Study of the Catalytic Effect of MFD on CuFeS2 Leaching

Bio-heap-leaching is a hydrometallurgical process used to process low grade chalcopyrite ore as the cost of alternative routes of processing and refining are not economically viable. The limitation however of the heap leaching process is the long time it takes to leach the metal and the low total recovery that can be achieved. As heap leaching being a large scale atmospheric leaching process, neither temperature nor pressure can be changed. Therefore, a viable solution is to add a catalyst that would dramatically enhance the kinetics while not being too expensive, environmentally detrimental or affect downstream process. Our discovery of MFD as catalyst fulfills all the requirements and is 100% compatible with the current heap-leaching process. Jetti resources hopes to use this technology to enhance the heap-leaching rate of chalcopyrite by at least 3 times higher than the conventional process.

Faculty Supervisor:

David Dixon

Student:

Luis Quiroz Castillo

Partner:

Jetti Services Canada Inc

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Mining and quarrying

University:

University of British Columbia