THE

COPPERBELT
UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF

TECHNOLOGY

MINING DEPARTMENT

PROJECT TITLE:

MINIMIZATION OF COPPER LOSS IN THE MATTE SETTLING ELECTRIC

FURNACE OF MOPANI MUFULIRA SMELTER

SUBMITTED BY:

MWEWA BRIAN
COMPUTER NUMBER: 04023889

IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT FOR THE AWARD OF A BACHELORS

DEGREE IN METALLURGICAL ENGINEERING.

SUPERVISED BY MR. CHULU B.

DECLARATION

I MWEWA BRIAN do hereby declare that this work is my own and that it has
never be previously submitted at any university or any other institution for similar
purposes, and that the work that has been referred to has been acknowledged.

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Signature…………………… Date……………………..
Author

Signature……………………. Date……………………..
Internal Examiner

Signature……………………. Date……………………...
External Examiner

DEDICATION

To my mum

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ABSTRACT

A project to minimize copper loss to slag in the Matte Settling Electric Furnace,
MSEF at Mopani Mufulira Smelter was under taken.

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Mopani Mufulira Smelter has set up one of the latest smelting technologies in the
world. That is the ISASMELT technology. It has also set up a new Matte Settling
Electric Furnace, MSEF, to go with this technology. However, it is experiencing
copper loss in the MSEF slag of up to about 3.7% which is beyond the set target
loss of 0.7% copper

The objectives of the project were to establish why the copper loss to slag was
beyond the set point of 0.7%. It was also required to suggest measures to reduce
the copper loss to the 0.7% set point.

The investigations were conducted on the plant and the necessary lab test work
was carried out at the main laboratory within the plant premises and at ALFRED
H. KNIGHT LIMITED. The test work involved the simultaneous collection of slag
samples during skimming, observing the operating parameters such as
temperature of slag and slag bath levels during skimming and collecting
converter return slag as well as noting down the blends of the concentrate feed.

Results indicated that slags that contained magnetite above 7% had copper
above the set 0.7%. It was also determined that magnetite content of the MSEF
slag increases with the magnetite content of Converter return slag. Slags
skimmed at temperatures below 1240 degrees Celsius had more than 1%
copper. The results showed that copper loss was much more sensitive to
temperature differences than any other factors investigated. Slags with Silica
content below 32% generally had copper above the 0.7% target copper loss to
slag. Although it was expected that copper loss would increase with increased
matte grade, this was not confirmed by the results.
Skimming with bath levels below 12mm resulted in Cu in slag above the set point
of 0.7%. In order to keep the slag Cu loss below the stipulated 0.7%, slag
skimming should be done when the slag bath levels are above 1200mm also the
bath temperatures at the time of skimming must be above 1250 degrees
Celsius.The blended concentrate must be fluxed with more silica so that the slag

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silica content is in the range of 33% - 35%. The best way to prevent the high
levels of Magnetite in the MSEF slag is to prevent its formation at source by
proper converting practices or alternatively treating converter slag elsewhere.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Firstly, I give praise to the almighty lord for His grace and loving kindness.

To my project supervisor Mr. B.Chulu for his time, guidance and support rendered.

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I wish to express my gratitude to the management and staff of Mopani Mufulira Smelter
for rendering me this opportunity and privilege of conducting my project with them.

To Dev devris my plant supervisor, Smelter manager Mr. Sakala, Eng Kennedy Phiri,
Eng Leonard Kakoma.

Warm thanks to my numerous friends, just too many to list, for their support and love!!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION……………………………………………………………………..…ii
DEDICATION……………………………………………………………………….…iii
ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………….…iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………………….vi

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CONTENTS……………………………………………………………………………vii
LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………………………..ix

DECLARATION................................................................................................................i
DEDICATION...................................................................................................................ii
ABSTRACT......................................................................................................................iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..............................................................................................v
DECLARATION……………………………………………………………………..…ii
............................................................................................................................................vi
DEDICATION……………………………………………………………………….…iii
............................................................................................................................................vi

LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE 1 Effect of slag temperature on Cu loss to slag………………………….17

FIGURE 2 Effect of bath level on copper loss to slag………………………………18

FIGURE 3 Effect of magnetite content of return converter slag on MSEF slag…19

FIGURE 4 Slag copper content vs. slag magnetite content……………………….20

FIGURE 5 Effect of matte grade against Cu loss to slag…………………………..21

FIGURE 6 Effect of Silica levels in MSEF slag on copper loss to slag…………..22

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