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US 6,699,302 B1Granted
Treatment of metal sulphide concentrates by roasting and electrically stabilized open-arc furnace smelt reduction
AssigneeMintek
InventorsRodney T Jones, Nicholas A. Barcza, Gary Kaiura, Gary O'Connell, Anthony Hannaford
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Abstract
A process for treating a metal sulphide concentrate which includes the steps of: a) roasting the concentrate to reduce the sulphide content of the concentrate, to a negligible value and b) melting the concentrate, under reducing conditions, in an electrically stabilized open-arc furnace, in particular a DC arc furnace.
Claims19
A process for treating a metal sulfide concentrate which includes at least one metal selected from the group consisting of the PGMs, nickel, cobalt and zinc, the method comprising the steps of:
- dead-roasting the metal sulfide concentrate,
- smelting the dead-roasted concentrate under reducing conditions in an electrically stabilized open-arc furnace, and
- collecting any metals from the smelting step in the form of an alloy or vapor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.