Geometallurgical Evaluation of Metals Recovery from Kupferschiefer Ore

该项目旨在通过开发创新且具有成本效益的方法从波兰铜矿中回收钴来提高欧盟对钴的供应安全性。矿石中可能存在钴是可以接受的，但目前尚未回收。该项目旨在从体积和矿物学的角度了解钴资源的估算。在矿物学方面，这需要根据组成矿物和钴矿物的组合对矿石进行强有力的表征。分析将使用QEMSCAN和其他先进的分析技术，使用在地质基础上选择的样本。在体积分析方面，将应用并在必要时开发地统计学，以估计进入加工厂的钴的可变性。还将对矿石的岩土性质进行评估，这将有助于了解钴矿物及其组合的下游行为。随着对含钴矿石的充分了解，将对波兰现有的铜矿加工进行分析。重点将放在开发一个解释钴矿物如何通过现有工艺的工艺模型上。在对钴在这一过程中的命运有了明确的了解后，将研究最有希望的钴回收方案。虽然目前的浮选工艺不能回收钴，但预计需要一个浸出过程来提取钴。这项研究将从工艺参数的角度研究合适的浸出工艺的尺寸。随后，将评估浸出性能对原料矿物学和工艺参数变化的敏感性。最后，该项目将评估从波兰铜矿中回收钴的经济可行性。

The project aims to improve EU security of supply in relation to cobalt by developing innovative and cost-effective methods to recover cobalt from Polish copper ore.The potential presence of cobalt in the ores is accepted, but it is currently not recovered. This project aims to understand the estimation of cobalt resources in a volumetric and mineralogical sense. In terms of mineralogy, this requires a robust characterisation of the ore in terms of the constituent minerals and the associations of cobalt minerals. Analyses will be performed with Qemscan and other advanced analytical techniques using samples selected on the basis of geology. In terms of volumentric analysis, geostatistics will be applied and, if required, developed to estimate the variability of the cobalt fed into the processing plant. Evaluation of geotechnical properties of the ore will also be undertaken - this will help inform an understanding of the downstream behaviour of the cobalt minerals and its associations.With sound understanding of the cobalt-bearing ore in place, the existing processing of copper ore in Poland will be analysed. The emphasis will lie on developing a process model which explains the passage of cobalt minerals through the existing process. With a firm understanding of the fate of cobalt in the process, the most promising options for recovery of cobalt will be investigated. While cobalt is not recovered with the current flotation process, it is expected that a leaching process will be necessary to extract cobalt. The research will investigate the dimensioning of a suitable leaching process in terms of process parameter. Subsequently, the the sensitivity of the leaching performance to variations in the feed mineralogy and process parameters will be assessed. Finally, the project will assess the economic viability of cobalt recovery from Polishcopper ore.