Progress of Hydrometallurgical Research of Chalcopyrite

The principles,procedures,advantages and disadvantages,development scale of various processes for hydrometallurgical treatment of chalcopyrite concentrates as well as current situation of hydrometallurgy of chalcopyrite are reviewed.Currently,the leach/solvent extraction/eletrowinning technology has been applied widely and considered as the future development trend for copper hydrometallurgy.The industrial application of acid pressure oxidative leaching is limited.The procedures of chloride leaching are always complicated and most of them are in pilot or demonstration projects.Heap leaching is mainly applied to treat copper ores of low grade,which requires a longer operation cycle but obtained excellent effects in the industrial practicing.The application of green solvents-ionic liquids in leaching of chalcopyrite is introduced.