THE DISTRIBUTION RULES OF ELEMENT AND COMPOUND OF COBALT/IRON/COPPER IN THE CONVERTER SLAG OF COPPER SMELTING PROCESS

In ISA copper smelting process, recovery Co from the converter slag usually through reduction and vulcanization method. While Co usually exists in fayalite and iron oxide, in the form of isomorphism-phase by replace of Fe. By analyses different micro areas of the converter slag using SEM and EDS, the distribution trends of Fe and Co, Cu and Co were acquired. The results indicate that the percentage of compositions of Fe and Co present positive correlation, while those of Cu and Co present negative correlation. According to the distribution trends, the distribution curves of Fe similar to Co and Cu similar to Co are fitted, and the mechanism has been studied based on the oxidation order of the three metal sulfide as FeS > CoS > Cu2S, and the similarity of the element property of Cu and Co such as atom outer shell electron distribution and ionic radius, which will provide necessary theoretical reference for effective recovery of cobalt by reduction smelting process.