A method for leaching secondary and primary sulphides of copper in a ferrous chloride medium with iron-oxidising bacteria adapted from the crushing of the mineral from the mine, includes steps of: mixing the mineral from the crushing with concentrated sulphuric acid; transporting the material mixed with sulphuric acid by means of a belt; adding a liquid leaching solution at an intermediate point during transport on the belt, the solution consisting of: iron (II) sulphate to reduce the redox potential of the solution-mineral mixture to values less than 550 mV Ag/AgCl; iron (III) sulphate; bacteria and archaea of the mesophile- and thermophile-type belonging to the genera Acidithiobacillus, Leptospirillum and Sulfulobos; and sodium chloride to produce a chlorinated environment in solutions. The method also comprises the subsequent steps of: heaping the material on heap pads; during the resting step, injecting air warmed by a liquid/air exchange system; and leaching the heaped material.

A method for leaching secondary and primary sulphides of copper in a ferrous chloride medium with iron-oxidising bacteria adapted from the crushing of the mineral from the mine, includes steps of: mixing the mineral from the crushing with concentrated sulphuric acid; transporting the material mixed with sulphuric acid by means of a belt; adding a liquid leaching solution at an intermediate point during transport on the belt, the solution consisting of: iron (II) sulphate to reduce the redox potential of the solution-mineral mixture to values less than 550 mV Ag/AgCl; iron (III) sulphate; bacteria and archaea of the mesophile- and thermophile-type belonging to the genera Acidithiobacillus, Leptospirillum and Sulfulobos; and sodium chloride to produce a chlorinated environment in solutions. The method also comprises the subsequent steps of: heaping the material on heap pads; during the resting step, injecting air warmed by a liquid/air exchange system; and leaching the heaped material.

A process for bio-oxidation of sulfides in mineral ore having a metal such as gold occluded or dispersed within the ore as a sulfide is disclosed. The first step comminutes the ore into particles with a size distribution having a P80 of less than 0.25 inch with minus 106 micron particles in the range of 15% to 40% by weight. Agglomerates are formed by adding to the comminuted ore particles an acidic inoculate solution including water, with the solution further including microorganisms capable of bio-oxidizing the sulfides. The agglomerates are then placed in at least one bio-reactor containment vessel to form an ore bed. The process continues by bio-oxidizing the sulfides in the ore bed; then re-circulating the solution through the ore bed, and continuing the bio-oxidation until a desired bio-oxidation level is achieved. Thereafter, the metal is recovered from the ore.

The invention relates to a process that allows electrolytic copper cathodes to be produced, using the pregnant leach solution (PLS) directly in the electrowinning, avoiding the step of mineral concentration by solvent extraction. Furthermore, this process has a modular structure and the full process can be mobilised depending on the requirements of the process itself. The invention also relates to the system that operates with the previously described process.

A method of producing a refined copper includes depositing the refined copper on a cathode by an electroplating process or an electroless plating process in an alkaline plating bath including a solution of a copper compound that includes none of sulfur, chlorine and oxygen elements and produces copper ions having a valence of +1 in the solution.

A method of producing a refined copper includes depositing the refined copper on a cathode by an electroplating process or an electroless plating process in an alkaline plating bath including a solution of a copper compound that includes none of sulfur, chlorine and oxygen elements and produces copper ions having a valence of +1 in the solution.

The present invention describes a Solid-Liquid-Solid hydrometallurgical process, optimized and independent of redox potential, to increase the solubilization of metals from ores and/or concentrates with a granulometry of less than 40 mm, by means of an initial stage called “Activation”; a second stage called “Dry autocatalytic transformation”; a third stage called “Washing and re-wetting”; and where the stages of dry autocatalytic transformation and washing and re-wetting, can be repeated in an alternating and repeated way.

A hydrometallurgical process for the treatment of polymetallic ores and sulphide concentrates of copper and zinc, and by-products of lead and zinc from smelting plants, treated independently and/or as mixtures thereof, which contain relevant amounts of lead, copper, zinc, iron, gold and silver, such as the matte-speiss mixture of lead foundries, and copper cements from the purification processes of electrolytic zinc plants. Thee process allows the recovery of metallic copper, zinc, copper as copper and zinc basic salts, which may be hydroxides, carbonates, hidroxysulphates or mixtures thereof; the production of stable arsenic residues; and the effective and efficient recovery of Pb, Au and Ag as a concentrate of lead sulphide and/or lead, Au, and Ag sulphate.

A process to significantly improve the copper chemical leaching process for primary and secondary minerals, using calcium chloride including the agglomeration, curing, and leaching with a high content of chloride, iron and copper stages. The mineral is then washed with a low concentration of copper and a high concentration of acid, where the impregnated copper is extracted from the pit and wherein a recirculated solution is used in the agglomeration stage.

The present invention describes a process for removing uranium from a copper concentrate by magnetic separation (low and high field) to reduce the uranium content to commercially acceptable levels.