copper and silver extraction from concentrate

[lilorphanannie]

i am looking for suggestions as how to proceed with the extraction of copper and silver from concentrate. its a concentrate leached via flotation from a sulfide ore. im thinking that the values are high enough where it could be profitable. ore is running 25 to 30% cu and 60 to 80 opt ag. and a little gold. im looking to do a garage setup in my free time, small scale. not worried about volume at the moment ,only to learn the process. i also have access to cemented copper concentrate , averages @ 50% cu. dont know which i want to start with. i do have some limited knowledge of chemistry, working with acids, electrowinning and smelting, and ive reduced gold to chlorides(but was never able to turn it back into metal). but i dont know what the next step should be with these concentrates .i would like to take them from the concentrates to pour nearly pure metal. im looking for detailed information,from anyone that knows and would like to offer help.thanks

 

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[Sam Burgin]

You have a couple of options with your secondary ore.

A flow through vat leaching with Nitric Acid maintained at a Ph of 1 or less (very hot), and electrowinning at 30 amps or so. The residue is directly smeltable.

A slurry leaching with low Ph Nitric for the smaller particles and vat waste, then use a metal scavenger like, V-111, to drop everything out, it will miss a few metals, but not enough to matter that much. The precipitate is directly smeltable.

You sure you want to do this in a garage? This is some pretty nasty stuff.

How much ore do you have and where are you?

If you are close, maybe we can work out something, we do this everyday.

Sam

 

[lilorphanannie]

hi sam, thanks for the reply. i sent you a personal email.please let me know if you recieved it of not.

 

[wisconsinjay]

Hi Sam my name is Jay I read your post and I recently discovered a large amount of silver. I am looking for some one to help me with this and have no problem sharing the wealth of my discovery. I do this for hobby and its the first time I have found some thing of value. The old mine I found doesnt have a current claim on it and is also loaded with chtysochola. I am located in California and was wondering if your close to me and interested in helping me out. Thanks Jay

 

[distribuidorUSA]

Hi Sam.I could be able to bring concentrates in high volume from Mexico.can you tell me where are U located?.thanks in advance.

 

[Mad Machinist]

I am going to STRONGLY recommend that you DO NOT do this in your garage. I work for one of the Big Boys mining copper as my day job. Some of the stuff we use gives off the nastiest fumes you'll ever find. Like hydrogen sulfide and this WILL kill you. Stuff like hydrogen sulfide kills your sense of smell and then it's all over.

Hydrogen sulfide - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia