Distribution of Lead Impurity in a Copper-refining Furnace Bath

THE removal of lead by fire refining methods from copper of electrolytic quality is growing in importance. Particularly is this true of the refining of secondary copper and copper cathodes obtained from electrolytic cells where lead is used as the anode material, as in the electrolysis of ore-leaching solutions and foul electrolyte. When investigating the removal of small amounts of lead from molten copper in a reverberatory furnace during the refining of secondary copper of otherwise electrolytic copper quality,1 it was found necessary first to FIG. 1.-SAMPLING DEVICE. know something about the distribution of the lead throughout the bath. The authors believe that it is not generally known how small amounts of lead as an impurity are distributed in a molten copper bath; that is, whether the lead is concentrated at the bottom or at the top, or whether it occurs more or less uniformly throughout the bath. The data contained in this report may help, therefore, in the development of a satis-factory fire refining method for the removal of this obstinate element from a molten copper bath.