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Activities of CoS and FeS in copper mattes and the behavior of cobalt in copper smelting

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Abstract

The distributions of cobalt and iron between metallic copper and high copper mattes were measured at 1400 and 1500 K. A value of 0.40 ±0.02 was found as the Raoultian activity coefficient of CoS at infinite dilution in the Cu2S-FeS-CoS mattes. The present activities of FeS in the Cu-saturated Cu2S-FeS mattes were found to deviate more positively than those reported by Krivsky and Schuhmann at 1623 K, and the positive deviation from the Temkin’s ideality was greater at 1400 K than at 1500 K. Using the activity coefficient of CoS, the partitions of cobalt between copper mattes and fayalitic slags were calculated for various conditions of copper smelting. It was found that cobalt exhibits, in the matte-slag equilibria, chemical properties intermediate between nickel and iron, but much closer to iron than to nickel. The overall recovery of cobalt in blister copper depends on matte grade, and is as low as 3 pct at best. When a high cobalt recovery is desired, therefore, a copper concentrate rich in cobalt must not be processed by conventional pyrometallurgical technology in view of the inevitably high loss to slag.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Metallurgical Engineering, University of Utah, 84112, Salt Lake City, Utah

    S. N. Sinha (Graduate Student)

  2. Centre de Recherches Minérales, Quebec Government, 2700 Einstein, G1P 3W8, Ste-Foy, Quebec, Canada

    M. Nagamori

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  1. S. N. Sinha
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  2. M. Nagamori
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M. NAGAMORI, formerly Associate Professor, Department of Metallurgical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.

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Sinha, S.N., Nagamori, M. Activities of CoS and FeS in copper mattes and the behavior of cobalt in copper smelting. Metall Trans B 13, 461–470 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02667762

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02667762

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