SBIR Phase I: Copper Selective Silica-Polyamine Extraction Materials for Processing Copper Ore Leach Liquors

该小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目将开发一种二氧化硅-聚胺复合材料，用于高效、环保的系统，从铜矿浸出液中选择性地提取铜。在该方法中，铜从酸性浸出溶液中提取到有机溶剂（通常为煤油）中，在有机溶剂中铜被浓缩，然后释放回水溶液中用于最终处理。虽然该方法在环境影响和效率方面上级熔炼，但它仍然具有环境责任，主要是有毒的易燃有机溶剂和不利的经济因素，即溶剂和溶剂改性剂损失。在该一期项目中，将生产一种具有长使用寿命的材料，该材料将在不使用有机溶剂的情况下以高处理速率有效地从含有三价铁的低铜浓度酸性浸出液中分离铜。目前，在美国和国外使用溶剂萃取工艺生产数千吨铜。使用这些新材料的工艺将生产高浓度的铜溶液，为最终的铜回收做好准备。预计这些材料的成本将明显低于目前正在测试的树脂基材料。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop a silica-polyamine composite material to be used in an efficient, environmentally benign system to selectively extract copper from copper ore leach liquors. In this process the copper is extracted from the acidic leach solution into an organic solvent, typically kerosene, where it is concentrated and then released back into an aqueous solution for final processing. While this process is superior to smelting with regards to environmental impact and efficiency it still possesses environmental liabilities, chiefly toxic, flammable organic solvents and unfavorable economic factors namely solvent and solvent modifier loss. In this Phase I project, a material with a long useful lifetime, that will separate copper from low copper concentration acidic leach liquors containing ferric iron efficiently and effectively at high processing rates without using organic solvents, will be produced. Presently thousands of tons of copper are produced in the United States and abroad using a solvent extraction process. The process using these new materials will produce highly concentrated copper solutions ready for final copper recovery. The cost of these materials is predicted to be significantly less than the resin based materials currently being tested for this application.