TITLE:
Characterization and Pyrometallurgical Removal of Arsenic from Copper Concentrate Roasting Dust
AUTHORS:
Hector Henao, Ignacio Paredes, Rodrigo Diaz, Javier Ortiz
KEYWORDS:
Copper Smelter Dust, Electrostatic Precipitators of Copper, Removal of Arsenic, Sulfidation, Roasting Process, Fluidized Bed Roasting
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering,
Vol.9 No.6,
November
18,
2021
ABSTRACT: This paper describes the experimental results of removing arsenic from the dust collected in electrostatic precipitators of a fluidized bed roasting furnace (RP dust). The fluidized bed roasting process generates 600 kilotons of copper concentrate per year with 3 - 6 wt% of concentration of arsenic, producing a roasted product with a low content of arsenic below 0.3 wt%. The process generates 27 kilotons of RP dust per year with a concentration of arsenic of the order of 5 wt% and copper concentration of around 20 wt%. Subsequently, the dust collected in the electrostatic precipitators is treated by hydrometallurgical methods allowing the recovery of copper, and the disposition of arsenic as scorodite. This work proposes to use a pyrometallurgy process to the volatilization of arsenic from RP dust. The obtained material can be recirculated in copper smelting furnaces allowing the recovery of valuable metals. The set of experiments carried out in the roasting of the mixture of copper concentrate/RP dust and sulfur/RP dust used different ratios of mixtures, temperatures and roasting times. By different techniques, the characterization of the RP dust determined its size distribution, morphology, and chemical and mineralogical composition. RP dust is a composite material of small particles (