PROCESS FOR MULTIPLE STAGE DIRECT ELECTROWINNING OF COPPER

摘要

A system and process for recovering copper from a copper-containing ore, concentrate, or other copper-bearing material to produce high quality cathode copper from a leach solution without the use of copper solvent/solution extraction techniques or apparatus. A process for recovering copper from a copper-containing ore generally includes the steps of providing a feed stream containing comminuted copper-containing ore, concentrate, or other copper-bearing material (101), leaching the feed stream to yield a copper-containing solution (1030), conditioning the copper-containing solution through one or more physical or chemical conditioning steps, and electrowinning copper directly from the copper-containing solution in multiple electrowinning stages (1070, 1080), without subjecting the copper-containing solution to solvent/solution extraction prior to electrowinning.