Optimization of the arsenic removal process from enargite based complex copper concentrate

Abstract

Selective arsenic extraction from enargite based complex concentrate from Copper Mine in Bor (Serbia), using sodium hypochlorite as a leaching agent, was investigated in this paper. The aim was to assess the optimal conditions for the most efficient arsenic removal from the investigated concentrate, based on factorial design applied to experimentally obtained data. Five important factors with three factor levels were used as the input variables and experimentally obtained arsenic extraction yield was taken as the output variable. The first and the second final order model equations were obtained. It was found that the leaching temperature had the strongest effect on the arsenic extraction. The strongest positive interaction was between the sodium hypochlorite molar concentration and the stirring speed during extraction.