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How is copper extracted from a low grade ore of it?

rahul , 10 Years ago
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Sunil Kumar FP

Last Activity: 10 Years ago

Low grade ore of copper has percentage less than 1% of copper
Copper is generally extracted from its sulfide ore,that is chalcopyrite.CuFeS2
From other low grade ore the process is as follows:-
Copper can be extracted from non-sulphide ores by a different process involving three separate stages:

(1)Reaction of the ore (over quite a long time and on a huge scale) with a dilute acid such as dilute sulphuric acid to produce a very dilute copper(II) sulphate solution.

(2)Concentration of the copper(II) sulphate solution by solvent extraction.

The very dilute solution is brought into contact with a relatively small amount of an organic solvent containing something which will bind with copper(II) ions so that they are removed from the dilute solution. The solvent mustn't mix with the water.

The copper(II) ions are removed again from the organic solvent by reaction with fresh sulphuric acid, producing a much more concentrated copper(II) sulphate solution than before.

(3)Electrolysis of the new solution. Copper(II) ions are deposited as copper on the cathode (for the electrode equation, see under the purification of copper below).

The anodes for this process were traditionally lead-based alloys, but newer methods use titanium or stainless steel.

The cathode is either a strip of very pure copper which the new copper plates on to, or stainless steel which it has to be removed from later.

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