Improvements in the Atmospheric Scorodite Process
摘要
Due to the aging of ore deposits, there has been an increase in the content of impurities resulted in a higher content in copper concentrates, where Chile and Peru are both the largest producers worldwide, accounting together around 7.8 Mt/y. Among the different deleterious elements of copper concentrates, arsenic is among the most challenging for smelting and refining operations. Roasting is a key technology for handling high Arsenic (As), where this element is contained in flue dust or weak acid effluents requiring further treatments for its stabilization. Around 95 kt of arsenic is generated each year by the mining industry worldwide, overpassing the market demand. The industry in facing a big challenge in finding new ways to environmentally dispose of arsenic both in a stable form but also minimizing waste generation. Up to date, scorodite is one of the most stable forms for arsenical disposal; however, the technology for processing weak acid effluent requires the neutralization of residual sulfuric acid ending up with a residue with a mixture of scorodite and gypsum if calcium is the neutralizer of choice resulting in a relatively low arsenic content residue. Recently, EcoMetales has developed a process where in a certain range of sulfuric acid concentration a substantially free gypsum scorodite can be produced. The effect of different parameters was evaluated at a laboratory scale and proved the concept in the pilot plant with industrial effluents. Further, industrial tests are planned for the first semester of 2024 to validate the technology. In this work, the key aspects of this process, covering from lab-scale tests to industrial trials, are presented.