This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop a silica-polyamine composite material to be used in an efficient, environmentally benign system to selectively extract copper from copper ore leach liquors. In this process the copper is extracted from the acidic leach solution into an organic solvent, typically kerosene, where it is concentrated and then released back into an aqueous solution for final processing. While this process is superior to smelting with regards to environmental impact and efficiency it still possesses environmental liabilities, chiefly toxic, flammable organic solvents and unfavorable economic factors namely solvent and solvent modifier loss. In this Phase I project, a material with a long useful lifetime, that will separate copper from low copper concentration acidic leach liquors containing ferric iron efficiently and effectively at high processing rates without using organic solvents, will be produced. Presently thousands of tons of copper are produced in the United States and abroad using a solvent extraction process. The process using these new materials will produce highly concentrated copper solutions ready for final copper recovery. The cost of these materials is predicted to be significantly less than the resin based materials currently being tested for this application.
