Understanding the possibility of using secondary raw materials when smelting copper sulphide concentrates in Almalyk MMC’s Vanyukov furnace

This paper describes a study that looked at utilizing secondary raw materials in copper production at Almalyk MMC. Because the site relies on autogenous smelting processes, a large amount of converter slags is generated. A part of the slags is processed in a reverberatory furnace, while the rest of them is dumped and then sent to a concentrator plant. Converter slag that contains 2.5 to 3.5% of copper is considered secondary raw material, and, together with ore (which contains 0.22 to 0.33% of copper), it goes through another concentration cycle and the resultant concentrate is then smelted. The end-to-end recovery of blister copper does not exceed 50%. Such low recovery of copper made it a relevant problem to find efficient ways for raising the recovery of copper from converter slags. For this purpose, the authors developed a two-stage process for processing converter slag in the Vanyukov furnace operated by Almalyk MMC while utilizing clinker as the secondary raw material. To date, more than 475 th. tons of clinker have been accumulated in the dumps. Clinker is used as a reducing agent for magnetite contained in converter slag during copper matte converting and as an additional material for recovering noble metals during Vanyukov furnace smelting of copper sulphide concentrates. Converter slag contains more than 50% of reducing elements in the form of metallic iron and carbon, as well as gold and silver in the amounts of 2.7 to 3.5 and 160 to 250 g/t, respectively. Up to 95% of them can be recovered into blister copper.

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