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By A. C. Cascalheira, L. M. Abrantes, M. Savic

This paper reports our results on the application of a novel process for the spontaneous and sustained reduction and recovery of elemental silver and gold on an electroactive polymer surface. This work incorporates the metal recovery from photographic films (silver) and goldsmith residues (gold), by direct contact of metal containing solutions with polymer. The performance on such process of electrochemically and chemically prepared polyaniline (P ANI) is evaluated. SEM coupled with EDX and XRD analyses confirmed the presence of metallic silver and gold deposited onto polymeric material.

Jan 1, 2000

By N. A. McKay, J. G. Davison

"Heap leachable ore deposits from many countries have been submitted for process mineralogical evaluation and laboratory testwork. Numerous factors must be addressed and integrated by the mineralogist, geologist, metallurgist and engineer. Projects encompass grass roots exploration, preliminary petrographic analysis, predictive and process mineralogy, dye penetration analysis of rocks and thin sections, metallurgical beneficiation testwork and plant optimization studies. The significance of mineralogical factors, such as geological controls, degree of oxidation, dye amenability, liberation, deleterious minerals, refractoriness, and the impact of mineralogy on gold recovery and process considerations, will be presented.ABSTRACT ONLY"

Jan 1, 1997

By J. F. Elliott

The thermodynamic behavior of sulfur and oxygen in copper matte has been measured by equilibration of the melt 00 a gas consisting of CO, SO2 and Ar. The oxygen potential ranges from 10-9 to 10-7 and that for sulfur from 10-4 to 10-2 atm. The work is a continuation of the earlier study by Luraschi and Elliott in our laboratory. A model has been developed that permits extra-polation of the results to ascertain compositions of the matte that are saturated with various oxides of iron.

Jan 1, 1983

By M. Cloete, C. MacLagan, A. Newall

This paper initially gives a brief overview of Zinc Corporation of South Africa Limited (Zincor). The original design parameters of the Zincor roasters are compared to the current operation, and the requirements for efficient roasting are listed. Roaster operational problems experienced during the early to mid 1990's are outlined. A description of the investigation and the outcome to increase overall roaster availability are given. The history and the development of the use of oxygen at the Zincor roaster operation, with an account of the associated operational experiences, are explained.

Jan 1, 2000

By Matthew Tunnicliffe, Akram Alfantazi, Paul Nesbitt, Farzad Mohammadi

"Lead and its alloys are proper candidates for anodes in electrowinning processes mainly because they are insoluble in the leach solutions and relatively cheap. However, the annual cost of corrosion problems associated with these anodes is millions of dollars. In this study lead-silver and lead-calcium anodes were tested under typical nickel electrowinning conditions and the effect of chloride on the corrosion performance of the anode materials was investigated. Corrosion rates of the anodes were calculated using the discharge plateau (reduction of lead dioxide to lead sulfate) after galvanostatic experiments. It was found that lead calcium anodes have the highest corrosion rate both in the presence and absence of chloride. Surface morphology of the electrodes was studied using SEM and the corrosion products were characterized using XRD.IntroductionLead (Pb) is usually the preferred material for commercial anodes since it is insoluble in the leach solution and the costs are manageable. One advantage of using an insoluble material as an anode is the higher purity of the cathodic deposits and better quality of the end product. During nickel electrowinning, metallic nickel is deposited on the cathode while oxygen evolution reaction (OER) takes place on the anode. In practice, relatively high potentials are necessary for the reaction to proceed at the desired rate because of the high overpotential of OER on lead. Lead anodes get oxidized in typical electrowinning conditions and usually have two to three years of lifetime. Although the price of each anode is insignificant, the overall cost of corrosion of these anodes is considerable, which is due to the large number of anodes used in a plant, typically two to three thousand. Therefore, corrosion is a significant problem associated with lead anodes in commercial nickel electrowinning plants and industries show interest in addressing this problem. Corrosion of lead electrodes in acidic environments has been previously the subject of many research studies [I-7]. It has been reported that, during the anodic polarization of lead, several phases may be present on the surface, depending on the potential range that is being studied [8]. Lander showed that lead is oxidized at potentials higher than 0.252 YsHE with tetragonal lead monoxide being the main reaction product [9]. At 0.666 YsHE lead can transform to lead dioxide; however, it is not stable and transforms to lead sulfate and lead oxide. At potentials higher than 1.684 YsHE, lead dioxide is eventually a stable phase and forms a protective layer on the surface [I 0, 11]. Under conditions of a typical nickel electrowinning plant, usually a 200 A/m2 current density is passed through the electrodes."

Jan 1, 2012

By D. G. C. Robertson

Counter-current staged reactors offer several advantages over batch reactors for mass transfer between two phases. Several metallurgical reactor designs have utilized the counter-current principle, e.g. the WORCA and QSL processes. But before the principle can be widely adopted, it will be necessary to overcome several significant problems. These include the need to minimize longitudinal mixing in a single reactor or to use several separate staged reactors and to carry out different reactions in sequence, e.g. phosphorus oxidation and sulfur reduction. Theoretical and experimental approaches to these problems will be discussed in the paper.

Jan 1, 1988

By A. I. Okunev

The investigation results are submitted on separation into layers in the systems Cu (Ni) - Fe - Ca - 0 - S - (Si), as well as on physico-chemical properties of oxide - ferrite, oxide-sulfide melts (density, surface tention, viscosity, electric conductivity), on kinetics and oxidation macromechanism of iron and sulfur in the oxide-silicate, oxide-ferrite and oxide-sulfide melts, kinetics of reduction of oxide-silicate and oxide-ferrite systems. Conditions are discussed for copper, nickel and zinc recovery from oxide-silicate and oxide-ferrite slag in liquid and solid states. Some promising technique is the technique of future, as is considered.

Jan 1, 1988

By C. Hecker, J. A. Garcia

To determine the kinetic reaction mechanism, electrochemical experimental techniques of stationary polarization, linear voltammetry and faradaic impedance were used. Gold electrodeposition experiments were realized using an electrolysis cell, provided· by a rotary disk of vitreous carbon and or' platinum counter electrode of platinum mesh and reference electrode. Using an automatic measurement system voltarnmograrns and Nyquist faradaic impedance spectra were obtained. In this paper, responses for different cases were analyzed through faradaic impedance criteria, considering several kinds of diagrams obtained. The importance diffusion influence of aurocyanide ions and adsorption as controlling steps previous charge transfer was verified. A model of proposed mechanism is discussed.

Jan 1, 1997

By James P. Bennen

Limited efforts have been made to recycle/reuse-spent refractory materials in the steel and aluminum industries of North America. The driving force is usually part of a larger waste reduction program. -Economic or legislative forces have not been a driving force for spent refractory recycling/reuse. Past and current spent refractory recycling / reuse practices will be reviewed, with emphasis on specific programs at steel and aluminum companies. Program goals and progress of the joint Office of Industrial Technologies-DOE/Steel Manufacturers Association program directed at spent refractory reuse with electric arc furnace steel producers will also be discussed.

Jan 1, 2000

By Myung Bae Kim, Yong Hack Lee, Woll Seung Lee

The Slag Fumer is the first Ausmelt furnace system adopted at the Onsan Refinery of Korea Zinc. This plant continuously treats the QSL lead smelting slag in the molten state. It has developed progressively since its first commissioning in October 1992 and has generated a confidence that it can produce an environmentally acceptable slag for use in cement manufacture and recover the zinc and lead in the slag as a fume oxide. This paper provides the operating experiences accumulated during the last eight years of operation, a summary of problems and solutions, and the current status of the operation.

Jan 1, 2000

By P. J. Harrington

The recovery and recycling of low concentration metal and other ions has traditionally been carried out using adsorption or ion exchange processes which, however, become uneconomical at higher concentrations, such as those that occur with many intermediate or waste streams where recycling is now being required. This paper describes the development of a process based on non-dispersive solvent extraction for the recovery of chromium (VI) from electroplating rinse water. During the chromium plating of steel, the concentration of chromium (VI) in the rinse bath rises to concentrations in the order of 100 mg/L when it becomes unusable and is then disposed of. The aim of this work was to investigate processes for recovery and recycling of the chromium in the rinse bath. The recovered chromium is required to be concentrated and purified before reuse. Tertiary amines have been shown capable of concentrating and purifying the chromium (VI) in solution. However, solvent extraction processes that have been applied to the recovery and reuse of metals from waste streams have had only limited success in the past, primarily because of the relatively high solvent losses when existing contacting equipment is used on low feed concentrations. Attempts to eliminate losses by immobilizing these complexing agents on substrates have not been successful. In order to control the losses and maintain specificity, a hollow fibre-contained liquid membrane has recently been trailed in a pilot plant to recover chromium from chromium plating waste streams. Details of the trial and modeling of the results are presented, and show that the level of losses is significantly reduced. However, issues relating to fouling still need to be addressed. This type of equipment has many applications in the recovery and recycling of a range of materials in the manufacturing processes.

Jan 1, 2003

Environmental and public concerns and the banned use of cyanide for the recovery of gold in some parts of the world have heightened the search for an alternative lixiviant to cyanide. Thiosulfate appears to be the most promising alternative to cyanide due to thiosulfate being non-toxic, relatively cheap compared to cyanide and generally gold recoveries are similar to those of cyanide. The most widely researched thiosulfate process is one where copper ions and ammonia are added to the solution. This paper reviews the leaching of gold in thiosulfate solutions and the contributions of the research at Monash University to the understanding of the gold oxidation reaction in thiosulfate solutions, the solution chemistry when copper ions, ammonia and oxygen are present, the influence of the changing solution chemistry on the gold leach kinetics, and the application of thiosulfate in the leaching of gold from ores. It is clearly shown that the gold oxidation rate is hindered in thiosulfate solutions. In the presence of copper ions the gold oxidation rate though is significantly enhanced and thus is why copper(II) is more effective than other oxidants in the thiosulfate leach system. The copper-ammonia-thiosulfate leach solution chemistry is shown to be very complex, especially in the presence of oxygen as the rate of thiosulfate oxidation increases and the majority of the copper ions are not maintained in the copper(II) oxidation state. The thiosulfate oxidation rate must also be maintained low as an intermediate thiosulfate oxidation product hinders gold leaching. In optimising the recovery of gold from ores with copper-ammonia-thiosulfate leach solutions it is important to evaluate and minimise any negative effect an ore may have on the leach solution chemistry and hence gold leaching.

Jan 1, 2003

By K. Verbeken, E. Wettinck, M. Verhaege

Iron (III) can easily and selectively be removed from acidic sulphate solutions with organo-phosphoric acids like Di-2-Ethyl-Hexyl-Phosphoric Acid [D2EHPA]. Stripping of the iron (III) loaded organic, however, is difficult unless highly concentrated inorganic acid solutions are used. In this paper results are shown for the enhanced stripping of iron from loaded D2EHPA by electro-reduction. The loaded solvent is contacted with a 2 M H2SO4 solution, which is continuously recycled in an electrochemical reactor where iron (III) is reduced to iron(II). As iron (II) is not extracted by D2EHPA, the equilibrium for iron (III)- D2EHPA is shifted towards the aqueous iron (Il)-sulphuric acid solution. The electro-reduction unit is a vessel with separated catholyte and anolyte chambers. The catholyte is the actual stripping solution where iron (III) is reduced to iron (II) on a stainless steel electrode. The anolyte is a 2 M H2SO4 solution where oxygen is evolved on a lead alloy electrode. A sintered glass plug separates the compartments. With this unit, enhanced stripping of iron from the solvent is possible under mild acid conditions [2 M H2SO4], and a concentrated ferrous sulphate solution can be obtained. The results shown have mainly been obtained by studying the parameters affecting the electro-reductive stripping of a D2EHPA loaded organic phase in a batch reactor. From an iron (IH)-saturated 20 vol. % D2EHPA solvent containing ~ 12.5 g/1 Fe (III) over 90% of the iron can be stripped in one stage with a 2 M H2SO4 solution at 50°C. It is shown that in this way it should be possible to obtain a concentrated ferrous sulphate solution which can be processed downstream to recover a pure iron product.

Jan 1, 2000

By David Dreisinger

The pressure oxidation of pyrite is an important hydrometallurgical technology, especially in the total oxidation of refractory gold ores and concentrates (gold is locked in the pyrite structure preventing direct cyanide recovery). It has been noticed in some commercial applications and benchscale studies that the leaching of pyrite may be slow and apparently can be inhibited by the presence of molten elemental sulfur in the leach pulp. The purpose of this study was to determine whether Ortho-Phenylene-Diamine (OPD) could be used as a surfactant or dispersant for sulfur in the pressure oxidation of pyrite. OPD has previously been shown to be useful for pressure leaching of zinc and copper sulfides at 150 C.In this work, the interfacial chemistry of sulfur was studied at temperatures of up to 190 C in the presence and absence of OPD and other surfactants. The contact angle between molten sulfur and pyrite was also measured. Finally, the impact of OPD on the kinetics of pyrite oxidation was measured in bench-scale pressure oxidation experiments. The essential finding of this study was that OPD lowers the interfacial tension between molten sulfur and acid solutions and increases the contact angle (reduces wetting) between molten sulfur and pyrite. The work of adhesion between sulfur and pyrite was reduced by more than an order of magnitude in the presence of OPD. In bench scale tests, addition of OPD was found to significantly accelerate the rate of oxidation of pyrite. Conveniently, it was found that OPD was also fully degraded during high temperature oxidation processes. No residual OPD was detected in solution or solid samples from the leach testing. OPD is recommended as a sulfur dispersant in the pressure oxidation of pyrite and/or elemental sulfur containing feeds.

Jan 1, 2003

By Gordon Holcomb, George R. St. Pierre, Robert A. Rapp

Carbon/Carbon composites offer promise as high-temperature structural materials. A primary limitation on their application is the need to provide protection against oxidation in hot oxidizing environments. Silicon carbide conversion coatings have been shown to provide extended protection at temperatures of 1600°C. SiC coated C/C components have been used in several aerospace applications. In the present paper, the preparation of carbon fibers and their treatment during subsequent processing into coated components are discussed with particular emphasis on the processing variables that can result in improved oxidation resistance. In particular, the influence of substrate inhibitors and selective sealants for cracks in coated C/C components are analysed.

Jan 1, 1988

By Kang-In Rhee

Nonferrous metal recycling not only provides energy saving and environmental benefits but also is a significant factor in the supply of various types of metals used in our society. Recycling plays an important role in establishing the sustainability of materials. The total amount of recycled nonferrous metals by weight accounts for less than 5% but their value is larger than 50% compared to ferrous metal recycling which consists of about half of the total metal recycling in weight. This paper describes trends and typical achievements in nonferrous metal recycling and overviews the present and future of nonferrous metal recycling technology and business in Korea.

Jan 1, 2006

By Kang-In Rhee

Nonferrous metal recycling not only provides energy saving and environmental benefits but also is a significant factor in the supply of various types of metals used in our society. Recycling plays an important role in establishing the sustainability of materials. The total amount of recycled nonferrous metals by weight accounts for less than 5% but their value is larger than 50% compared to ferrous metal recycling which consists of about half of the total metal recycling in weight. This paper describes trends and typical achievements in nonferrous metal recycling and overviews the present and future of nonferrous metal recycling technology and business in Korea.

Jan 1, 2006

By Kang-In Rhee

Nonferrous metal recycling not only provides energy saving and environmental benefits but also is a significant factor in the supply of various types of metals used in our society. Recycling plays an important role in establishing the sustainability of materials. The total amount of recycled nonferrous metals by weight accounts for less than 5% but their value is larger than 50% compared to ferrous metal recycling which consists of about half of the total metal recycling in weight. This paper describes trends and typical achievements in nonferrous metal recycling and overviews the present and future of nonferrous metal recycling technology and business in Korea.

Jan 1, 2006

By Qian Fu

Although chlorine fluxing to remove magnesium has been widely practiced in the aluminum industry for many years, there appear to have been few fundamental studies of the kinetics and transport phenomena involved. The paper describes such a study in which the rates of reaction of individual argon/chlorine bubbles with aluminum/magnesium melts were measured. The detachment of bubbles from a submerged nozzle, at variable depth in the melt, was detected by a microphone and the arrival of the bubble at the top surface by conductivity probes. Analysis of exit gases and mass balances yielded the overall progress of reaction. Experimental results are interpreted in terms of heterogeneous reaction kinetics and mass transport to the bubble-melt interface,

Jan 1, 1996

By G. F. Archer

Selenium and tellurium, trace metals found in copper smelting, report to blister copper during smelting. Winning these metals from anode slimes, the primary commercial source, is discussed. At Asarco's Amarillo Copper Refinery, slimes treatment segregates selenium and tellurium to a water-soluble soda slag. Aqueous precipitation of tellurium oxide and selenium by sulfur dioxide is valence dependent. Se+6 and Te+6, which constitute a portion of total selenium and tellurium, are not susceptible to this base case treatment. "Secondary Selenium" is formed from these hexavalent species. We describe a process whereby simultaneous oxidation of selenium and tellurium effects a separation. Process conditions for separating selenium dioxide, and efficiency of fume capture are examined.

Jan 1, 1995