IMPOVERISHMENT OF CONVERTER SLAGS BY MIXING PHASES

摘要

In the current technology of processing copper concentrates, a considerable amount of copper (in the form of converter slag) circulates among smelting and converter operations, where the copper content in converter slags from various plants in the world are 2.5-4.0 percent [1]. In order to reduce the amount of incomplete production, it is important to reduce the copper content of converter slags. One of the possible and simplest methods of slag impoverishment is by mixing phases. It calls for an intensive contact of the slags to be impoverished with the extracting phase introduced to the process as a finished form [2]. Impoverishment effect is effected by substituting the extracting phase for the initial bottom phase. As the extracting phase it is possible to use matte from the smelting unit; this is in good agreement with the current two-stage system of producing blister copper (smelting-converting) being used at most copper smelting plants and is efficient, since no additional amounts of low-copper matte form and the impoverishment process can be performed directly in converters.