Abstract
Arsenic-bearing copper minerals represent an increasingly significant share of global copper reserves, but steep penalty charges for arsenic content combined with a tightening clean concentrate market have made valorizing these resources increasingly difficult. This work presents results from Still Bright's RACER (Rapid and Complete Electrochemical Reduction) hydometallurgical leaching process applied to arsenic-bearing copper feedstocks to extract copper from these minerals. RACER uses aqueous vanadium(II) as a reducing agent for hydrometallurgical extraction of copper from copper sulfides. The reducing, rather than oxidizing, approach enables avoidance of sulfur passivation that hinders the efficiency and kinetics of other copper sulfide leaching technologies. This paper will present copper extraction yields under baseline RACER leaching conditions of ambient temperature, ambient pressure, and 1 hour residence time. These results position RACER as a viable pathway for unlocking previously stranded arsenic-bearing resources.