Method of leaching copper sulfide ores containing chalcopyrite

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a method of efficiently leaching copper from copper sulfide ores containing chalcopyrite at room temperature. A method of recovering copper from copper sulfide ores, characterized by comprising: using a sulfuric acid solution having a chloride ion concentration adjusted to 6 g/L or more but less than 18 g/L and a pH adjusted to 1.6 or more but less than 2.5 as a leaching solution; and carrying out copper leaching with the addition of a chloride ion-resistant sulfur-oxidizing bacterium to the leaching solution, when recovering copper from copper sulfide ores containing chalcopyrite, is provided.

1 . A method of recovering copper from copper sulfide ores, characterized by comprising: using a sulfuric acid solution having a chloride ion concentration adjusted to 6 g/L or more but less than 18 g/L and a pH adjusted to 1.6 or more but less than 2.5 as a leaching solution; and carrying out copper leaching with the addition of a chloride ion-resistant sulfur-oxidizing bacterium to the leaching solution, when recovering copper from copper sulfide ores containing chalcopyrite. 
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the initial copper (II) ion concentration and the initial iron (II) ion concentration are adjusted to 0.5 g/L or more but less than 5 g/L. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1  or  2 , wherein the chloride ion-resistant sulfur-oxidizing bacterium is of an  Acidithiobacillus  sp. TTH-19A strain (NITE P-164).