Copper Flash Smelting Flue Dust as a Source of Germanium

Characterization of Two Sludges from a Pyrometallurgical Copper Smelting Complex for Designing a Se and Pb Recovery Proposal

“…This chemical species was not detected in the thermal analysis since the decomposition of Cu 2 S occurs at a higher temperature (> 1100 °C). Moreover, the presence of these particles and the CuS, detected in the thermal analysis, confirm that Cu was found as sulphides and sulphates in this sludge [17,21]. According to the results obtained in the TGA analysis, and considering the Cu concentration, it is estimated that the SC contained about 4% of this compound.…”

“…Considering the consulted literature, these elements could be as oxides (As 2 O 3 and Bi 2 O 3 ) [6,23,32,50,52]. Furthermore, the SS sample present around 2% Ge which could be as GeO and/or GeS 2 [18], but these compounds were also not detected by the previous characterization techniques.…”

“…Particle size distribution in % volume (a) and % cumulative volume (b) of the samples be detected by the XRD. The formation of a high amorphous fraction can be due to the fast cooling produced in the gas scrubbing [17,21].…”

“…The XRF analysis showed a high concentration of As, Bi, Cu and Sn, but no mineral phases of these were identified by XRD, suggesting that they are found in the so-called amorphous phase, which could contain these elements either as a poorly crystalline phase or other microcrystalline phases, which cannot be detected by the equipment. The formation of a large amorphous fraction can be due to a short cooling time in the gas cleaning system [17,21]. In Fig.…”

“…Moreover, other authors have studied the removal/stabilization of hazardous elements, such as As and Cd [14][15][16]. Other works suggest the recovery of high added-value elements, such as Ge and Se [17][18][19].…”