The mineral resource base is characterized by the depletion of large fields with relatively good quality of minerals, that’s why natural and man-made deposits with a low content of useful components are involved in the processing. Their development was previously uneconomical considered. This article gives a technology of pressure leaching of low-grade sulphide copper concentrate and the results of experiments to improve the quality of the product obtained during the pressure leaching – copper concentrate II.
At present time high grade and free-milling ore reserves have been exhausted in our country as well as in nearly all other countries in consequence of intensive development of nonferrous metal deposits. Relatively low-grade crude ore, which is deaf and therefore rebellious, is involved into processing. Moreover, after the collapse of the Soviet Union the more free-milling ores turned out to be abroad and so sulphide copper-zinc complex ores which are dressed with lower grade became the major sources of copper and zinc concentrate production in Russia. At the same time the metallurgical production is making higher and higher requirements to concentrate quality every year, and it is possible to meet the requirements only by application of mixed dressing, chemical, hydro- and pyrometallurgical technologies.
