A Kinetic Study on the Atmospheric Leaching of Chalcopyrite Concentrate in Sulfuric Acid-Hydrogen Peroxide-Isopropanol Medium

In this research, copper content of chalcopyrite concentrate was leached in sulfuric acid-hydrogen peroxide, with isopropanol used to hinder the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide. More than 90 pct of the copper was leached within 360 minutes using 1.5 mol/L sulfuric acid, 2 mol/L hydrogen peroxide, and 2 mol/L isopropanol solution at a temperature of 45°C. According to the kinetic studies performed via the reduced time plot method, the process kinetics followed the diffusion-controlled shrinking core model up to a progress of around 70 pct in the leaching process. This model was validated using linear plots of the diffusion-controlled shrinking core model under different temperatures and particle sizes. Moreover, the activation energy was computed to be 55 kJ/mol via the Arrhenius plot.