Pilot Plant Investigations Of High Temperature Cementation Of Copper On Iron

Subsequent to extensive laboratory testing, a pilot plant was constructed to further evaluate the process for high temperature copper cementation on iron in continuous operation. The plant was designed to produce 1 to 10 tons of copper a day depending on the copper concentration of the pregnant solution. The energy required to operate the plant was very low as virtually all the solution heating requirements were supplied by the exothermic cementation reaction. The results demonstrated that this, process has potential for commercial application with respect to operating considerations, and yields a copper product in excess of 95% copper at high reaction rates, low iron consumption, and at least 98% copper recovery from solution.