12.4 Extracting metals from ores
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Methods to obtain copper metal from the ore
• Sulfuric acid is used to produce copper sulfate solution before extracting the copper metal • Smelting, copper ore is heated to a high temperature in a furnace with air, to produce impure copper
How is most copper extracted by
smelting
How can copper be extracted from solutions of copper compounds
Electrolysis or displacement using scrap ion. Impure copper is used as positive electrode in electroylsis
Disadvantages of smelting and purifying copper ores
• uses huge amounts of energy and electricity • costs lots of money and cause pollution of the environment
What is electrolysis used for when copper is extracted by smelting
To purify the impure copper
Other techniques to extract copper that use low-grade copper ones
Bioleaching Phytomining
What is low-grade copper
copper with lower purity or concentration
Describe phytomining
Phytomining uses plants to absorb metal compounds. The plants are harvested and then burned to produce ash that contains metal compounds.
Describe bio-leaching
Bioleaching uses bacteria, bacteria mix with the low-grade ore, to produce leachate solutions that contain metal compounds. however, it is a slow process
Adv of using bioleaching and phytomining to extract metals
• do not involve digging, transporting and disposing of large amounts of rock • economically extract metal from low-grade ores as earths resources of metal ores are limited