Lest we forget the corrosive strength of sulfuric acid

Hope this gets liked right up to the top, because every “Things I won’t work with” entry on this guy’s blog is gold. Essential reading for anybody who enjoyed that video.

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Bah, it had it coming. It was dirty to its sole.

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Copper sulphides, actually. But yes the Sulphuric acid is a by-product of the smelting of the sulphide ore. You make just as much sulphuric acid as you do copper, so proximity to acid markets (primarily chemical plants making fertiliser) is as important as proximity to copper markets when deciding where to build your smelter. Another use of the acid is actually to leach copper from ore in non-smelting acid leach/SXEW copper production processes that are used on low grade ore. Kind of re-cycling - make the acid by smelting the high grade material (after concentration) and then use the acid to leach the low grade ore.

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The trucks driving away are probably empty, having delivered sulphuric acid to the mines. As @winkybber says, it’s copper smelters that produce the acid; copper mines consume it in leaching ores (usually copper oxide rather than copper sulphide), often by drilling a hole in the ground, pouring acid down it, and pumping the resulting copper-bearing solution back up.

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That is a delightfully nerdy joke.

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needs a visual demonstration:

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In-situ leaching as you describe, pumping the acid into the ground is actually pretty rare. More common in that the ore is mined and placed in huge piles and and the acid is dripped through and collected at the bottom by drains out to the toe of the heap. As you say, it works best for copper oxide ores, but can also be used for sulphides (often with the use of sulphide-eating bacteria carefully cultivated in the acid).

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I thought about posting the animated gif version of this scene but then thought the better of it.

Do it do it doooeeeeet! You still have time! :stuck_out_tongue:

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Only because it was requested :stuck_out_tongue: hidden behind a spoiler tag to protect delicate sensibilities.

<img src=http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/breakingbad/images/f/f1/LiquidEmilio.gif/revision/latest?cb=20090627041740 />

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