]. That means the method can not only be used in measuring the elements of interest, but can also give information about the rest of the activated metals present in the sample.…”

“…There are also other wastes from the mining industry containing both valuable and harmful metals. Therefore, besides the economical point of view, the hydrometallurgical method can also help in reducing the harmful environmental effects of the waste discarded in a mine's neighborhood or other wastes discarded from related industries [51]. Metal recoveries have drawn the interest of numerous researchers for quite some time now, and the need for creating new techniques of remediation has emerged as the need of the hour.…”

“…As a result of the substantial costs of producing Cu and the potential of recovering other metals, a hydrometallurgical process could be used to find a solution. A study was conducted with the scientific goal of developing and optimizing the primary step of the hydrometallurgical Cu recovery processes (leaching and solvent extraction) using radiotracers [51]. The utilization of the radiotracer in the research was meant to replace the conventional steps in the quantitative analysis of the metals during which a real-time evaluation of the metallic concentrations was viable during the leaching process [51].…”

“…A study was conducted with the scientific goal of developing and optimizing the primary step of the hydrometallurgical Cu recovery processes (leaching and solvent extraction) using radiotracers [51]. The utilization of the radiotracer in the research was meant to replace the conventional steps in the quantitative analysis of the metals during which a real-time evaluation of the metallic concentrations was viable during the leaching process [51]. The 64 Cu isotope was chosen as the radiotracer during the optimization of the leaching process of Cu from the floatation tailings.…”

Leaching of iron from copper tailings by sulfuric acid: behavior, kinetics and mechanism

“… 20 Thus, it is important to explore the leaching behavior of metals in copper tailings to improve the application possibility of copper tailings. Rogowski et al 21 used various acids for the dissolution of metals from copper flotation tailings. However, to the best of our knowledge, the acid leaching behavior with respect to iron has rarely been reported.…”