OPTIMIZED PRECIPITATION CONDITIONS FOR SELENIUM FROM SAR-CHESHMEH COPPER ANODE SLIMES LEACHING SOLUTION
Mahmoud Abdollahy
*Professor of Mineral Processing Group, Tarbiat Modares University,
Mohsen Hashemzadeh
Member of Iran Mineral Processing Research Center (IMPRC)
Shahram Daneshpajooh
Consulting Engineer, Sarcheshmeh Copper Complex
ABSTRACT: The precipitation process of selenium from Sar-Cheshmeh copper anode slimes leaching solution hasABSTRACT: The precipitation process of selenium from Sar-Cheshmeh copper anode slimes leaching solution hasbeen investigated here. The copper anode slimes are made up of those components of the anodes, which are not solublein the electrolyte. They contain varying quantities of precious metals like gold, silver, selenium and tellurium. In thispaper, some parameters affecting the precipitation conditions of selenium from anode slimes leaching solution byNa2SO3 were studied. The optimum conditions determined were T= 25-30 0C, acidity= 2 M, time= 15 minutes and theamount of Na2SO3= 6 times of selenium content in the solution. Under these conditions 99 % of selenium wasprecipitated and the purity of selenium was found 98.85%
Keywords: copper anode slimes, hydrometallurgy, selenium