Abstract
The stoichiometry and kinetics of the hydrothermal reaction of enargite in copper sulphate solutions was investigated in the range 140–300 °C, and particle size under 15 and 50 µm. The stoichiometric experiment was performed at 300 °C, using one gram of sample (96% enargite , 4% tennantite) and 100 mL of copper sulphate solution (10 gpl) at 1.2 pH. Enargite reacted completely after 80 min. A solid product was obtained and characterized by XRD . The main product was chalcocite (M) and some traces of djurleite and chalcocite (Q). Tennantite did not react under these conditions. The kinetic experiments were conducted at 140 °C, 190 °C, 250 °C and 300 °C. From fitted data and Arrhenius equation the calculated activation energy (Ea) was 51 kJ/mol. According to the hydrothermal transformations studied, the reactivity of different phases found in the copper concentrates was bornite > chalcopyrite > covellite > sphalerite > pyrite > enargite > tennantite.
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Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank to the support of the “Serveis Cientifico-Technics of the Universitat de Barcelona” and Mrs. E. Vilalta in the characterization studies is also gratefully acknowledged.
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Fuentes, G. (2018). The Hydrothermal Reaction and Kinetic of Enargite. In: Davis, B., et al. Extraction 2018. The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95022-8_133
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95022-8_133
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