| Copper phase (Cu) and matte phase (matte, mt) were formed during the reduction smelting process of copper-containing sludge. Copper, nickel, gold and silver were distributed in both phases. About 100 batches of smelting products were included in order to analyze their distribution rules. The results showed that the distribution coefficients of gold and silver in the copper phase (βAu Cu, βAg Cu) were positively correlated with the distribution coefficient of copper in the copper phase (βCu Cu), indicating that the catching ability of copper for gold and silver was better than that of matte whereas copper displayed a greater catching ability for gold than for silver. The distribution coefficient of silver LAg was positively correlated with those of copper and nickel in the copper phase (βCu Cu, βNi Cu). On the contary, the catching ability of matte for silver was better than that for gold, and a weak negative correlation was observed in the distribution coefficients of gold and silver (LAu and LAg) with the content of nickel in matte [Ni]mt. |
