Characteristics Research and Selective Leaching of Anode Slime with High Content of Copper and Stannum

Abstract

The anode slime comes from the process of scrap copper electrolysis which contains high content of copper, stannum and some other metals, such as lead, antimony and precious metals. The result of particle size distribution showed that copper exist in large particle-size parts more than in small ones, while most of stannum concentrate in small particle ones. XRD and MLA were employed to characterize the anode slime. Copper is occurrence in copper sulfide, while stannum is in stannic oxide. Selective leaching by using hydrochloric acid has been conducted based on initial analysis. 97.86% of antimony, 96.24% of stannum and 93.68% of lead were leached. 82.5% of copper remained in the residue. Copper can be separated with antimony, Stannum and lead effectively.