Analyzing Gold and Silver Recovery from Copper Smelting to Anode Slime Treatment
摘要
Precious metalsPrecious metals, goldGold and silverSilver, are valuable by-products of processingProcessing copper sulfideCopper sulfides concentratesSulfide concentrate, significantly enhancing the revenue of custom copper smeltersCopper smelter and miners, especially during challenging market conditions characterized by low treatment and refiningRefining charges. They gradually accumulate in matteMatte, copperCopper blisterBlister, copper anodeCopper anodes, and copper anode slimeCopper Anode Slime (CAS), treated at the precious metalPrecious metals plant. While various processes and technologiesTechnology can influence precious metalPrecious metals yields, recovery ratesRecovery Rates for goldGold and silverSilver are often underreported during copper smeltingCopper Smelting and CAS treatment. In this study, we attempt to predict goldGold and silverSilver first-pass recovery ratesRecovery Rates across different processingProcessing steps, considering mechanisms of precious metalPrecious metals loss. We utilize commonly reported data in the literature such as the mass of phase streams, slag tappingSlag tapping temperature, copperCopper physical loss in slagSlag, precious metalPrecious metals partition coefficients, the slagSlag bulk Fe/SiO2 ratio, and matteMatte copperCopper percentage. Additionally, we evaluate different processingProcessing techniques for CAS, with a focus on the first-pass recoveryRecovery of precious metalsPrecious metals. Our findings reveal integrated processingProcessing routes that maximize the goldGold and silverSilver recovery ratesRecovery Rates, providing valuable insights for optimizing techniques and enhancing economic viability.