Copper production process

A process for the production of a crude solder product and a copper product comprising the step of

• a) providing a black copper composition comprising at least 50% wt of copper together with at least 1.0% wt of tin and/or at least 1.0% wt of lead,
• the process further comprising the steps of
• (i) refining a first portion of the black copper composition obtained from step a) to obtain a refined copper product together with at least one copper refining slag,
• (ii) recovering a first crude solder metal composition, as a first crude solder product, from the at least one copper refining slag, thereby forming a second solder refining slag in equilibrium with the first crude solder metal composition,
• the process further comprises the step of
• f) contacting a second portion of the black copper composition from step a), different from the first portion, with the second solder refining slag thereby forming a second spent slag and a second lead-tin based metal composition, followed by separating the second spent slag from the second lead-tin based metal composition.