Investigation of the possibility the Pb-Zn slag from "Topionica" -Veles quality improving using magnetic separation

Abstract

Smelting slag from "Topionica" -Veles (Northern Macedonia) owned by the company "KEPS MONT GROUP" Skopje is a potentially valuable raw material. Tests have shown that this is an inhomogeneous raw material with significant contents of non-ferrous metals, primarily Pb, Zn, Cu, and silver is present from precious metals. Mineralogical tests have shown that the composition of man-made raw materials is very complex and consists of amorphous and mineral phases, ie the microscopic method showed the following composition: amorphous phase, lead alloys, zinc alloys, vistite (FeO), sphalerite, galena, cerusite, elemental silver, elemental copper, elemental iron, magnetite, spinel, rutile, hematite, troilite (FeS). The most common amorphous phase (glass matrix) of spinel, silicate and mixed (spinel-silicate) composition is in the sample, while vistite, which occurs in the form of skeletal separations in the glass matrix, is significantly less represented. Based on SEM analysis (scanning electron microscopy), these are Fe-Mn-Zn spinels. Lead and zinc alloys are the most common. Mineralogical analysis by size classes determined that useful and unuseful components of Pb-Zn slag "Veles" were released at a fineness of -0.1 + 0.00 mm, so that magnetic separation tests were performed on this size class. Magnetic separation was performed on two devices, a Davis wet analyzer and a dry disk magnetic separator. By magnetic separation on a Davis magnetic separator, a small degree of iron concentration in the MF (1,134) relative to the input was obtained, with low iron distribution in the magnetic fraction of 16.79%. Magnetic separation on a dry disk magnetic separator also yielded a low degree of iron concentration in the magnetic fraction with distribution of 55.38% and 44.62% in the non-magnetic fraction.