Grant: Alliance Grants
The University of British Columbia
$100,000.00
Development of a novel technology for the recovery of copper from tailings
FY 2023-24
Summary
Copper is the most important metal for electrification of the world economy, and chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) is the most important copper mineral, representing about 80% of the world's copper ore. However, virtually all of the world's high-grade chalcopyrite ores have been exploited - the average grade of copper ores being mined today is less than 0.5% Cu, and steadily decreasing. As concentration and smelting become less viable, hydrometallurgical copper recovery in the form of bioleaching, solvent extraction and electrowinning (SX-EW) must play a much larger role. However, bioleaching has not been widely applied to chalcopyrite ores, because chalcopyrite is very resistant to leaching.A new technology developed by the applicant, known as Jetti, exploits the catalytic properties of certain organic compounds with thiocarbonyl functional groups to bioleach copper from chalcopyrite in bioheaps. Jetti technology has recently been demonstrated commercially, and is poised to provide access to millions of tonnes of copper stranded in low-grade ore resources for which no viable extraction technology previously existed. However, another potentially important source of copper has received very little attention: flotation tailings.Tailings are low-grade material separated from copper concentrates which is stored in tailings dams at copper mines all over the world. There are about 130 Billion tonnes of copper tailings currently being stored. If their average copper grade is 0.1%, this represents 130 Million tonnes of copper - roughly seven times annual global production and enough for 1.5 Billion electric cars. Currently, no extraction technology exists for these materials. We propose to investigate a novel catalytic alkaline system for leaching copper from tailings, and to apply this new process to columns of waste rock coated with tailings paste, and in agitated vessels, using a very promising three-pronged chemical approach which has recently been discovered, and which for which a preliminary patent application is being filed.
Program
Alliance Grants
Recipient
Location
British Columbia, Canada
Recipient Type
Academia
Type
Grant
Source
NSERC's Awards Data
As published
Application id
586742-2023
Name nom
Dixon, David DG
Department département
Materials Engineering
Organization id
2
Institution établissement
The University of British Columbia
Province en
British Columbia
Province fr
Colombie-Britannique
Country en
CANADA
Country fr
CANADA
Fiscal year exercice financier
2023
Competition year année de concours
2023
Award amount
100000
Program id
ALLRP
Program name en
Alliance Grants
Program name fr
Subventions Alliance
Group en
RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS
Group fr
PARTENARIATS DE RECHERCHE
Committee code
96
Committee name en
RPP Internal Decision Cttee
Committee name fr
Cté de décision interne - PPR
Area of application code
202
Area of application group en
Natural resources (economic aspects)
Area of application group fr
Ressources naturelles (aspects économiques)
Area of application en
Mineral resources ( prospecting, exploration, mining, extraction, processing)
Area of application fr
Ressources minérales (prospection, exploration, mines, extraction et préparation)
Research subject code
1400
Research subject group en
Mining and mineral processing
Research subject group fr
Mining and mineral processing
Research subject en
Génie minier et minéral
Research subject fr
Génie minier et minéral
Application title
Development of a novel technology for the recovery of copper from tailings
Keyword
catalysis; chalcopyrite; copper extraction; hydrometallurgy; leaching; tailings
Application summary
Copper is the most important metal for electrification of the world economy, and chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) is the most important copper mineral, representing about 80% of the world's copper ore. However, virtually all of the world's high-grade chalcopyrite ores have been exploited - the average grade of copper ores being mined today is less than 0.5% Cu, and steadily decreasing. As concentration and smelting become less viable, hydrometallurgical copper recovery in the form of bioleaching, solvent extraction and electrowinning (SX-EW) must play a much larger role. However, bioleaching has not been widely applied to chalcopyrite ores, because chalcopyrite is very resistant to leaching.A new technology developed by the applicant, known as Jetti, exploits the catalytic properties of certain organic compounds with thiocarbonyl functional groups to bioleach copper from chalcopyrite in bioheaps. Jetti technology has recently been demonstrated commercially, and is poised to provide access to millions of tonnes of copper stranded in low-grade ore resources for which no viable extraction technology previously existed. However, another potentially important source of copper has received very little attention: flotation tailings.Tailings are low-grade material separated from copper concentrates which is stored in tailings dams at copper mines all over the world. There are about 130 Billion tonnes of copper tailings currently being stored. If their average copper grade is 0.1%, this represents 130 Million tonnes of copper - roughly seven times annual global production and enough for 1.5 Billion electric cars. Currently, no extraction technology exists for these materials. We propose to investigate a novel catalytic alkaline system for leaching copper from tailings, and to apply this new process to columns of waste rock coated with tailings paste, and in agitated vessels, using a very promising three-pronged chemical approach which has recently been discovered, and which for which a preliminary patent application is being filed.
