Abstract
Copper smelting slag from Luanshya town in the Copperbelt province of Zambia contains significant amounts of elemental sulphur (about 37 weight %) which was dumped by the community. Leached tests with and without pre-treatment were carried out on the material. Direct leaching (without pre-treatment) yielded maximum recovery of about 26% for copper, while cobalt and chromium could not be extracted. Pre-treatment was done by roasting the material in air at a temperature range of 150–700 °C. The roasted calcine was leached at 33% solids and pH of 1.8. Copper leach efficiency of about 82% was obtained. The dissolution of cobalt and chromium during leaching was dependent on roasting temperature. Leach efficiency for cobalt and chromium decreased with increase in roasting temperature. It was concluded that high sulphur containing slag material should be processed via air roasting followed by leaching.
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Namiluko YC et al (2023) Processing of Luanshya copper smelting slag. In: TMS annual meeting & exhibition. Springer
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Namiluko, Y.C., Hara, Y.R.S., Shane, A., Chitewo, B., Hara, R., Parirenyatwa, S. (2024). Investigation of Roast-Leach of High Sulphur Containing Slag from Luanshya, Zambia. In: TMS 2024 153rd Annual Meeting & Exhibition Supplemental Proceedings. TMS 2024. The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-50349-8_167
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-50349-8_167
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