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By P. Tim Johnson

Relentless increases in demand for nickel and vanadium for uses such as steelmaking, catalysts and battery materials, plus the growing financial and environmental costs of their primary extraction, have led to much interest in potential secondary sources of these metals. The presence of such metals in heavy fuel oils, bitumen and related materials offers both opportunities and challenges for potential extraction methods, especially with the growing production and importance of metal-rich fossil fuels around the world. For several decades, Tetronics’ DC plasma smelting technology has been used for the recovery of metals such as nickel and chromium from stainless steel melt dusts and other wastes in compact, environmentally-friendly and efficient plants. This paper explores the suitability of DC plasma smelting as part of a wider flowsheet with feed preparation and aluminothermic reduction techniques for smaller-scale extraction operations based on this important niche secondary source of these key metals.

By S. S. Ibrahim

The left behind material after the combusion of fossel fuel in some power stations in Cairo; weighing tens of tons every years, was investigated. The material called "Fly Ashes" containing 7.5% Ni, 10.0% V and 9.50% Cr; could be considered as a promising source of such valiable elements. As well as the small grain size (050 70 "m) of the material, and besides the complexity of their formation history, hydrometallurgical methods appeared to be the effective technique to deal with. Yet, preconcentration is possible by means of magnetic and gravity separation methods. The end product is assaying 16.60% Ni and 20.2S!; V with weight recovery of about 60.15%.

Jan 1, 1995

By Katja Reinharter

Arsenic can be found in different sulfidic copper concentrates and residues, which for several years have commonly been used in copper metallurgy, as the “arsenic-free” resources are getting rare. Due to the high toxicity the removal of arsenic in the copper smelting process is a very important topic. The typical chemical slag and sulfur attack on the refractory material is getting enhanced by the presence of arsenic. This work deals with post-mortem investigations of a magnesia-chromite brick and castable used in copper smelting furnaces showing an additional and increased chemical attack by arsenic. The knowledge on the wear behaviour is not only based on a detailed chemical and mineralogical characterization, but also on thermochemical FactSageTM calculations, which are carried out on provided post-mortem samples. Post-mortem investigations on used refractory materials represent an important prerequisite for the product development, as well as for special engineered lining concepts to support our customers.

By Haotian Xue

A new process to extracted antimony directly from stibnite concentrate by reductive sulfur-fixation smelting in sodium molten salt has been presented. The influences of sodium salt content and composition, ferric oxide addition, temperature and time was investigated, respectively. The optimum conditions was determined as follows: W????: ??concentrate=40%, W??alt: ????concentrate =88.75%, WFe2O3 :Wconcentrate =55.13%, W??aCl: ????alt=40%, 1123K, 1h. Under above-mentioned optimum conditions, the average direct recovery ratio of antimony can reach 91.48%, and the main chemical composition of obtained crude antimony is Sb 94.31%, Fe 4.436%, Pb 0.502%, Au 0.0236%. In comparison to traditional antimony pyrometallurgical process, the smelting temperature of present process is reduced from 1423~1473K to 1123~1173K. During the smelting operation, SO2 emision can be avoided completely due to sulfur-fixation as FeS. Furthermore , S0 can be obtained when the molten slag is handled by water leaching with conditions of 323K, L/S=5/1, 2h.

Jan 1, 2014

By S. N. Sinha

The distribution coefficients of lead and silver between copper and matte phases have been measured at two different temperatures. Experiments covered the ranges of 0.009-1.8, 0.07-0.13, and 0-11 wt pct lead, silver, and iron in matte, respectively. The distribution coefficients of lead have been measured at 1405 and 1505 K and correlated with lead and iron concentrations in metallic copper and matte. The values of the distribution coef¬ficient of lead between copper and iron-free matte, at infinite dilution of lead, have been determined to be 3.60 and 4,06 at 1505 and 1405 K, respectively. The distribution coefficient of silver between copper and iron-free matte is independent of silver concentrations and has been measured to be 2.13 and 2.21 at 1400 and 1500 K, respectively. For an iron-bearing matte, the distribution coefficient of silver has been correlated with iron concentration in the matte at both 1400 and 1500 K. From the measured values of distribution coefficients, the Raoultian activity coefficients of PbS and AgS0.5 in copper-saturated matte have been calculated. At infinite dilution, the following equations correlating the Raoultian activity coeffici¬ents of PbS and AgS0.5 with matte- composition and temperature have been obtained: log Y° PbS =1.515 + 1080/T 0.14 NFes lbS Fog YAgS = -0.074 - 425/T + 0.09 NFes. - 0.5

Jan 1, 1983

By James R. Craig

The General Image Processing System (GIPSY) is being employed for the quantitative textural analysis of complex sulfide ores from the Southern and Central Appalachians and for the determination of liberation characteristics of the mineral constituents during grinding. Optical images from a microscope-mounted TV camera or from 35mm film are converted into digital images which are subsequently analyzed by GIPSY, a transportable image processing software package. Properties measured by GIPSY include spatial distribution of mineral constituents, grain sizes, grain shapes, grain orientation and mineral co-occurrences.

Jan 1, 1982

By Magnus Ek

After the installation of three new converters as part of the recent expansion of the Rönnskär smelter completed in 2000 work continues to further improve the converter operation. The converter upgrade led to an increase in blister copper taps from 150 tons per batch to more than 300 tons. The total cathode copper production increased from 130,000 tons in 1999 to 230,000 tons in 2001, the first year in full production. In recent years focus has been to improve operating practise, maximize the blowing time, extend the converter campaigns hence to reduce the specific brick consumption and improve the converter slag composition.

Jan 1, 2005

By Rafael Padilla

In the production of copper from chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) concentrates by the smelting and converting technology, the ambient pollution with gaseous S02 and toxic metals such as arsenic compounds is still a serious problem, especial1y in the converting step due to the batch nature of the conventional Peirce Smith process. Non-SO2 emitting alternatives are leaching processes. However, few of them have had a limited industrial application and they are not very effective in discarding safely the toxic impurities. A combination of pyro-hydrometal1urgical methods: the sulfidation of chalcopyrite and subsequent leaching of the sulfidized material is a non-polluting alternative to treat not only clean chalcopyrite concentrates but also complex chalcopyrite-enargite concentrates. In this article, this alternative is discussed concerning the thermodynamics and kinetics of the sulfidation of chalcopyrite with gaseous sulfur. The kinetics of the leaching of the sulfidized concentrate in an H2SO4-NaCI-O2 system is also discussed.

Jan 1, 2003

By E. C. T. Chao

Micro-optical and synchrotron radiation-induced X-ray fluorescence (SXRF) techniques have been used to study unoxidized and oxidized samples of Carlintype sedimentar,y rock-hosted disseminated gold ore. In these samples, Where much of the gold is submicroscopic, the SXRF technique, which has a spatial resolution of about 20 ~m and a minimum detection limit (MDL) in the ppm range, is an ideal and necessary tool for precisely locating gold-rich areas in a sample. Gold-rich areas pinpointed by SXRF were later studied in detail by micro-optical methods, principally optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX). In two unoxidized and one oxidized ore samples, SXRF analyses have shown gold to be present predominantly in discrete clay-rich and silicified areas. Gold was not detected by SXRF in association with pyrite or carbonaceous materials. SEM-EDX examination of the gold-bearing areas in the unoxidized samples succeeded in identifying only two free gold particles, 0.2 and 0.5 ~m in size. In the oxidized sample, gold particles appear to be larger (but still submicroscopic) in average size and more evident in micro-optical examination after SXRF location of goldbearing areas. The findings of these studies may help to improve the efficiency of processing and recovery of gold from unoxidized ores.

Jan 1, 1987

By John P. Hager

One possible approach for the recovery of mercury from acid plant blow-down sludge in smelters is the use of a vacuum retort reactor for the vaporization of the mercury with subsequent collection of metallic mercury in an attached condenser. An experimental study was undertaken to investigate the vaporization of mercury when present as a compound in the Hg-S-O and Hg-Se systems. A transpiration reactor was modified to operate under reduced pressure and with a continuous flow of inert sweep gas. A water-cooled cold finger was inserted into the exit end of the reactor to provide for the rapid quenching of the exit gases and the collection of the mercury. Rates of vaporization were measured at several temperatures for each compound and were generally found to be constant at a given temperature and reactor pressure. The results were used to determine the minimum operating temperature for 100% vaporization of the compound in 60 minutes. For Hg2SO4, HgSO4, and HgSO/2HgO the required temperatures. for a reactor pressure of 50 Torr. were determined to be 634°, 622°. and 603°C. respectively. For HgO, HgSe, and HgS the required temperatures were 557°. 451°. And 382°C. respectively. For HgS the rate of vaporization was also measured at a reactor pressure of 1 00 Torr. The rate of vaporization was found to be slower resulting in an increased vaporization temperature of 423°C. It was also determined that the mercury vapor present in the exit gas stream can back-react with the other gas species to a significant extent and can result in very little condensed metallic mercury. For the vaporization of both HgS and HgSe. the mercury vapor was found to have back-reacted to the extent that virtually none of the vaporized mercury was collected in metallic form. For the vaporization of Hg2S04? HgS04, and HgSO4*2HgO the amount of metallic mercury recovered varied from approximately 50% for HgS04*2HgO to approximately 10% for Hg2S04 and HgS04. Only for HgO was the recovered mercury in primarily elemental form. The application of the results to the operation of a vacuum retort and condenser system is discussed.

Jan 1, 2001

By Juan H. Rojas C.

The Chuquicamata mining and metallurgical complex is the main Division belonging to Corporation Nacional del Cobre de Chile (CODELCO-CHILE) and it accounts for 50% of the 1.4 Mt of fine copper output of the Corporation. It has been producing copper since 1915. The paper refers to the challenges that Chuquicamata has to solve in the near future. These challenges are: the increasing operation costs associated to a 800 m depth pit with low prices in an overstocked copper market; the increasing people's sensitivity to environmental preservation; and, the transformation needed for achieving high levels of organizational effectiveness. According to Corporate policy, Chuquicamata is making efforts to switch from a management style focused on supply to a management style focused on demand side of the industry. In this direction is tempting to establish strategic alliances to develop both new copper products and uses, to rise the metal demand. In more than 80 years of operation, Chuquicamata had exploited just one third of its geological resources. The exploitation of the remaining two third is a huge engineering challenge, taking into account the depth of the deposit, the impurities content, the decreasing ore grades and the transportation distances for waste dumping. All those factors are relevant in the economical process of transforming geological resources into ore reserves. Chuquicamata has other limitations. First, a 20,000 people town just aside the pit that limits the mining rates because of dust generation; second the scarceness of water in the desert area where Chuquicamata deposit is located; and, finally, the new tailing pond is a problem which solution will demand huge engineering efforts and investments. People are the principal factor associated to a company success. In this field, Chuquicamata have been progressing, but much more efforts from people will be necessary to reduce production costs for being successful as any other price-taker within the copper industry. Chuquicamata must develop the skills of its Supervisors to transform them into leaders and entrepreneurs, who additionally have the challenge of passing on their knowledge to non-professional workers. It is an ethic commitment to assure personal and professional growth of workers, as the only sustainable way to get real and integral success.

Jan 1, 1999

By Robert B. Haagensen

While light optical microscopy has long been employed by the mineral processing industry, there has been a tendency to shy away from its use for all but the most exacting purposes. Despite the usefulness of micros-copy in solving a wide variety of problems, the response to such work is often less than enthusiastic primarily due to time considerations. Microscopical techniques are therefore often relegated to the "ivory tower" and their direct and practical application to everyday problem solving over-looked. The purpose of this paper is to dispel such attitudes and promote a wider use of light microscopy. Several examples are given which point out the indispensib1e nature of optical microscopy as a rapid means of defining and solving problems in mineral processing. The application of other instrumental techniques to augment the information obtained is also discussed, particularly the value of the combined use of the optical microscope and electron probe micro-analyzer.

Jan 1, 1981

By B. Madelin

Over the last ten years, Minemet Recherche and Metaleurop have used an approach in order to investigate and improve the operation of its Smelting furnace and its lead blast furnaces. This approach gives importance- to three complementary means of investigation : - Probing campains in the industrial furnace (temperature and gas analysis profiles), - Chemical and physical modeling (coke combustion, sinter reduction modes, flows patterns, ?.) , - Staged mass and heat balances or kinetic model. This allows to define the limits of operation of each blast furnace and to predict the influence of operating parameters on the furnace performances. For the zinc Imperial smelting furnace, the probing results show the existence- of both an Isothermal reserve zone at 1015ºc and a chemical equilibrium between ZnO and gas which makes possible the use of a practical model for heat and material balances. In particular, very good prediction on the influences of operating parameters can be made. On the contrary, for lead blast furnaces, the probing results show that the thermal and chemical equilibria are not reached. Consequently, classical models for staged heat and mass balances are not sufficient. The use of the other means allows then to characterize the specific influences of operating parameters on the thermal instabilities of these furnaces and their allowed limits.

Jan 1, 1990

Numerical simulation of the fluid flow and heat transfer has been carried out for a waste-heat boiler in an Outokumpu type copper flash smelter. In this boiler, SO2-containing off-gas flows into the waste-heat boiler radiation section at about 1350°C. A fraction of cooler off-gas from the electrostatic precipitator at about 200°C was recirculated into the radiation section, and a small amount of ambient air was leaked into the boiler from the bottom. The computational results show that the flow is strongly recirculating and distinctly three dimensional in most of the boiler, particularly in the radiation section. The hot off-gas cooled down rapidly after entering the radiation section due to radiation. The predicted flow pattern and temperature distribution were in a good agreement with laboratory models and industrial measurements.

Jan 1, 1995

By P. M. Tyroler

Inco operates a hydrometallurgical plant to treat the residue from the pressure carbonylation process. The main constituent in the residue is cop¬per. The residue is leached under pressure in an acid sulphate solution in two stages and the copper is recovered via electrowinning. The electrowinning tankhouse is fully integrated into the overall plant flowsheet as spent elect¬rolyte is required in upstream leaching steps. In recent years, the amount of residue had increased and copper removal capacity became the rate limiting factor for the entire plant. Consequently, a major program was undertaken to upgrade the tankhouse with regards to capacity, efficiency, cathode quality, working environment and structual integrity and appearance. This paper will describe current facilities and operation, and detail progress in our up¬grading efforts.

Jan 1, 1987

By Bryn Harris

Chesbar Resources Inc.1 is developing a nickel-cobalt laterite project in Guatemala, Central America, by applying existing atmospheric chloride technology to a known resource. The tropical laterite project has an inferred resource of 133 million tonnes grading 1.51% nickel, which represents ~20% of Chesbar?s land holdings in Guatemala. Within its boundaries, the Sechol area has a measured resource of 14 million tonnes grading 1.46 % nickel and 0.08% cobalt, and an indicated resource of 23 million tonnes grading 1.34% nickel and 0.08% cobalt. Notwithstanding the impressive overall resource, the company has taken an innovative approach to a laterite project and is concentrating on El Inicio, a high-grade starter pit with five million tonnes grading 2.1% nickel and 0.08 % cobalt. The process flowsheet is based on atmospheric chloride leaching in a slightly acidic magnesium chloride brine, solution purification by recycled magnesia, precipitation of a mixed nickel/cobalt hydroxide intermediate product, and lixiviant regeneration by modified pyrohydrolysis technology. Initial results suggest that >90% of the contained nickel and cobalt in the non-magnetic fraction of the feed can be recovered, with <5% of the iron leaching. A metallurgical scoping study has established preliminary capital and operating costs for a production facility at a proposed rate of 20,000 tonnes per year of nickel as the intermediate mixed hydroxide. A preliminary assessment of producing a magnesium oxide by-product has also been carried out. This paper reports on the current development of the project and highlights the advantages of working in a chloride medium at atmospheric pressure and slightly elevated temperatures.

Jan 1, 2003

By J. A. Eisele

There is currently much interest in how extraction of gold and silver from ores with acidic thiourea solution compares with extraction using alkaline cyanide solution. Agitation leaching tests were performed by the Bureau of Mines on 14 precious metal ores using sodium cyanide (?NaCN) and thiourea [(NH2)2CS) as extractants. The objective was to compare the results of the two extractants. NaCN was used at a concentration of 2 g/L with and without H202 as an oxidant. (NH2)2CS was used at concentrations of 2 and 20 gjL, and the solution potential was controlled at 390 to 420 mV standard hydrogen electrode (Eh) with Fe2(S04)3. With both reagents a.t 2 g/L extractant levels, NaCN extracted more gold and silver than (NH2liCS from all of the ores. At 20 g/L (NH2)2CS compared with 2 g/L NaCN, (NH2)2CS extracted more gold than NaCN from two ores, the same amount from one ore, and more silver from one ore. NaCN extracted more gold than (NH2 )2CS from 10 ores and more silver from 4 ores.

Jan 1, 1989

By J. Borlée, J. P. Birat

"ULCOS is a large European program launched by a consortium of 48 partners led by arcelor and a core group of steel producers, which was started in 2004 with the support of the European Commission (RFCS and 6FP programs) to search for breakthrough process routes that could, in the future, when fully developed, demonstrate the potential of large cuts in CO2 emissions for the production of steel from iron ore.The timescale for commercial implementation is the post-Kyoto period, i.e. 15 to 20 years from today.The present paper presents the progress made in the first 2 years of this 5 year program.Several concepts are being investigated in parallel: re-engineering of the blast furnace to incorporate CCS in the core of the process, smelting reduction with CCS capabilities, massive use of natural with more CO2-lean technologies than today, hydrogen steelmaking and electrolysis of iron ore. Biomass also offers very attractive perspectives, while raising major challenges.None of these new steelmaking routes are ""no regret"", which means that the European Steel Industry has already incorporated extensive energy saving steps in its present process technology and is working as close to thermodynamics limits as is cinematically and economically feasible, and that decreasing GHG emissions further means introducing breakthrough technologies that add significant costs to the operation of the Steel Mills.They will also require much research and development before they can be proven and implemented commercially.IntroductionThe ULCOS program (Ultra Low CO2 Steelmaking) is a large research program of the European Steel Industry and its industrial and research partners launched in September 2004 to investigate steelmaking technologies that have the potential of reducing the CO2 emission of the Industry by a large amount, typically in the order of 50%. It is supported in the European Community by the 6th Framework and the RFCS programs through 3 complementary European projects [1,2].The present paper summarizes the work carried out in the phase 1 of ULCOS and in framing the program of phase 2."

Jan 1, 2008

By J. W. Matousek

Copper losses in smelter slags are :typically normalized with some form of the distribution coefficient, written as the ratio of the weight percent assays of metal in slag to the metal in matte or its inverse: L(s/m) = %(Cu)/%[Cu] or L(m/s) = %[Cu]/%(Cu) However, this simple approach ignores the dynamics of the smelting process. It overlooks the effect of the chemical work done in producing a given matte grade from concentrates of different grades -- or from a single concentrate blended with varying quantities of copper bearing precipitates or reverts. This paper examines the combined influences of matte grade and the work done in smelting on the copper content of smelting furnace slags. A simple model for the relationship is proposed.

Jan 1, 1999

By Ana E. Bohé, Georgina De Micco, Gastón G. Fouga

"In this work the reaction between several manganese oxides and chlorine is investigated in the range of temperatures between 650 and 950ºC. The reaction path for the chlorination of MnO is established, which involves recrystallization of high valence manganese oxides (Mn3O4 and Mn2O3) followed by its chlorination. For this reason, to understand the reaction of MnO, the chlorination of Mn3O4 and Mn2O3 has also been studied. The starting temperature for the reaction of these oxides is determined by non isothermal thermogravimetric measurements. The effect of temperature is analyzed, under our experimental conditions the rate of reaction is mass transfer controlled. The activation energy for the volatilization of manganese chloride is obtained which is in good agreement with volatilization enthalpy of MnCl2.IntroductionMany oxide ores which have manganese in their composition undergo chlorination processes during the extraction of refractory metals such as Ti, Hf and Nb. Although several works related with chlorination of manganese oxides were reported, there is no information about the kinetics or mechanism of the manganese oxide chlorination reactions. Okahara et al. studied the chlorination of manganese oxides and established that they react easily above 250ºC. Furthermore, they observed that chlorination of high order oxides is more difficult when there is not a reducing agent [1]. Ivashentsev studied the chlorination of manganese oxides using Cl2(g), CO(g) + Cl2(g) and COCl2(g). He established that the reaction of MnO started at 130ºC with formation of MnCl2(s), he also observed recrystallization of manganese sexquioxide [2]. Finally, the chlorination of manganese nodules from the ocean was studied by Murthy and Reddy [3] with the aim of obtaining valuable metals such as Mn, Co, Ni and Cu. They studied the influence of several parameters like temperature, carbon percentage, particle size and chlorine flow rate in the extraction process."

Jan 1, 2008