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Effects of Some Additives on Copper Losses to Matte Smelting Slag

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Abstract

Copper is lost to slag between 0.7 and 2.3 wt.% during the industrial copper matte smelting stage. In the present study, the aim was to minimize these losses in the slag phase by adding some fluxing agents like CaO, B2O3 and calcium borate (namely colemanite—2CaO·3B2O3·5H2O). Eti Copper Inc. (EBI) flash furnace smelter slag containing 0.88 wt.%Cu and matte with the addition each of CaO, B2O3 and colemanite up to 10 wt.% of the total charge were melted in a silica crucible placed in a vertical tube furnace at 1250°C under nitrogen atmosphere for 2 h. The experimental results of matte–slag–flux mixtures showed that the addition of all additives up to 4 wt.% led to a gradual decrease of the copper content in the final slags. Beyond this value, the copper losses to slag increased markedly with the increasing CaO and B2O3 additions. On the other hand, the colemanite addition of more than 4 wt.% did not substantially affect the copper losses to slag.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Boron Research Institute with project no. BOREN-2007-C0141 and METU. The support given by EBİ by supplying FFS-FFM samples and performing the wet chemical analysis is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Karamanoglu Mehmetbey University, 70100, Karaman, Turkey

    Aydin Rusen

  2. Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Middle East Technical University, 06800, Ankara, Turkey

    Ahmet Geveci & Yavuz Ali Topkaya

  3. Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, 34469, Istanbul, Turkey

    Bora Derin

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  1. Aydin Rusen
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  2. Ahmet Geveci
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  3. Yavuz Ali Topkaya
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Correspondence to Aydin Rusen.

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Rusen, A., Geveci, A., Topkaya, Y.A. et al. Effects of Some Additives on Copper Losses to Matte Smelting Slag. JOM 68, 2323–2331 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-016-1825-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-016-1825-1

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