Copper recovery by flotation
concentrates smelted. For instance,
Slag composition loses priority to controlled cooling of the slag.
by K. N. Subramanian and N. J. Themelis
In recent years, some copper
smelters have turned to the use of
milling for recovering the copper
content of converter type slags. The
reasons for doing this have in-
cluded the advent of concentrate
smelting in converters using oxy-
gen-enriched air, as at the Hitachi
smelter in Japan,1 the need to mini-
mize magnetite accumulation in the
reverberatory furnace, as at Nao-
shima,2 and the introduction of new
smelting processes, such as the
Outokumpu flash smelting3.4 at
Harjavalta, Finland.
The gradual acceptance of slag
milling indicates that, in certain
cases, the advantages of this
method outweigh the capital and
operating costs which are asso-
ciated with it. This has also been
the conclusion in the development
of the Noranda Process for the con-
tinuous smelting and converting of
copper concentrates. 9
The three smelters mentioned
above have published their operat-
ing data on the milling of slags. The
objective of this paper is to crit-
ically review this information, and
compare it with the results of a
study of the effects of slag compo-
sition and cooling history on the
grindability and flotation of con-
verter and Noranda Process slags.
The results of other laboratory work
in Japans and the U.S.S.R.6,7,8 are
also discussed.
Table I-Industrial and laboratory data on the milling of slags
Source of Slag Hitachil
Composition of slag:
% Cu 4.0
% SiO. 20.0
% Fe 46.0
% Fe.O. 20
Cooling conditions: Cast into pigs
Grinding ball mill
Fineness of grind 90% -325 rn.
Cu in non-magnetic concentrate 59.4
Cu in slag concentrate 24.0
Cu in tailing 0.40
Concentration ratio 5.60
% recovery of copper 94.3
FORMS OF COPPER IN SLAGS
The subject of the forms of cop-
per loss in smelting and converting
slags has received much attention
in the literature.1°,l1 It is generally
recognized that the solubility of
copper increases with increasing
matte grade and degree of oxida-
tion, and also with decreasing silica
concentration of the slag.
Roughly one-half of the copper
loss in reverberatory slags is in the
form of entrained matte globules.
The proportion of entrained copper
is higher for converter slags due
to the fact that there is severe mix-
ing between the matte and slag
layers, and the entrained particles
have less opportunity to settle out
of the slag.
In conventional smelting, the
converter slag is recirculated to the
reverberatory furnace where, under
relatively quiescent conditions, the
slag becomes silica-saturated and
most of the copper is recovered in
the matte layer. Reverberatory
slags at most smelters contain be-
tween 0.3-0.6% copper, depending
on the smelting practice and the
matte grade produced.
REVIEW OF MILLING STUDIES
In contrast to the pyrometallurgi-
cal treatment, which requires silica-
saturated slags, low-silica slags
(20-25% Si02 ) are preferable in the
milling process due to the fact that
they are easier to grind; also, there
is less slag produced per ton of
Harjavalta,,4
Flash
Furnace Converter
Naoshima" Slag Slag
3.0 1-1.5 4.0
19.1 29.0 23.0
49.4 44.0 38.5
25 13 20 (est'd)
Cast inlo pigs Slow-cooled in pits
ball mill autogenous
CO 93% - 325 rn. 90% -270 m.
21.3 18.2
0.32 0.32
7.73 6.67
92.3 90.1
a smelting operation utilizing a
70% silica flux produces nearly one
ton of 38% silica slag per ton of
concentrate smelted (27% Cu). A
similar operation based on the mill-
ing of a 22% silica slag will pro-
duce only 0.75 ton of slag per ton of
concentrate. The typical composi-
tion of slags milled at three smelt-
ers and other operating data are
shown in Table I.
Recent data on the distribution of
copper, silver, and gold in the tail-
ings and slag concentrates of three
smelters are shown in Table II. This
information was provided by Nip-
pon Mining16 and Mitsubishi Metal
Mining17 for inclusion in this paper.
Effect of Cooling Rate
During solidification and cooling
of the slag, a large fraction of the
dissolved copper content precipi-
tates out of solution in the form of
fine particles. These may consist of
matte, copper sulfide, or metallic
copper, depending on the state of
oxidation of the slag. The precipi-
tated particles may grow by coagu-
lation with other globules, or by
further precipitation of solute cop-
per.
The size distribution of the pre-
cipitated particles determines the
effectiveness of the milling treat-
ment to a large degree. Fig. 1
shows that in granulated converter
slag, which represents the most
drastic form of cooling, there is no
evidence of copper precipitation;
on the other hand, a slowly-cooled
slag (Fig. 2) contains a multitude of
microscopic particles which are
amenable to recovery by grinding
and flotation.
For instance, laboratory milling
tests on converter slag produced at
the Noranda smelter (1.5% Cu)
have shown that a slowly-cooled
slag yielded a 0.4% copper tailing.
Laboratory Studies
Work at North
Slags from Caucasian Min·
Mednegorsk ing and Met.
plant' Instituteo;
2.2 3.5
23.4 24.8
45.2 46.8
32
laboratory mill laboratory mill
98% -270 m. 97.3% -325 m.
20.0 27.6
0.21 0.27
9.90 8.18
91.8 93.0
APRIL 1972, JOURNAL OF METALS-33
Fig. 1-Granulated converter slag (200X). Fig. 2-Slow-cooled converter slag (200X).

In comparison, milling of the same growth of the precipitated particles tend to promote the formation of
slag after granulation by water can take place. Granulated slags the amorphous vitreous phase and
quenching resulted in a 0.7% cop- were reheated to temperatures thus inhibit the precipitation of sul-
per tailing. close to the melting range and were fide particles. Zinc content in the
The effect of cooling rate on cop- " annealed" for different periods of slag above the 4% level has a simi-
per recovery was demonstrated at time. The samples were then lar effect.
Naoshima2 by comparative grinding cooled, ground and leached in am- The silica content of the slag
and flotation tests on slowly-cooled monia to determine the amount of affects its hardness and hence the
slag and on slag which was cast in precipitated copper sulphide. Figs. grindability. Dukhanin 6 has shown
an iron mold and water-quenched; 4 and 5 show clearly the beneficial that the relative grindability of con-
the tailings contained 0.20% and effect of the annealing treatment at verter and reverberatory slags is
0.65% copper, respectively. In nor- temperatures close to the melting 1.0 and 0.77, respectively. On this
mal practice at the plant, where the range of the slag. scale, results at Noranda have
slag is cast in iron molds and air- Apart from its effect on copper shown that the grindability of a
cooled, the copper content in the recovery, slow cooling also im- chalcopyrite ore is about 2, i.e.,
tailing is 0.32% (Table I). proves the grindability of the slag. 7 converter slag is nearly twice as
Laboratory milling tests by Alim- The relative grindability of slags hard to grind as copper ore. The
baev et al. 7 have shown (Fig. 3) that cooled at different rates are shown high consumption of grinding
the copper loss in the tailing de- in Table III. Slow cooling promotes media is an important cost factor in
creases with slow cooling rates and the formation and growth of crys- slag milling , and has led to the
fineness of grind. talline phase which is easily adoption of autogenous grinding at
ground. Fast cooling renders the the Harjavalta smelter. However,
Yazawa and Kameda5 have dem- slag structure amorphous and in- the Hitachi and Naoshima smelters
onstrated that an important factor hibits fine grinding. use cast iron balls for grinding.
in the precipitation process is the
residence time of the slag at a tem- Effect of Composition
MILLING OF NORANDA PROCESS
perature just below the melting Yazawa and Kameda 5 have SLAGS
range of the slag, when maximum shown that alumina or lime in slag As noted earlier, th is study was
mainly concerned with the milling
Table II-Distribution of copper, silver, and gold in the milling products
of slags produced in the Noranda
of three smelters Process for the continuous smelting
and converting of copper concen-
Concentration trates. 9 A low-silica slag (20-24%
Distribution (%)
Copper Silver Gold - -- - -- - -- Si0 2) is produced in the converting
% glt glt Copper Silver Gold
zone of the reactor where the slag
Nippon Mining CO.\IO
Hitachi smelter is in intimate contact with high-
Converter slag 100
Non-magnetic concentrat e
4.05
44 .05
56
812
0.7
10.2 29 .7
100
39 .6
100
41.2
grade matte (77% Cu) and metallic
Flotation concentrate
Flotation tails
22.59
0.34
268
4.1
3.2
0.04
63.0
7.25
54 . 1
6.3
53. 6
5.2
copper.
Saganoseki smelter
(to March 1969)
This slag is highly oxidized and
Con verter slag
Flotation concentra te
3.64
26.41
34
240
1.4
10.4
100
91 .6
100
89.2
100
93.6
contains 20-30% Fe30 4 in soluble
Flotation tails 0.35 4.0 0.1 8.4 10.8 6.4 and entrained form. Following some
Mitsubishi Metal Mining Co. "
Naosh ima smelter settling in the slag zone, the tapped
Con verter slag 4.8 7 31 0.4 100 100 100
Flotation conc entrate 28.53 191 2.8 93.4 97.3 100 slag contains 8-12% copper. Mi-
Flotation tails 0.38 1 Trace 6.6 2.7
croscopic examination of rapidly-

34-JOURNAL OF METALS, APRIL 1972

 tr:
1.0 1.0
I WATE~ -OuE N Cli£D SLAG W <!) 0---
U.
2 AIR · COOLED SL AG Q. <t 0.8
<!)
l . SLAG FROM CONTROLL CO eo 8 J
en
c(
J
,. en
o z 0 .6 0 .8
70 h. ~
w a: 0 .4
..
o \oJ a:
a.. 0.2 \oJ
60
<>
l:! a.. ' "0
a..
a..
0 .6
8 - -- I I 0
u
0~ a 800 1000 1200
0~ 0 ·4
TEMPERATURE. ·C .
Fig . 4-Effect of annealing temperature
on copper content of slag after leach- a 2 4 6 8
ing. '> TIME. hr.
~ 0.2
Q.
Q.
Fig. 5-Eftect of annealing time at
o
(J tailing. The optimum combination 1000° C on copper content after leach-
0 ,1 '--_-'-_--'-_ --1_ _.1.-_-1 ing. ·S
~

50 60 70 eo 90
fiNE NE SS Of GR IND. %-325 MESH
Fig. 3-Effect of cooling rate and fine-
ness of grind on laboratory milling of
slags .~
quenched slag (granulated slag) in-
dicates that the soluble copper rep-
resents nearly two thirds of the
copper content. These results are
in agreement with thermodynamic
studies on the solubility of copper
in slags equilibrated with metallic
copper.1 2-14
The magnetite and copper con-
tent of the Noranda Process slags
can be reduced to the 10-12%
Fe;j0 4 and 2-3% Cu levels, by add-
ing concentrate and reducing gas
in the slag zone. However, as will
be shown later, this treatment has
little effect on the copper loss in
the tailing.
Open-circuit flotation tests were
initially carried out to establish the
feasib ility of slag milling and to
determine the requ ired fineness of
grind and flotation reagents. It was
found that a fine grind (about 90%
- 325 mesh) was essential to pro-
duce an acceptable low-copper
100
of reagents was 0.20 Ib/ton slag of
sodium isopropyl xanthate and an Effect of Cooling Rate on 'Sizeof Copper
equal quantity of Z-200 (isopropyl Particles in Slag
Slags produced in the 100 tpd
ethyl thionocarbamate); pine oil
and MISC (methyl isobutyl carbinol) pilot plant of the Noranda Process
were found to be suitable frothers . were cast in steel molds 50 150
Pilot plant tests were conducted and 350 Ib of slag capacity. Durin~
at the Noranda, Quebec, concen- solidification, the cooling rates at
trator at grinding 'and flotation rates various depths in the slag were
of 200 Ib slag/hr. This work was measured by means of thermo-
then followed by a full-scale mill- couples inserted through the mold
ing test at the same plant during walls. After cooling, the slag pigs
were sectioned to provide samples
which 1500 tons of slag were milled
which were representative of a par-
at the rate of 15 tph. The overall
ticular cooling rate.
results of this test showed that a
Pieces of each slag sample were
tailing of 0.5% Cu had been pro- mounted, polished, and examined
duced at a concentration ratio of under the microscope ; typical mi-
4.5 :1 (Table IV).
In order to optimize the milling of
Noranda Process sl·ags, the effects
of cooling rate and slag composi-
tion on copper recovery were in-
vestigated extensively. Studies
were also made of the forms of
copper lost in the tailing and of the
distribution of other slag con-
st ituents in the tailing and con-
centrates. The results of this work
are described in the following sec-
tions.

Table III-Variation of grindability of slags with cooling rate 7

Cooling rate % - 325 Mesh after Relative

Method of Cooling ° C!min. 45 min. grinding grindability
Slag qu enched in wate r 75 .8 0. 81
Air-coo led slag 10 80.7 0.86 K. N. Subramanian
Sl ag A. contro ll ed fur-
nace coo ling 84.9 0.91
Sl ag B. controll ed fur-
nace coo ling 93 .6 1.00 K. N. Subramanian™s is a gmup
leader in the Extractive Metal-
lurgy Dept. of the Noranda Re-
Table IV-Milling tests on Noranda process slags search Centre, which he joined in
1968. He received his PhD in
1966 from the Royal School of
Fineness % Copper in Concentration
of grind, --------- ratio Mines . At Noranda, he is mainly
% - 325 Head Concen- (head slag! % concerned witt: chemical process-
mesh slag trate Tailing concentrate) recovery ing of non-ferrous metals and
Slag co ol ed in 150 lb. mo ld. l ab- ores. This paper was presented
orato ry stand a rd te st 93.8 13.8 62 .2 0.53 5.05 97.3
Large scale milling (1430 t. slag at the 100th TMS-AIME Annual
milled) . ball mill grinding 91.1 11 .4 51 .5 0.50 4.54 96.5 meeting , February 26-March 4
Large scale milling (365 t. slag 1971 . '
milled). autogeno us grinding 90.0 11.7 52 .1 0.53 4.74 96.3

APR IL 1972, JOURNAL OF METALS-35

A. Cooled to 1000°C in 39 sec. B. Cooled to 1000°C in 8 min.

C. Cooled to 1000°C in 39.9 min. D. Cooled to 1000°C in 227 min.

Fig. 6-Photomicrographs of Noranda Process slags showing the effect of cooling rate. (200X, reduced to 85% of original size).

crostructuresare shown in Fig. 6.
The cumulative distribution of cop-
per as a function of particle size for
various samples is shown in Fig. 7.
Slags cooled at rates above
1000°C/hr (Le. cooled from 1200 to
1000°C in less than ten minutes)
exhibited similar size distributions
of copper particles (Figs. 6a, 6b),
the median size of which was about
25 microns. These were presum-
ably entrained particles in the slag
as it was tapped which had no
chance to grow during the cooling
process.
As predicted by Yazawa and
Kameda,5 longer retention periods
of the slag at temperatures above
1000°C promoted the coalescence
and growth of particles by diffusion
and precipitation of copper out of
solution (Figs. 6c, 6d). Under these
conditions, the median size of cop-
per particles was approximately a
linear function of the logarithm of
the time taken to cool the slag to
1000°C; the most slowly cooled
slag in these tests (center portion
of the 350-lb. mold) was found to
contain a median particle size of
87 microns. Rapid cooling below
1000 °C, e.g., with water sprays, re-
sulted in easier crushing of the slag

Table V-Milling of Noranda process slags of different magnetite contents

(grind: 90% -325 mesh)

% Copper in
Copper loss in
% Fe"O, Head Concen· Concentration ratio the tailing as % of
Description of Slag in slag slag trate Tailing (head I concentrate) input to reactor
Slag milled in large scale test (ball mill grind-
ing) 20-26 11.4 51.5 0.50 4.54 1.47
Slag milled in large scale test (autogenous grind-
ing) 20-26 11.7 52.1 0.53 4.74 1.58
Slag deoxidized by anthracite addition in pilot
plant reactor 12 2.2 19.8 0.54 11.70 1.71
Slag deoxidized by silicon carbide in a crucible 6 1.4 6.1 0.44 6.10 1.25

Table VI-Distribution of Noranda process slag constituents in flotation products

-_._-_ _--_
. •. .. --- - - - - . -- .-~ - .

Analysis (% or opt) Distribution (%)

Description Cu Si02 Fe30 . S Zn Au Ag Cu Si0 2 Fe, O., S Zn Au Ag
Flotation
Concentrate 52.1 9.0 5.0 5.0 0.8 0.11 27.8 96.3 8.0 4.2 94.1 3. 6 93.4 97.1
Tailing 0.5 27.5 32.9 <0.1 5.7 0.002 0.21 3.7 92.0 95.8 5.9 96.4 6.6 2.9
Heads 11.4 24.0 26.0 1.1 4.5 0.025 6.02 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

36-JOURNAL OF METALS, APRIL 1972

without affecting the grind ability or 100 r - - - - - - - O
the milling results.
On the other hand , slower cool-
ing rates had little effect on the
size of magnetite particles ob- 90
served in these samples. Rapid
cooling resulted ina small fraction
of the magnetite content crystalliz-
ing in dendritic fashion. Most of 80
the magnetite particles were lo-
cated in the fayalite matrix, and
only a small proportion of copper
particles were surrounded by mag- 70
a::
netite crystals. w
a..
A sample of the slag tailing ob- a..
tained by flotation was also ex- 0
<-> 60
amined by means of an electron
t-
probe microanalyzer.15 The ob- Z
served copper particles were less
au
<->
than five microns, and occurred a::
au 50
both in the metallic and sulfidic a..
form . A few particles were found to w
contain approximately 35% Gu and >
35% Fe, and were tentatively identi- t- RETENTION PERIOD
<[ 40
fied as copper ferrite (CU20' Fe2 0~) . ...J ABOVE 1000'C
::J
A representative scanning is shown ~
0 0 .65 min .
in the electron micrographs of Fig . ::J t:J, 5.
8. <->
30 0 6.
Selective chemical analysis for
•• 15 .

..
oxidic copper in the tailing did not
39.
produce any meaningful results . In
75 .
the light of the electron probe re-
sults and also of leaching tests on
the tailing, which will be discussed
20
• 227.

later, it is possible to infer that the

oxidized copper in the solidified 10
slag does not amount to more than
20% of the copper loss in the tail-
ing.
Effect of Cooling Rate and Fineness of
Grind on Milling Results o 50 100 150
The slag samples described PAR TI CLE DIAME T ER , MICRONS
above were subjected to various Fig. 7-Size distribution 01 copper particles in Noranda Process slags as a function
degrees of grinding in a laboratory of cooling rate .
mill and then to a standard flotation ducing agent such as coal or in the loss of copper in the tailing,
test. Fig. 9 shows that the copper natural gas. as shown in the last column of
content in the tailing decreased Tes'. s of this nature were carried Table V.
with increasing fineness of grind out main:y in crucibles ; magnetite In ano :her test in the pilot plant
and with time of cooling. As would was reduced to about the 6% level reactor, addition of coal in the slag
be expected from the microscopic and there was an attendant de- zone resulted in a slag containing
examination of the head samples, crease in the copper content of the 12.3% Fe30 4 and 2.3% copper. Flo-
the effect of longer grind ing times slag from 10% to 1.2% . However, tation of this slag yielded a tailing
was less pronounced for slags subsequent milling of these low- containing 0.54% copper, which is
which had been cooled at very slow magnetite low-copper slags did not nearly the value obtained by milling
rates . result in a significant improvement high-copper high-Fea0 4 slags.
Effect of Magnetite Content on
Slag Milling Table VII-Le aching of Noranda process slag tailings in sulfuric acid
As noted earlier, the slag pro-
ducedin the Noranda Process re- Temp.,
Acid consumed % Copper in leach res idue after:
Ih./ton
actor is highly oxidized, and con- pH °C of tails o min. 15 min. 30 min . GO m in. 120 min.
tains 20-30% Fe30 4. The magnetite 1.5 70 160 0.51 0.25 0.24
2.5 70 76.0 0 .51 0.30 0.26 0.26 0.26
content can be reduced to the 10- 3. 0 50 37.0 0 .51 0.35 0.32 0 30 n.28
12% Fe30 4 level by subjecting the 3 .0 70 47 .0 0.51 0.33 0.28 0.27 0.26
3.5 70 23.0 0 .51 0.42 0.35 0.33 0.32
slag to a reducing treatment with 3.5 90 46.0 0.51 0.35 0.32 0.32
4.0 70 8.0 0.51 0.46 0.44 0.37 0.35
either copper concentrates or a re-

APRIL 1972, JOURNAL OF METALS-37

 A more promising approach is
the leaching of tailings in aerated
sulfuric acid . Tests have shown
(Table VII) that the copper content
in the tailing may be decreased
from 0.5% to 0.25% Cu by leaching
at a controlled pH of 3.0 and 70 c C
for one hr. At this concentration ,
the acid consumption may be kept
at a reasonable level without sacri-
ficing the reaction rate or the
amount of copper extracted. Cop-
per can be recovered from the
leach solution by cementation OT)
A. Composite image. B. Copper. iron, and the barren is neutralized
with lime.
The copper loss in the milled
Noranda Process slags is compar-
able to that in a 0.37% Cu rever-
beratory slag, despite the fact that
the copper assay in the head slag
is very high. It has been shown that
the loss of copper in the tailing
does not depend significantly on
the copper and magnetite content
of the head slag. In general, it ap-
pears that the composition of con-
verter-type slags has a secondary
effect on the milling results, as
C. Iron. D. Sulfur. compared to the cooling history of
Fig. 8-Electron microprobe photographs of Noranda Process slag tailing (750X the slag. It has also been shown
reduced to 80% of original size). that the copper recovery from No-
Thus, the results demonstrated slag reported in the tailing, it was randa Process slags may be in-
that there was no significant corre- decided that high-magnetite con- creased further by leaching the tail-
lation between magnetite content in tents in the slag did not present a ings in dilute sulfuric acid.
the head slag and the copper loss problem either in flotation or in the REFERENCES
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Smelting Process at Hitachi Smelter • p. 291 .
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allurgy, J.N. Anderson and P. Queneau . ed.,
not enough by itself to justify sep- Noranda Process could be oper- Gordon & Breach. N.Y .• 1967.
arate pyrometall u rg ical treatment ated satisfactorily with very little ' Itakura . K .. Nag ano . T .• and Sasakura . J.:
JOURNAL OF METALS, Vol. 21. no. 7. 1969.
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' Bryk. PoO Ryselin . J oO Honkasala. J ., and a-
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iron, silica, magnetite, zinc , sulfur, p. ,3i~e Concentrators of Outokumpu Oy. Fin-
0 .9
silver, and gold, and their distribu- land , Company publication, June 1968.
> Yazawa. A .. and Kameda , M.; Bull . R~s. Ins l.
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19, no. 1. 1963, pp. 79-90.
are shown in Table VI. It can be 6 Dukhanin. I.N. ; Izvest. Vysshikh Ucheb. Zave-
denii , Tsvel. Met ., Vol. 4. no. 5, 1961, pp. 74-80.
0 .8 seen that most of the magnetite, 'Alimbaev. G.I. , et al.;Tr. Ural. Nauch.-Issled .
Proekt. Inst. Med. Prom., no. 8. 1965, pp. 489-
silica, and zinc content of the head 492 .
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I.A.; Tsvetn. Metal. , Vol. 38, no. 6. 1965. pp .
C> therefore, do not represent a recir-
z
:; 0 .7 42;~3hemelis, N.J. , McKerrow , G.C .• Tarassoff . P. ,
culating load. and Hallet, G.D .• "The Noranda Process for Con-
~ tinuous Smelting and Con ve rting of Copper Con-
centrates", paper presented at 197.1 TMS-AIME
~ Leaching of Slag Tailing Annual Meeting. TMS Paper Selection A- 71 - 76 .
...co"- The fine particle sizes in the slag '" Wartman, F.S.• and Boyer. W.T.; The Forms
of Copper in Converter Slags, U.S. Bureau of
"- 06
0
u
tailing raised some questions as to Mines. Report of Investigations 2985 . January
1930.
~ the use of leach ing to further in- 11 Spira , P .• and Themelis. N.J .; JOURNAL OF
METALS . Vol. 21 . no . 4. 1969. p. 35.
crease the overall copper recovery. " Korakas. N. ; Trans. Inst. MIn . and Met. , Vol.
05 It was found that more than half of 72 . 1962. pp. 35-53 .
13 Toguri . J.M .• and Santander. N.H .. CanadIan
.

the copper content in a 0.5% Cu Metallurgical Quarterly, Vol. 8, 1969, pp, 167-
171 .
tailing could be extracted by leach- H Johansen . E.B .• Rosenqvist, T., and Torger-
sen . P.T. ; JOURNAL OF METALS . Vol. 22 . no. 9,
0.4 L--'--_ _ ---''---_ _--L_ __ -...l
ing in ferric sulfate solution at 1970. pp, 39-47.
15 Firth . M.. McGill University; pri vate com-
70 80 90 100
70 C. However, this approach was
D
munication to Noranda Research Centre. July
% - 32~ MESH abandoned due to the fact that the 1970.
,. Nippo n Mining Company. Ltd .; pri vate com-
required regeneration of the ferric munication to Noranda Research Centre . July
Fig. 9-Effect of retention period above 1970.
1000° C and fineness of grind on tailing iron was an incomplete and slow 17 Mitsubishi Metal Mining Company. Ltd.; pri-
va te communication to Noranda Research Cen-
grade. process. tre . July 1970.

38-JOURNAL OF METALS, APRIL 1972