copper metal recovery

CHALCOPYRITE (COPPER) ORES

As the next stage in the development of the BioHeap(TM) Process, the
program will be expanded into the treatment of chalcopyrite-only
ores.

The copper-iron-sulphide mineral, chalcopyrite, is the major source
of primary copper production from the world's 'great' ore deposits of
the USA, South America and elsewhere. It is the most difficult ore to
treat in a bacterial leach and, generally, yields very low copper
recoveries.

The Titan Resources NL/Pacific Ore Technology (Australia) Ltd
BioHeap(TM) proprietary bacteria have been shown to be uniquely
successful in oxidising chalcopyrite in a pure bacterial leach. In
the leaching of Mt Sholl ore, for example, which contained copper
levels around 1 per cent, as chalcopyrite, but at considerably finer
grain size (and hence liberation size) than the nickel, it was
estimated that only 50 per cent of the chalcopyrite was 'liberated'
(available to the bacterial action) at the crush size used for the
nickel. Nevertheless copper recovery of 60 per cent was achieved in
Heap 1 and a similar recovery is being attained in Heap 2. In other
words essentially all of the copper accessible to the bacteria was
successfully leached.

The implications of the successful application of BioHeap(TM) to
copper recovery from chalcopyrite ore are huge; much larger in fact
than for nickel.


This could have enormous significance for Titan, its from a report some months old, I only just twigged as to what it could mean.