Recovery of copper and cobalt from concentrate and converter slag

This study was designed to recover copper and cobalt hydrometallurgically from an enriched concentrate of flotation and converter slag. Three slag samples collected from the Ergani Copper Co. of Etibank were studied. In order to convert the copper and cobalt into sulfate compounds, samples were roasted after sulfurization and leached with water. The hydrometallurgical process involves sulfurizing the slag and then roasting the samples to form CuSO4 and CoSO4. The roasted samples were treated with water; copper and cobalt were dissolved while any other impurities remained in the solid phase. Very little iron was dissolved; only 0.2-0.3% of the total. The sulfurization experiments were carried out in a closed system and roasted at 600 degrees C for differ ent times to optimize the process. Under optimum conditions almost all of the copper and cobalt were dissolved and recovered in high purity and with high yield.