Preparation of copper powder from the waste copper solution by the process of cementation

Copper recovery by cementation process from a copper waste solution containing 120g/l copper and 120g/l HCI was studied. Iron power was used for the cementation. It was found that without dilution of waste copper solution the recovery of copper powder is low 28.3%. With the dilution of solution the powder formation increases and an optimum recovery of 87.5% copper was found in 5 times diluted solution in 15 minutes ofleaching. The two-stage cementation process yielded almost complete recovery of copper as copper powder. The purity of copper powder was found 98% and apparent density was 1.8g/cm3.