Sustainable Mining and Metallurgy

Test study was conducted on the use of iron powder to precipitate copper and bismuth from the hydrochloric acid leachate of copper anode slime based on the principle that relatively electronegative metal replaces positive metal ion in a solution, and effects of reduction temperatures, iron powder dosage, pH values and reaction time on the precipitation of copper and bismuth were observed. Results indicate that precipitation of copper and bismuth from the solution is most efficient with 1.5 times the theoretical dosage of iron powder for 1h agitation reaction at pH=0.5 and 50℃ reaction temperature. The precipitation rates are 90.06% and 95.21% respectively for copper and bismuth. The two account for 95.66% in the precipitate. The study brings more economic benefits for the enterprise by improving the comprehensive utilization efficiency of resources and also providing quality raw materials for the downstream production of copper-bismuth alloy.