Interaction of chrome-free refractories with copper smelting and converting slags

Concern over the potential labeling of spent mag-chrome brick from copper production furnaces as hazardous waste has led to a joint research program by the University of Missouri-Rolla (USA) and the G.K.. Williams CRC for Extractive Metallurgy (Australia) to assess the usefulness of potential alternative materials, focusing on refractories in the magnesia-alumina system. In this presentation, a mineralogical assessment is made of the results of short-time (10 minutes) static exposure of commercial mag-alumina refractory samples to molten ferrous silicate slags typical of those used in commercial copper smelting and converting furnaces.