What Is a Copper Slag?

Copper slag is a kind of non-ferrous metal slag produced during the copper smelting process. The waste slag discharged from the copper smelting by the reflection furnace method is the copper slag from the reflection furnace, and the copper slag from the blast furnace is the copper slag from the blast furnace. For each ton of copper smelted, the reflection furnace method will produce 10-20 tons of slag, and the blast furnace method will produce 50-100 tons of copper slag. Copper slag and quenched slag mixed with lime can be used as highway base course. The use of air-cooled copper slag as a railway ballast has a good effect. The molten copper slag can also be directly cast into dense and hard copper slag building stones, or the copper slag can be placed in the recovery chamber for oxidative melting, and then treated with a reduction method to recover granular copper.

Copper slag is a slag produced during the copper smelting process.

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Precious metal resources are scarce and expensive, and they are increasingly valued by countries around the world. Precious metal industrial waste is a precious secondary resource among the increasingly scarce precious metal resources in the world today. The effective treatment and utilization of these industrial wastes has considerable economic benefits. value. Copper slag contains a lot of available resources. The modern copper smelting process focuses on improving production efficiency and increasing the residual copper content in the slag. Recovery of this part of copper resources is the main purpose of processing copper smelting slag at this stage. Of course, most of the precious metals in the slag are symbiotic with copper, and most of the precious metals can be recovered at the same time as copper. The main minerals in the slag are iron-containing minerals, and the grade of iron generally exceeds 40%, which is much larger than the average industrial grade of iron ore 29.1%. Iron is mainly distributed in the olivine phase and magnetic iron oxide minerals, and iron concentrates can be obtained by magnetic separation. Obviously, in view of the characteristics of copper slag, basic theoretical research on the separation of valuable components was carried out, and a separation technology capable of re-recycling valuable components was developed to provide a technical basis for the industrialization of copper-containing slag re-resource industrialization. The development of science and technology has important practical significance.

Comprehensive utilization of copper slag can be roughly divided into two categories: one is to use the physical properties of copper slag, and the other is to use certain components in copper slag. With the increase of environmental protection requirements and the depletion of mineral resources, copper slag has a good prospect of comprehensive utilization. There is no mining cost in the process of beneficiation, depletion and flotation, and copper and its precious metals such as Au and Ag can be fully recovered. Tailings contain about 40% iron, and iron concentrate can be obtained through magnetic separation and enrichment.

Copper slag used in cement manufacturing industry

It can replace iron powder as mineralizer and iron corrector to produce Portland cement clinker and copper slag cement. The copper smelting water quenching slag is used as the main raw material, and a small amount of activator (gypsum and cement clinker) and other materials are finely ground. Compared with other types of cement, it has the characteristics of high strength, low hydration heat, small shrinkage, good frost resistance, corrosion resistance and abrasion resistance. It meets GBL64-82275 275 and 325 standards. The production process is simple, the investment can save 50% of the copper slag consumption (the slag consumption accounts for about 60% to 70% of the cement), and the energy consumption can be reduced by 50%. Products are suitable for plastering mortar, low-grade concrete and hollow small blocks.

Copper slag used in industrial and civil construction

(1) Brick making and various blocks

The copper smelting water quenching slag is used as aggregate, and it is pressed into cement in a certain proportion to be pressed into building materials such as slag bricks and heat insulation boards. In this type of product, the copper slag is added up to 90%. The product has the advantages of light weight, heat insulation and good impermeability; the energy consumption during production is relatively low, the process and operation are simple, and the investment is small, such as building a hollow with an annual output of 10,000 m2 (about 1.34 million pieces) The small block factory requires an investment of about 180,000 yuan, a profit of 300,000 yuan per year, and the consumption of copper slag can reach more than 20,000 tons.

(2) Replace sand and stone for the preparation of concrete and masonry mortar

Steelmaking slag replaces sand to prepare concrete and mortar. Its mechanical properties and durability are good, and the strength is better than ordinary sand and concrete. Zhongtiaoshan Nonferrous Metals Company is short of sand. Applying this result, it can obtain a net benefit of 940,000 yuan per year, while saving 160,000 yuan in slag discharge freight, 45 million yuan in slag yard leveling, and a total income of 114.5 Ten thousand yuan.

Copper slag is used as filler in mining industry

In mining cementation filling, copper slag can either replace yellow sand as aggregate, or replace finely ground Portland cement as active material after fine grinding. It is used in the Tonglushan Mine in Daye and Jinkouling in Tongling.

Copper slag used in cast stone production

Cast stone is generally made of basalt, diabase and other raw materials after melting into a glass body, casting it into a product, and then making it through processes such as crystallization annealing. Cast stone has abrasion resistance, corrosion resistance, insulation, high hardness, high compression resistance and other properties, and can be used instead of metal, alloy and rubber products. The chemical composition of copper slag is similar to that of cast stone. If the copper slag contains high iron, the iron can be separated by magnetic separation first, and then the corresponding additives can be added to the non-magnetic part as raw materials for the production of cast stone. In recent years, many countries have used cast slag as raw materials to produce cast stone products, including plates, pipes and other shaped products. ^[1]