The peer reviewed paper, “The overlooked mechanism of chalcopyrite passivation” was published in Acta Materialia, and sheds new light on how chalcopyrite behaves when subject to leaching and provides a better understanding of the nature of the passivation layer, which has been the topic of debate and dispute for several decades. The passivation layer forms on the surface of chalcopyrite and other primary sulfide minerals, preventing leaching from occurring effectively.
Related: Jetti Resources’ quest for copper mining’s holy grail
In the study, the team used electrochemical analysis to discover that chalcopyrite is an n-type semiconductor in an accumulation state, not in a depletion state as has been commonly assumed to date.
Jetti’s researchers demonstrated how during oxidative leaching, such as bioleach or chloride leach processes, a copper rich surface forms on the surface of the chalcopyrite. This rich product layer…
