Leaching of cuprite through NH₄OH in basic systems

Cuprite is a difficult oxide to leach under acidic conditions (for the maximum extraction of 50%). In this research, the feasibility of leaching cuprite in an ammoniacal medium was studied. The working conditions addressed here were the liquid/solid ratio (120:1–400:1 mL/g), stirring speed (0–950 r/min), temperature (10–45 °C) and NH₄OH concentration (0.05–0.15 mol/L). In addition, different ammoniacal reagents (NH₄F and (NH₄)₂SO₄) were analyzed. The experiments were performed in a 2 L reactor with a heating mantle and a condenser. The most important results were that the maximum leaching rate was obtained at pH 10.5, 0.10 mol/L NH₄OH, 45 °C, 4 h, 850 r/min and a liquid/solid ratio of 400:1, reaching a copper extraction rate of 82%. This result was related to the non-precipitation of copper in solution by the formation of copper tetra-amine. The liquid/solid ratio and stirring speed were essential for increasing the cuprite leaching. The maximum leaching rate was achieved at higher temperatures; however, significant copper leaching rate occurred at temperatures near the freezing point of water (17.9% over 4 h). Increasing NH₄OH concentration and decreasing particle size increased the cuprite leaching rate. The two ammoniacal reagents (NH₄F and (NH₄)₂SO₄) had low extraction rate of copper compared with NH₄OH. The kinetic model representing cuprite leaching was a chemical reaction on the surface. The order of the reaction with respect to the NH₄OH concentration was 1.8, and it was inversely proportional to the radius of the ore particles. The calculated activation energy was 44.36 kJ/mol in the temperature range of 10–45 °C.