Recovery of cobalt from converter slag of Chambishi Copper Smelter using reduction smelting process

The reduction smelting process for cobalt recovery from converter slag of the Chambishi Copper Smelter in Zambia was studied. The effects of reducing agent dosage, smelting temperature and time and the addition of slag modifiers (CaO and TiO2) were investigated. In addition, the depleted slag and cobalt-bearing alloy were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy. Under the determined conditions, 94.02% Co, 95.76% Cu and less than 18% Fe in the converter slag were recovered. It was found that the main phases of depleted slag were fayalite and hercynite; and the cobalt-bearing alloy mainly contained metallic copper, Fe-Co-Cu alloys and a small amount of sulfide.