Some Interesting Aspects of Non-ferrous Metallurgical Slags

Metal losses in pyrometallurgical operations - A review

“…The sulphidic dissolution is in general important for matte grades up to approximately 60% Cu, while oxidic dissolution is the significant mechanism otherwise [9], as illustrated by Fig. 5 [38]. To decrease the dissolved copper loss in slag, it is effective to raise the Fe/SiO 2 ratio to decrease the oxidic loss.…”

Investigation of High-Temperature Slag/Copper/Spinel Interactions

“…The composition of the spinel substrate, the composition of the slag, and the dissolved oxygen level of the system can also influence the differences in interfacial tensions, as suggested in Eq. [2]. Furthermore, quantitative information on the interfacial tensions among phases is needed to properly assess the deciding factor for the mechanical entrainment of Cu droplets by spinel particles.…”

“…[2]. However, as long as the chemical reaction is not finished, a reactive wetting behavior is expected to take place between the spinel substrate and the copper droplet.…”

“…[2][3][4] Chemical copper losses refer to the dissolution of copper as sulfide or oxide during primary copper production and mainly as oxide during secondary production. This type of losses is determined by the system thermodynamics and is intrinsic to pyrometallurgical processes.…”

“…The main influencing factors are temperature, oxygen partial pressure, [2,[5][6][7] chemical activity of the metal, [2] and composition of the slag and matte. [2,[5][6][7] Mechanically entrained metal refers to entrapped or floating unsettled droplets. In primary copper production, both metallic and matte droplets are entrained, while in secondary copper production, these losses are mainly metallic copper droplets.…”