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By I. Gaballah

The electrochemical behavior of a chalcopyrite concentrate having a high pyrite content was studied in HC1 by potentiodynamic, potentiostatic and galvanostatic experiments using a cell having separate anodic and cathodic compartments. Anodic oxidation of chalcopyrite particles was realized both by their contact with the cunent feeder and by reaction with ferric and cupric ions. An increase of current leads to a more selective dissolution of chalcopyrite. Surface passivation was observed after an electrolysis time related to the cell current. Cathodic reduction of chalcopyrite concentrate seems to be more promising. Almost complete conversion of chalcopyrite to a copper sulfide (Cui.8.S) is observed, whereas no reaction of the pyrite was detected. This confirms the possible selective dissolution of copper from the chalcopyrite concentrate. Copper sulfide obtained by cathodic reduction was leached using a cupric chloride solution.

Jan 1, 1994

By Mohamed Y. Bakr, Aly M. Abdel-Rehim

The present work is related with mechanical activation of processing of Egyptian wolframite by simultaneous ball-milling and pressure alkaline leaching, to improve the recovery of tungsten from wolframite. The results show a total recovery of tungsten from wolframite (97.8- 98.7%) by simultaneous ball–milling and alkaline leaching at temperature 175-200oC. It is concluded that processing of wolframite by simultaneous ball- milling and leaching is mechanically activated and accelerated as a result of the grinding action of steel balls that caused the immediate rupture by continuous removing the product layer of the reaction ( sodium tungstate and iron and manganese hydroxides ) from reacting particle surfaces. This leads to the exposing of fresh and activated wolframite particle surfaces to alkaline leach solution and consequently the acceleration of the reaction of wolframite leaching .The results of the kinetic study 0f alkaline processing of wolframite and its mechanical activation show that the system is under kinetic control.

Jan 1, 2015

By Aert Driessen

Australia has large resources of rare earths -- 4.35 Mt of contained rare-earth oxides (REO) in the demonstrated category and 1.69 Kt in the inferred category. Australia's demonstrated REO resources are contained in about equal proportions in placer deposits, which also host Australia's titanium and zircon resources, and in hard-rock deposits. The largest single deposit of rare earths, at Mount Weld in Western Australia, is contained in regolith overlying a carbonatite pipe. It has a demonstrated resource of 1.73 Mt of contained REO and yttrium oxide. The largest demonstrated resources of REOs in placer deposits are in the Murray Bash, southeastern Australia -- a total of 1.90 Mt of contained RE0 in six deposits. However, the REO-bearing minerals (monazite and xenotime) are of secondary importance and their recovery will be determined by the market for titanium dioxide and zircon. The Murray Basin and other pre-Pleistocene basins offer the greatest potential for discovering more REO resources. Australia produces about 7000 t/year of REO in monazite and xenotime nearly all from Western Australia, as by-product of mineral-sand mining; monazite production is about 12 000 t/year (6600 t REO) and intermittent xenotime production is about 50 t/year (25 t REO). About 8000 t/year of monazite containing about 4400 t REO is not recovered separately, or is lost in tailings, as is an unknown but smaller amount of xenotime.

Jan 1, 1992

By D. J. Webb, D. G. Reynolds, D. W. Ashman, D. W. Goosen

Cominco Limited operates an integrated zinc-lead complex at Trail, British Columbia, Canada. Central to the successful operation of this complex is the treatment of zinc leach residues through the lead smelter. In 1997, Cominco started up a new lead smelter using KTVCET flash smelting, a state-of-the-art conventional slag fuming furnace, and a new drossing plant. The smelter has fully met the requirements for environmental performance, reduced energy consumption, and lowered labour costs. This paper provides a description of the new smelter and discusses the problems encountered during the start-up, as well as the solutions to those problems. Recent operating results are presented. Lead-Zinc

Jan 1, 2000

By A. W. Worcester

The plant is designed to produce 60,000+ tons of refined lead per year from a nominal feed consisting of 110,000 tons of SLI and industrial batteries, and 10,000 tons of lead contained in drosses and scrap. The plant will also produce as by-products polypropylene chips and detergent grade sodium sulfate, using the Engitec Impianti CX Technology. The battery separation circuit will consist of a battery breaking hammermill and a vibrating screen with water sprays to separate the battery paste from the grid metal and other battery components. The battery components, consisting of ebonite, and separator materials, will be separated' from the grid metal and classified with the use of hydrodynamic water separators. The battery paste will be treated with sodium carbonate to produce a lead carbonate paste for smelting in a reverberatory furnace. The slag from the reverberatory furnace will be campaigned through a traditional primary blast furnace to produce hard lead. The sodium sulfate liquor from the lead carbonate filtration step will be crystallized to produce anhydrous sodium sulfate. The metallic grid metal will be treated through a small rotary smelter of the Engitec design to produce a hard antimonial lead. The plant's scheduled to be commissioned 12 months after receipt of all of the Federal and state permits. The plant will be integrated into the Buick Primary Lead Smelter, located in the center of Missouri's New Lead Belt, at Boss, Missouri. This will allow The Doe Run company to fully utilize all of its existing assets.

Jan 1, 1990

By G. E. Lagos

This paper analyses the scope and instruments employed by the Basel Convention for regulating the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes, the present and projected hazardous waste regulations of Chile, reviews the Chilean import/export trade of wastes of the period 1985-1995, and discusses, the influence that the Basel Convention has had on mining trade, its perceived benefits and costs, and possible effects on Chile's trade of the application of the Convention's Decision III/l. There is no quantitative estimation as to the effect of the Convention on the general volume of imported or exported materials destined for recovery, recycling, reclamation, or reuse. All recycling imports, with the possible exception of residues of petroleum oil, which occurred during the decade 1985-1995, can be classified tentatively as non hazardous. The entry into force of the Convention has had several effects on Chile's trade. It has brought home the need to have a comprehensive hazardous waste legislation, it has been a base for applying import restrictions, which in all likelihood, would .have otherwise not been applied, The benefits and costs of this import restriction, as well as those of the multilateral export ban are analyzed.

Jan 1, 1999

By D. J. Senor

Closed chamber incineration (CCI) is a novel technique by which irradiated nuclear graphite may be destroyed without the risk of radioactive cation release into the environment. The process utilizes an enclosed combustion chamber coupled with molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFCs). The transport of cations is intrinsically suppressed by the MCFCs, such that only the combustion gases are conducted through for release to the environment. An example CCI design was developed which had as its goal the destruction of graphite fuel elements from the Fort St. Vrain reactor (FSVR). By employing CCI, the volume of high level waste from the FSVR will be reduced by approximately 87 percent. Additionally, the incineration process will convert the Sic coating on the FSVR fuel particles to SiO2, thus creating a form potentially suitable for direct incorporation in a vitrification process stream. The design is compact, efficient, and makes use of currently available technology.

Jan 1, 1994

By M. Shevchenko

Integrated experimental and modelling research program on the phase equilibria and development of thermodynamic databases of the lead and copper metallurgical gas/ slag-matte-metal-solids systems (PbO-“Cu2O”-FeO-Fe2O3- ZnO-CaO-SiO2) is being undertaken to support improvements in the pyrometallurgical smelting and recycling processes. This is the first systematic investigation of phase equilibria of slag systems in equilibrium with Pb metal, providing information for systems in which copper coexists in slag with lead or zinc as major components. The experimental studies involve high-temperature equilibration of synthetic samples, rapid quenching, and measurement of the compositions of equilibrium phases using electron probe X-ray microanalysis (EPMA). FactSage-based thermodynamic database development is integrated with experimental research. Initial thermodynamic assessments are used to identify priority compositions and conditions for experiments, which are planned to provide specific data to assist thermodynamic optimisation. Significant improvement in the accuracy of the phase equilibria description is achieved. Continuous database improvement and extension to include new elements are targeted. Example of industrial application is given.

By T. C. -M. Cheng

Iron removal and disposal in zinc plants has imposed a major environmental challenge to the industry. Among the existing options of precipitating iron as jarosite, goethite, and hematite, the Hematite Process seems to be the best candidate for the future development of a waste-free technology, because of its potential of producing saleable iron oxide residues for feed in iron-steel making industry. Unfortunately, under the current practice of the Hematite Process, it is not possible to produce iron residues clean enough to meet the specifications of the said industry. In this paper, the practice of industrial hematite precipitation and the relevant technical literature are reviewed with the objective to identify the critical processing parameters which are responsible for the contamination of hematite, particularly with sulfur and zinc. The analysis is conducted from a crystallization theory standpoint with emphasis given to the role of supersaturation with respect to the cleanliness of hematite precipitates.

Jan 1, 1997

By H. H. Kellogg

The thermochemical properties of molten solutions in the binaries Cu-Bi, Cu-Sb and Bi-Sb, as well as the ternary Cu-Bi-Sb, have been correlated and described in mathematical form by use of the associated species concept combined with the three-suffix Margules equations to account for the non-idea 1 behavior of the solution species. Agreement of the correlations with experimental data is excellent (relative deviation of less than 2.5% in the values of the activity coefficients) in most cases. The correlations are applicable over the entire composition range of each system, and in the temperature range 700°-1250°C.

Jan 1, 1985

By T. R. A. Davey

Previous publications on the application of EIETSIM include the modelling of an electrolytic zinc plant and a copper flash smelter. In the present case METSIM has been used to model the desilverising of lead by the reagent zinc, whereby a silver-zinc intermetallic compound is formed, and floats out of the lead. This compound has a variable composition, depending upon the ratio of dissolved zinc/silver in the lead bath. Its solubility in lead decreases with falling temperature. A number of variations and modifications of the Davey Desilverising Procedure are modelled, and applied to a wide range of silver contents in lead bullions at several plants. METSIM uses both feed- back and feed-forward controls to simulate plant conditions, and a logic control to distinguish between different phases in the Zn-Ag system. Use is made of extensive (previously unpublished) fundamental data on the ternary Pb-Ag-Zn system, and of plant data, to establish certain operating parameters.

Jan 1, 1993

By Denis Shishin

The pyrometallurgical production and recycling of non-ferrous metals involves the use of complex feed stocks, having awide range of chemical compositions from sources that include mineral sulphide concentrates, high value obsolete materials and process wastes. The commercial viabilities of these operations hinge on the ability to extract value from these materials. Increasingly, modern computer-based tools are used to describe and predict process outcomes, including mass and heat balances, the partitioning of elements and phase equilibria. At the heart of these predictive tools are thermodynamic databases that describe the fundamental chemical properties of a system and all the components present. A comprehensive research program has been established to develop an accurate, self-consistent thermodynamic database describing all gas-slag-matte-metal-speiss-solid phases in the system Cu2O-PbO-ZnO-Al2O3- CaO-MgO-FeO-Fe2O3-SiO2-S-(As-Bi-Sb-Sn-Ag-Au). The database can be used in conjunction with the FactSage computer platform. The accuracy of the database and its application to industrial practice is demonstrated.

By James E. Hoffmann

Oxidative pressure leaching is gradually supplanting other techniques for the decopperizing of slimes. The reasons for this include: much more rapid reactions, more compact equipment, a reduced environmental burden, and perhaps most important, a much lower final copper concentration in the decopperized slimes. This paper will discuss the reactions occurring during decopperization, the acidity and temperatures encountered and the techniques employed for discharging non condensable gasses. A spreadsheet is provided which allows adjusting the operating conditions depending upon raw (undecopperized) slimes composition, solids concentration and lixiviant composition. A typical process equipment flowsheet is provided along with a process narrative.

Jan 1, 2000

Reduction of titania and ilmenite ores by Cf4-H2-Ar gas mixture was investigated in a laboratory fixed bed reactor. Titania was reduced to titanium oxycarbide in the temperature range of 12OO-1500°C. At 1400-15000C, the extent of reduction of titania to titanium oxycarbide achieved more than 85% in 90 min. Optimum conditions for titanium oxycarbide synthesis by reduction of titania include temperature in the range of 1300-1450°C, methane content 8 vol% and hydrogen content above 35 vol%. Ilmenite ore was reduced by Cf4-HrAr gas mixture to metallic iron and titanium oxycarbide. Metallic iron catalyzed methane cracking and solid carbon deposition. Titanium oxycarbide formed at temperatures as low as 950°C. The optimum temperature for reduction of ilmenite is 1200°C and the optimum methane content is 8 vol%. Increase in hydrogen content increased both rate and extent of reduction. With 5 vol% CH4-75 vol% Hr20 vol% Ar gas mixture, the reduction of ilmenite completed in 60 min. Reduction of titanium oxides to oxycarbide with following chlorination may be an efficient alternative technology for processing of titanium minerals.

Jan 1, 2001

By P. Maraboutis

Iron removal by precipitation as jarosite from Fe-Ni-Co sulfate solutions, (synthetic or real, resulting from laterites leaching) has been investigated. Precipitation was carried out at 95 C, and at an initial pH 1.6, which was either kept constant with CaCO3 or Li2CO3 additions, or left to drift with the evolution of the reaction to lower values. The precipitation of K-, NH4- and Na- jarosite was initially examined using synthetic solutions. In all cases, hydronium ions were incorporated into the precipitate as well. Residual iron in solution was lower (0.2-1 g/1) and equilibrium was achieved faster (within 4-8 h) when precipitating K¬jarosite at constant pH, using CaCO3 for neutralization. Nickel and cobalt losses were small. Na- jarosite precipitation was also studied from real solutions with high initial iron content, under constant pH=1.5, controlled with CaCO3 additions, and it was shown that low residual iron concentration in solution (0.3-0.5 g/1) can be achieved again, with relatively small nickel and cobalt losses. The thickening and filtration characteristics of the precipitates were excellent in all cases examined.

Jan 1, 1988

By Rodney Hundermark

At Anglo American Platinum’s Polokwane Smelter, radar instruments are being used to provide continuous measurement of the concentrate feed level in the six-in-line electric furnace used for smelting of nickel-copper concentrates containing platinum group metals (PGMs). The radar instruments are installed directly on the furnace roof, and a mechanical system has been designed to protect them from radiation and elevated freeboard temperatures and pressures. Signal validation criteria have been implemented to ensure that proper level measurements are being used by the PLC system. The feedback from the radars has provided an improved understanding of the furnace behaviour with respect to concentrate feed level control, individual feeding events, global feed rates, feed distribution and bath disturbances. In combination with a dynamic mass balance for continuous calculation of liquid level in the furnace, the radar measurements have enabled more precise feedback control of the concentrate blacktop depth. In turn this has yielded improvements in furnace stability.

By Christoph Beckermann, Kai Liu, Richard A. Hardin

"A two-dimensional heat transfer model for transient simulation and control of a continuous steel slab caster is described. Slab thermal and solidification conditions are computed by the model as a function of time-varying casting speed, secondary spray cooling water flow rates and temperature, slab thickness, steel chemistry, and pouring and ambient temperatures. A solidification model that includes the effects of steel chemistry, cooling rate and mierosegregation on the solidification path is incorporated directly into the caster model. Comparisons between measured and predicted liquidus and solidus temperatures are given for two low alloy steels, and show good agreement. Predicted and measured slab surface temperatures recorded on an operating caster are compared with this transient model and show that the model can predict the temperature response at the slab surface. Results of several simulations are given to demonstrate the effects of changing casting conditions on the slab thermal profile and the solidification end-point. A control methodology suitable for online control of a continuous casting machine is described, and its ability to control the surface temperature profile by dynamically adjusting secondary spray cooling flow rates is demonstrated using the simulator. IntroductionIn order to remain competitive in today's world-wide market for continuously cast steel products, steel producers are finding that it is ever more important to implement process control and to develop a more thorough technological understanding of their casting process. By integrating process control and monitoring into both production and quality control, producers are better able to meet customers' demands for steel of the required quality, quantity, size, grade, and properties at the lowest cost. Computer models used for real-time/on-line prediction and control of continuous steel casters are fundamental tools to accomplish this. Accurate on-line prediction and control of steel solidification and heat transfer allows for more flexibility in caster operation by giving operators the ability to change casting speeds while keeping critical process parameters within required ranges. Such control 'capability also results in more uniform quality throughout an entire casting sequence from startup to shutdown. Furthermore, due to the unreliability of temperature sensors, and the lack of good sensors for important process parameters such as solidification end-point and liquid pool depth, computer-based control models are often the only available option."

Jan 1, 2000

By Renato G. Bautista

"The chemistry of the separation of metals from each other and from the other undesirable components involve multiple simultaneous chemical reactions. In the case of leaching, the heterogeneous chemical reactions between the solid and the liquid phase may be limited to a few reactions. In the homogeneous liquid phase, the number of simultaneous chemical reactions could be double or triple that of the number of heterogeneous reactions. The rate of dissolution becomes very dependent on the changing concentrations of the significant chemical species taking part in the multiple reactions in both the heterogenous and homogeneous phase. The rate expression developed for the process must take into account the mechanism of chemical reactions in order to best represent the actual process. This paper also examine the role of mass transfer with chemical reaction in the develpoment of the rate equations for dissolution, liquid-liquid extraction, membrane separation, precipitation, and electrodeposition.IntroductionThe understanding and the elucidation of the mechanism of the rate phenomena for a specific chemical reaction system is of prime importance in the development of a successful chemical process. The development of successful emerging technologies for metals separation will depend on the accurate interpretation of the intrinsic chemical reaction kinetics and the rate of mass transfer of the desired metal species during its separation from the undesirable chemical species. This is the case whether the process application is for separation, concentration, and /or purification.The chemical processes that will be examined in this presentation will include leaching, solvent extraction, membrane separation, precipitation, and electrodeposition."

Jan 1, 1996

By G. A. Irona

Solids injection into non-ferrous converters and furnaces is becoming increasingly important for concentrate injection, removal of impurities, and recycling of dusts and other waste materials. The fundamental design aspects of these technologies will be reviewed, including gas and particle trajectories, lance clogging, heat transfer, and mass transfer including reaction rates and mixing. The use of soda ash for removal of impurities such as antimony and selenium will be used as an example of versatility of powder injection processes.

Jan 1, 1993

By B. Garcia-Egocheaga, J. Rutten, N. Goicoechea, U. Meurer, Mager K., W. Saage, Simonettim F.

Because of the increasing use of zinc as an active and passive anticorrosion agent for steel, leading to constantly growing return rates of galvanized steel components, especially through the automotive industry, major Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) flue dust amounts with higher zinc contents will accumulate in future. Landfilling of steel plant flue dusts is no longer allowable for ecological reasons. These dusts are classified as hazardous by law. Waelz technology is safe and reliable. The range .of treatable feed materials has been extended by process modifications and state-of-the-art offgas technology. Waelz oxide, the product, is delivered to metal smelters for zinc production and the byproduct, Waelz slag, can be used in road construction. Despite the fact that Waelz technology is among the best available techniques (BAT), it is continuously being optimized further with respect to energy input, product and offgas quality in order to comply with the ever more stringent environmental regulations. However, if these flue-dusts are treated, the loops between the steel and the zinc industry can be closed by reusing recovered zinc which in tum leads to savings in natural resources and a more reasonable use of landfills.

Jan 1, 2000