title: Characterization and recovery of copper values from discarded slag.
abstract: In any copper smelter large quantities of copper slag are discarded as waste material causing space and environmental problems. This discarded slag contains important amounts of metallic values such as copper and iron. The recovery of copper values from an Indian smelter slag that contains 1.53% Cu, 39.8% Fe and 34.65% SiO(2) was the focus of the present study. A complete investigation of the different phases present in the slag has been carried out by means of optical microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. It is observed that iron and silica are mostly associated with the fayalite phase whereas copper is present in both oxide and sulfide phases. These oxide and sulfide phases of copper are mostly present within the slag phase and to some extent the slag is also embedded inside the oxide and sulfide phases. The recovery of copper values from the discarded slag has been explored by applying a flotation technique using conventional sodium isopropyl xanthate (SIX) as the collector. The effects of flotation parameters such as pH and collector concentration are investigated. Under optimum flotation conditions, it is possible to achieve 21% Cu with more than 80% recovery.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Bhubaneswar, India. bdas@immt.res.in
authors.forename: Bisweswar
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Das
authors.forename: Barada Kanta
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Mishra
authors.forename: Shivakumar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Angadi
authors.forename: Siddharth Kumar
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Pradhan
authors.forename: Sandur
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Prakash
authors.forename: Jayakrushna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mohanty
mesh_terms: D003300:Copper / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D007220:Industrial Waste / Q000032:analysis*; D007501:Iron / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D008669:Metallurgy; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman; D018505:Waste Management
chemical_list: D007220:Industrial Waste; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; D003300:Copper; D007501:Iron