Information is given about the need to dispose of waste from the Shymkent lead plant in the form of slags, which have accumulated about 2 million tons. It is proved that lead production slags contain a large number of toxic compounds, such as lead, zinc, osmium, and cadmium, which are dangerous sources of environmental pollution. According to the results of X-ray diffractometric analysis and DTA, it was found that the slag of lead produc- tion contains a fairly high number of non-ferrous metal compounds: the content of lead oxide up to 2 %, zinc oxide up to 17% and copper oxide up to 1.25% of the total weight of the sample. The qualitative composition and content of non-ferrous metals of lead slags makes it possible to make the process of recycling toxic waste from lead production technically and economically feasible. The results of preliminary tests allow us to select a technology for more complete and selective extraction of lead and zinc oxides from the slag waste of lead production. When using a selective method for extracting non- ferrous metals, it is expected to improve the ecological state of the environment and reduce the negative impact on human health due to the disposal of toxic slags from lead production. At the same time, a significant contribution is made to the development of the system of rational use of natural and secondary resources.

The object of the study is lead-containing slag dumps from a lead plant. The slags of the lead plant contain a large number of toxic compounds: lead, zinc, osmium, cadmium, which are dangerous sources of environmental pollution. Due to the open storage of slags, it was found that the maximum permissible concentrations of lead were exceeded. Utilization of lead production slags allows to obtain non-ferrous metals and to reduce the technogenic load on the environment as a result of processing of slags. At the same time, slags are valuable raw materials containing compounds of non-ferrous and rare-earth metals. The article proposes methods for the extraction of lead and zinc from slag waste and selects the optimal method for the selective extraction of zinc and lead oxides from dust and slags of lead production. The proposed technology of continuous carbon-free selective extraction of zinc and lead from the dust of electric steelmaking production allows the use of lead production slag, which is fed into a rotating drum furnace in two oppositely directed streams. During the movement of lead slag in the furnace drum and the burning of the torch, lead and zinc are more completely extracted from the dust-like material, where the transporting object is compressed air, and the purified flue gas after the gas is further purified by means of a smoke pump is released into the atmosphere. When using the proposed selective method for extracting non-ferrous metals, the ecological state of the environment will be improved, and it will also reduce the negative impact on human health due to the disposal of toxic slags from lead production.

As a result of the activities of the lead plant, about 2 million tons of waste in the form of lead- containing slags were accumulated. Lead production slags contain a large number of toxic heavy metal compounds, such as lead, zinc, osmium, and cadmium, which are dangerous sources of environmental pollution. Due to the open storage of slags, there is an excess of the maximum permissible concentrations (MPC) of lead: near the plant, the concentration of lead is more than 3000 mg/kg in the soil, with a MPC of 3.2 mg/kg. Lead and zinc compounds are dangerous to humans due to their significant toxicity and ability to accumulate in the body. Lead poisoning ranks first among professional intoxications. Waste water containing zinc compounds is not suitable for irrigation of fields, the negative effect of zinc compounds on microorganisms and microfauna of the soil reduces its fertility. The article presents the results of scientific studies of lead slag, conducted by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray microanalysis, performed on a scanning electron microscope (SEM) JEOL-6490 LV (Manufacturer: JEOL, Japan). The results of the thermal analysis of samples on the derivatograph of the F. Paulik, J. Paulik and L. Erdey system in the air environment, in the temperature range of 20-1000°C. are presented. According to the results of research, it was found that lead slags contain a sufficiently high amount of non- ferrous metal compounds: lead oxide up to 0.7 % and zinc oxide up to 8.5 % of the weight amount of slag, which makes the process of recycling toxic waste from lead production technically and economically feasible.