Copper recovery from Gholleh Kaftaran lead mine processing tailings

The abandoned lead mine of Shahroud Gholleh Kaftaran at 4km northeast of the Chah Mousa mine contains significant resource of processing tailings left in the area. These tailings could be exploited with significant resource of over 50,000 tons with a copper oxide content of 0.95%. In this study, copper recovery from Gholleh Kaftaran mine processing tailings has been studied by agitated leaching and iron cementation methods. In the leaching experiments, pH and particle size had the greatest effect on copper dissolution, respectively, while solid percent and time had lower effect. In the coarser particles, the pH of the solution is not as effective as finer particle sizes as liberation and exposure of the malachite play the key role, here. The optimum conditions for pH 1, particle size of -106 microns, time of 150 min, and solid percentage of 30 were determined. The leaching recovery of 91.7% was achieved. Also, the effect of pH, temperature and time parameters on copper cementation was examined. The optimum condition of cementation was achieved at pH 1, time period of 30 minutes and ambient temperature. The efficiency of cementation in these conditions was 98.6%. The cemented copper powder was 96.9% pure with minimal iron impurities. The results of this research work demonstrates the potential of mine or processing plant tailings for extraction of their valuable contents.