The changing of the guard: Genetic lineage replacement as the hidden driver of pollution tolerance in Сollembola.

The present study investigates the thermodynamic and technological parameters governing the direct-to-blister smelting of copper sulfide concentrates in a dual-zone Vanyukov furnace (PV furnace). Industrial slag and matte samples obtained from the Balkhash Copper Smelter (Kazakhmys Smelting LLP) were analysed using synchronous thermal analysis (STA 449 F3 Jupiter) to determine complete melting temperatures. Laboratory-scale smelting experiments were conducted to determine the compositions of blister copper and smelting-zone slags under controlled oxygen-blowing conditions. Process balance calculations were performed using dedicated software (PV-BALH) to quantify the effects of burden moisture, oxygen enrichment, specific oxygen consumption, and reductant loading on melt temperature, off-gas composition, and product quality. The complete melting temperatures of PV furnace slag and converter slag were determined to be 1172.1 °C and 1195.2 °C, respectively, confirming that the operative process temperature of 1300 °C provides an adequate superheat margin. Laboratory direct-smelting trials produced blister copper containing 94.2–96.3 wt.%. Cu at a process temperature of 1300 °C. The specific oxygen consumption required to transition from matte smelting (220 Nm³/t burden) to direct-to-blister operation (470 Nm³/t burden) was quantified. The optimal burden composition was established as: Cu ≥ 15 wt.%, S ≥ 30 wt.%, SiO₂ ≈ 15 wt.%, moisture ≤ 6 wt.%. The target slag composition after reduction-zone treatment should contain 28–32 wt.% SiO₂, Fe₃O₄ ≤ 8 wt.%, and Cu ≤ 0.7 wt.%. These findings provide, for the first time, a coherent dataset for the Vanyukov furnace operating in direct-to-blister mode, as no industrial plant currently uses this configuration.

Toward precise management of groundwater by combined heavy metal(loid)s contamination at industrial sites: A machine learning driven source-to-risk zoning framework.

Hydrogen bond network regulation via additive engineering to boost silica precipitation during metal extraction from copper smelting slag

Magnetic copper smelting slag coupled with sodium percarbonate for tetracycline degradation: performance evaluation and mechanistic insights

The generation of slag from copper smelting is between 40 and 45 Mt per year. However, the utilisation of this material in large-scale applications remains limited. This study evaluates the combined use of copper slag as a fine natural aggregate substitute (50, 75, and 100%) and natural mordenite-type zeolite as a partial cement replacement (25, 40, and 55%) in the development of sustainable mortars. The samples were characterised using XRF, particle size distribution, and density analysis, and sixteen mixtures were produced. The consistency and water demand in fresh state, the flexural and compressive strength at 7 and 28 days, and the porosity measurements of the hardened mortars were analysed. The results demonstrate that zeolite significantly increases water demand, leading to higher porosity (27–34%) and reduced mechanical strength (14–31 MPa). Conversely, copper slag decreases the water-to-cement ratio and produces denser matrices with the lowest porosity values (8–13%), achieving compressive strengths at 28 days that are higher (53–58 MPa) than the reference mortar (50 MPa). In hybrid mixtures, slag partially mitigates the porosity increase induced by zeolite, revealing a favourable interaction between both materials. Mixtures containing 75–100% copper slag and 25% zeolite (MZ-8 and MZ-9) exhibited balanced porosity (18–21%) and mechanical performance (38–39 MPa), confirming their suitability for mortar applications. The findings demonstrate that the joint incorporation of copper slag and natural zeolite is a viable strategy for producing eco-efficient mortars while reducing clinker and natural aggregate consumption.

Neglected but potentially significant emissions of unintentional persistent organic pollutants from primary copper smelting industry.

Insights into air pollution at an urban site in the Greater Cairo Megacity: Minor PM2.5 sources with significant health risks

Deepening insights into the spatiotemporal dynamics and multi-scenario projections of Pb, Hg, Cr, Cd, and As emissions from China's copper-lead-zinc smelting industry.

Simulating the copper distribution in coastal waters and sediments in Quintero Bay and adjacent shores.

A critical review on cu/as separation in copper smelting waste acids: Separation strategies, sulfurization competition mechanisms, and perspectives

ABSTRACT Cobalt is an important accompanying element in copper sulfide concentrates and a critical metal for lithium-ion batteries. Understanding its distribution during copper smelting is therefore essential for improving cobalt recovery. In this study, the distribution behaviour of cobalt during copper smelting was investigated by combining thermodynamic calculations with laboratory smelting experiments. The thermodynamic results show that, under high-temperature equilibrium conditions, increasing matte copper grade, decreasing matte iron content, and increasing oxygen partial pressure reduce cobalt partitioning to matte and favour its transfer to slag in oxidised forms. Laboratory smelting experiments at 1300°C under O2-enriched gas injection were conducted to validate the thermodynamic predictions. The results indicate that cobalt is distributed between matte and slag through both chemical dissolution and physical entrainment. Under the present experimental conditions, the cobalt mass distribution ratio was higher at moderate-to-low matte grade and lower oxygen enrichment concentration, whereas higher matte grade and higher oxygen enrichment concentration promoted cobalt transfer to slag. SEM-EDS analysis further showed that cobalt in the solidified slag mainly occurs in secondary precipitates, including Fe-Ca-Si-O silicates and spinel solid solutions. These findings improve the understanding of cobalt distribution behaviour during copper smelting and provide guidance for optimising cobalt recovery.

Large-scale stockpiling of copper smelting slag (CSS) poses significant environmental risks, and its utilization in backfill mining offers a promising strategy for waste reduction and resource recovery. This study investigates an alkali-activated CSS-based filling material (CSSFM) prepared using cement clinker, gypsum, slaked lime, and NaOH as activators. Unlike previous studies that focused primarily on mechanical performance or incorporated fly ash as a secondary precursor, this work achieves a high slag incorporation rate of 69% while systematically examining mechanical behavior, heavy metal immobilization mechanisms, and leaching kinetics. The optimized mixture attained a 28-day uniaxial compressive strength of 32.43MPa, meeting the mechanical requirements for backfill applications. Leaching tests revealed that after 28days of curing, Cu2+, Zn2+, and As3+ concentrations decreased by 70.3%, 76.1%, and 64.7% respectively, with final values of 0.22, 0.16, and 0.30mg/L. All these values are well below the limits stipulated by the Chinese Hazardous Waste Identification Standard (GB 5085). Kinetic analysis showed that the pseudo-first-order model accurately described Cu2+ and Zn2+ leaching, with correlation coefficients of 0.989 and 0.953, while As3+ exhibited more complex behavior with a correlation coefficient of 0.848 and a longer half-life of 18.51days. SEM-EDS analysis further elucidated the immobilization mechanisms. Cu2+ was stabilized through Cu(OH)₂ precipitation and adsorption onto C-S-H gel. As3+ was immobilized via formation of insoluble calcium arsenate and isomorphous substitution of SO42- by AsO43- within the AFt structure. Zn2+ was primarily encapsulated within the C-S-H/AFt network. This study provides a mechanically reliable method for CSS reuse in backfill mining, with short-term leaching tests indicating compliance with regulatory standards for environmental safety.

Prediction and Mechanism Analysis of Matte Grade and Arsenic Content in Copper Smelting Using an Interpretable BO-XGBoost Model

Study on the sulfidation kinetics of copper smelting waste acid and electrolytic refining purification solution for efficient Cu/As separation.

Arsenic removal and recovery of copper, zinc, and indium from complex scrap copper smelting dust

This study presents the analysis and modeling of the thermal regime of a furnace lining at an industrial copper smelting facility using a combined approach based on neural network (NN) technologies and the finite element method (FEM). Experimental temperature data were collected from a laboratory setup equipped with three thermocouples (TP-2488/1 and TCRosemount 0065), with a sampling frequency of 1 Hz over a total duration of 5 hours, resulting in 18,000 measurement points. The measurement uncertainty of the thermocouples did not exceed ±1.5 °C. These data were used both for model development and for validating the numerical FEM simulations. A feedforward neural network was trained using 70% of the dataset, while 15% and 15% were used for validation and testing, respectively. The prediction error of the neural network remained within 3% with a 95% confidence interval of [2.6%, 3.4%]. The results show that the proposed hybrid approach improves temperature prediction accuracy and reduces static control error by 15% when combined with a proportional-integral controller. The methodology demonstrates significant potential for improving thermal process stability and reducing energy consumption in high-temperature metallurgical systems.

Lead cake forms from dust as a result of the gas cleaning process during copper smelting. The objective of this study was to develop equipment and technology for a continuous hydrometallurgical method for extracting osmium from the lead cake. In this method, leaching is carried out using an aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide and sulfuric acid. During the leaching, rhenium is converted into an acidic solution from which rhenium can be easily extracted into a marketable product. Osmium is predominantly converted into a solution, the processing of which, including the extraction of osmium into a marketable product, will be published later. A unit for leaching osmium–rhenium-containing cake with continuous loading for leaching, continuous feeding of leaching solutions, and continuous discharge of the leaching slurry was created. Using the simplex experimental design method, the dependence of osmium recovery on the consumption rates of hydrogen peroxide and sulfuric acid and the leaching duration was studied. Near-optimal leaching conditions were as follows: 68–70 mL of 30% hydrogen peroxide and 7 mL of concentrated sulfuric acid per 100 g of cake, 55 min of leaching, and a specific column throughput of 100 g of cake per 55 min. Nine experiments achieved 96.5% osmium recovery.

Numerical Simulation of Mixing Efficiency and Furnace Lining Wear in Oxygen-Enriched Side-Blown Copper Smelting Furnaces

The accumulation of copper smelting slags generated by non-ferrous metallurgy represents both an environmental challenge and a potential source of technogenic raw materials for value-added products. In this study, the feasibility of producing magnesia–quartz proppants from secondary copper smelting slag formed after the pyrometallurgical extraction of iron and zinc was investigated. The slag, primarily composed of oxides of the SiO2–CaO–Al2O3–MgO system, was processed by centrifugal melt granulation to obtain spherical granules suitable for proppant applications. The initial granules exhibited an amorphous glassy structure and insufficient mechanical strength, with up to 70% of particles destroyed under a pressure of 34.5 MPa. Controlled heat treatment within the temperature range of 300–1000 °C induced crystallization of silicate and aluminosilicate phases, leading to a significant improvement in mechanical performance. Optimal properties were achieved after holding at 800 °C for 60 min, where the fraction of crushed granules decreased to 10%, meeting the requirements of GOST R 54571-2011. The influence of MgO content on microstructure and strength was also examined. Increasing the MgO concentration from 5 to 16 wt.% resulted in grain refinement and improved crushing resistance, reducing the fraction of destroyed granules to 3%. To enhance chemical durability, a phenol–formaldehyde protective coating was applied, decreasing proppant solubility in a hydrochloric–hydrofluoric acid mixture from 19% to 2%. These results demonstrate that secondary copper smelting slag can serve as a promising raw material for producing standard-compliant proppants while contributing to the efficient utilization of metallurgical waste.