Copper ore
Copper is typically extracted from oxides and sulphite ores which could be either chalcophite ,chalcocide or covellite and this ore contain about 0.5 and 2.0 percent of copper
Concentration by Flotation
• Copper ore consist of some of the unwanted mineral and the first step is to remove some of those, this is done by floth flotation
• Then ore crushed by a series of cone crusher and further grinded into smaller pieces using milling equipment altogether with water to reduce the dust a After milling the ore is then concentrated by floth flotation the slurry is mixed with various chemical reagent that coat the copper particles ,this done by pouring a liquid called frother or pine oil and then the liquid is pumped into tanks flotation
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Additional silica flux is added and oxygen is blown through the molten material. The silica flux reacts with the remaining iron to form a slag, and the oxygen reacts with the remaining sulfur to form sulfur dioxide. and the sulfur dioxide is processed through the acid plant. After the slag is removed, a final injection of oxygen removes all but a trace of sulfur. The resulting molten material is called the blister and contains about 99% copper by mass. (Cavette, 2007)
Refining
The copper blister is 99% copper but it still have a higher level of sulfure, oxygen some other impurities and by the reason it has to be further refined in order to purifies the cupper, this done by fist firing refined before it is sent to the final electro fining process
• The blister copper is heated in in the refining furnace that is similar to the converter ,air is blown into the molten blister to oxides the impurities and a sodium carbonate is added to remove traces of arsenic and the antimony,
• The blister copper is heated in a refining furnace, which is similar to a converter described above. Air is blown into the molten blister to oxidize some impurities. A sodium carbonate flux may be added to remove traces
• Then the purified copper in then poured into the molds to form large electric