Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, Vol.61, No.4, 293-297, 1994
Heavy-Metals in the Environment .5. The Use of High Copper-Zinc Residues in the Zinc-Chloride Process and the Recovery of Copper as Anhydrous Copper(II) Chloride
An investigation into the use of high-copper zinc residues in the production of zinc chloride solution and the recovery of copper, as anhydrous copper(II) chloride, is reported. The process developed involves leaching of the high-copper zinc residues with concentrated hydrochloric acid to dissolve the zinc content leaving a residue which has a high copper content. Any copper dissolved in the primary leach is removed by electrodeposition to give a zinc chloride solution suitable for industrial use. The solid residue from the initial leach is treated with chlorine gas to solubilise the copper present, giving a solution of copper(II) chloride. This solution is purified to remove Zn2+ and Pb2+ by anion-exchange and Fe3+ and Al3+ by hydrolysis. The purified solution can then be converted to anhydrous copper(II) chloride with a purity of 99.6%.