Metals from Ores

An Introduction to Extractive Metallurgy

2. Scope of Extractive Metallurgy

Fathi Habashi
Department of Mining, Metallurgical, and Materials Engineering
Laval University, Quebec City, Canada
Fathi.Habashi@arul.ulaval.ca
 Metallurgy
Metallurgy is the art and science of
obtaining metals from ores and their
fabrication into useful products
 It can be divided into two principal fields:
mineral processing and metal processing
Mineral Processing
 Beneficiation 1
 Beneficiation is concerned with the enrichment
of ores and separation of unwanted gangue
minerals so that the subsequent treatment to get
the metals by the extractive metallurgist is more
efficient.
 The beneficiation engineer uses only
mechanical, physical, and physico-chemical
methods for conducting his operations which are
all done at normal temperature and pressure.
These operations can be divided into two distinct
steps
 Beneficiation 2
 Liberation
 In this operation the rock is broken down by
mechanical means so that the individual mineral
components become independent of each other,
i.e., each is detached or liberated.
 Separation
 In this operation the valuable minerals are
separated from the rest by means of physical
and physico-chemical methods making use of
differences in specific gravity, magnetic
properties, etc.
Extractive metallurgy
 Metal Processing
 Once a metal is obtained by the extractive
metallurgist, it is taken over by other
metallurgists for processing it into finished
products for the different industries.
 This field involves the fabrication of marketable
products from metals.
 Metallurgists working in this field have a strong
background in physics and the mechanical
properties of matter.
Metal Processing
 Physical Metallurgy
 Metals. Their physical and mechanical properties
 Heat treatment. Heating metals to a certain
temperature followed by rapid cooling (quenching)
to improve the mechanical properties
 Alloys. Their production, their physical, and their
mechanical properties
 Crystallography. Studying the crystal structure of
metals and alloys using X-rays
 Metallography. Studying the crystal structure of
metals and alloys using the optical microscope
 Corrosion. Studying the influence of the
environment on metals and alloys
 Wear. The abrasion resistance of metals
 Fracture. The grain size and defects in metals on
breaking.
 Engineering Metallurgy
Handling of metals in the molten state

 Casting
 Metals refined in the molten state are usually
cast into ingots, i.e., poured into suitable moulds
and allowed to solidify
 Now casting is continuous
Continuous
casting
Welding
Mechanical Metallurgy

 Processing of metals in the solid state. The metal must be sufficiently

superheated above its melting point so that it will not solidify before it is
poured into the mould
 Forging

 The metal is
hammered or pressed
into required shapes.
The pressure may be
applied by means of a
hydraulic press
(30 000 tons) or drop
hammer having
moving parts as
heavy as 30 tons
 Rolling

The hot ingots are passed between powerful steel

rolls where they are rolled on separate mills into
slabs, blooms, and billets
Hot rolling plant
 Extrusion 1

a) Heated billet A placed in b) Outer ram B presses on the

hydraulic press billet and holds it firmly in
place
 Extrusion 2

c) The inner ram C pierces the d) The pressure of the outer

billet and projects through ram on the billet is increased,
the die, at the same time forcing the metal through the
ejecting part of the metal annular opening between the
displaced inner ram and the die.
 Piercing 1
Heated billets are passed between two convex-
tapered work rolls whose axes are not quite
parallel. This imparts a helical rotary motion to
the billet as it is pierced by a pointed mandrel.
Piercing 2
 Wire drawing
• The cross section of a metallic rod is reduced by
drawing through a die
 Powder Metallurgy 1
 Powdered metals are produced by a number of
processes: electrolysis, hydrogen reduction from
solutions, reduction of oxides, atomization,
milling and grinding.
 They are available in various forms: spherical,
dendritic, spongy, irregular, and as flakes.
 Powders are compacted into special shapes
which are then heated and sintered.
 Metal powders, e.g., copper and gold bronze
powders are being used as pigments in the
surface coating industry and in the graphic arts.
Powder Metallurgy 2
Extractive Metallurgy
and the Chemical Industry
Extractive metallurgy is closely related to the chemical
industry:
 During exploration for petroleum it is common that
mineral deposits are discovered. As a result, an extensive
portion of extractive metallurgical research is conducted
within the research activities of petroleum industry, and
many petroleum companies now operate metallurgical
plants.
 Products of the chemical industry may be raw materials
for the metallurgical industry, and vice versa.
 Quite often, inventions made in the chemical plants were
adopted later in the metallurgical industry
 Karl Josef Bayer (1847–1904)
invented the process known by
his name to produce aluminum
hydroxide from bauxite the
work was done in a chemical
plant engaged in supplying
chemicals for the textile
industry. Now, the process is a
major step in the production of
metallic aluminum.
 Friedrich August Henglein (1893–1968)
when trying to find a way to purify
coke oven gas from its H2S content he
suggested that H2S be scrubbed by an
ammoniacal solution of zinc sulfate so
that ZnS could be precipitated and
removed by filtration.
 To make the process self-sufficient,
ZnS was then slurried with water and
heated with oxygen in an autoclave at
200°C to solubilize it back to ZnSO4 for
recycle.
 Leaching of sulfide ores under oxygen
pressure at high temperature was
adopted by the metallurgical industry
few decades later.
 Ludwig Mond (1839–1909) noticed
that a valve made of nickel in a
carbon monoxide pipe was
corroding.
 When the matter was investigated
in detail, it was found that a
gaseous nickel compound, Ni(CO)4,
formed at low temperature and
decomposed at high temperature;
hence the possibility of refining
nickel.
 Nickel carbonyl process used
today on a large scale for refining
nickel was discovered in an alkali
manufacture plant in England.
 Competition between metals and
synthetic materials
Plastics, ceramics, etc.
 Composites are mixtures of metals and
other nonmetallic material.
 Sulfuric acid industry
Pyrite

SO2
Chemical Thermal Sulfuric H2SO4
plant oxidation acid plant

Water Cinder

Leaching

Metallurgical
plant

Filtration

Solution of
Fe2O3 Cu, Zn, Co, Ni, etc.
for iron production for recovery
 Iron and steel industry
Coal
Metallurgical Chemical
plant plant
Heating in
absence of air

Iron ore Coke

Gases and
Blast furnace organic liquids for
chemical industry

Pig iron
 Petrochemical industry
Chemical plant Metallurgical plant
Hydrocarbon Mg(OH)2
Chlorine
MgCl2

Chlorination Dissolution Electrolysis

Magnesium
Polymerisation

Plastics
 Nonferrous metals industry
Metallurgical plant Chemical plant
Lead or zinc
sulfide concentrate Phosphate rock

H2SO4
SO2
Thermal Sulfuric
acid plant Dissolution
oxidation
Metal
oxide
Treatment Phosphatic
fertilizer

Metal
 Metallurgical plant
Nickel–cobalt
sulfide concentrate Chemical plant

NH4OH

Aqueous
oxidation

Metal recovery

Ammonium
Metal sulfate fertilizer
Sherritt-Gordon plant in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta
 Aluminum industry
• Usually operate their own sodium
hydroxide plants to produce the sodium
hydroxide necessary for treating the
bauxite
• Their own hydrofluoric acid plants to
produce HF necessary for the production
of aluminum fluoride needed for the
electrolytic cells.
 Oxygen 1
Metallurgical plant
Air Chemical plant

Nitrogen
Ammonia
Liquefaction
synthesis
Pig iron Oxygen
NH3
Steelmaking

Steel
 Oxygen 2
Chemical plant Metallurgical plant
Water Sulfide concentrates

Oxygen
Thermal
Electrolysis
oxidation

Hydrogen

Ammonia Oxides for

synthesis metal production

NH3
 Liquid sulfur dioxide
 Some pyrometallurgical plants treating
sulfide concentrates are producing liquid
sulfur dioxide for use by the pulp and
paper industry.
 For example, Inco in Sudbury, Ontario is
treating nickel sulfides in a flash smelting
reactor using oxygen thus producing high-
grade SO2 suitable for liquefaction.
 Sulfur
 Some hydrometallurgical plants treating
sulfide concentrates produce elemental
sulfur for the chemical industry.
 For example, the pressure leaching of
zinc sulfide concentrates by Cominco in
Trail, British Columbia.
 Pigment production
Many pigments are produced by the metal industry.

 Lead oxide (red lead) and zinc oxide are

produced in lead–zinc refineries.
 Iron oxide pigment, Fe2O3, is produced in
steel industry in the pickle solution
regeneration plant.
 Ilmenite reduction in electric furnaces,
e.g., at Sorel in Quebec, produces a
titanium slag, the raw material for
producing TiO2 white pigment
 Aluminum Industry
 Aluminum sulfate by dissolving Al(OH)3,
an intermediate product of aluminum
production, in H2SO4 followed by
crystallization. It is used in water treatment
plants
 Alumina refractory, by high temperature
calcination of Al(OH)3
 Aluminum paint
 Copper sulfate
A by-product of electrolytic copper refining; used in agriculture as herbicide
 Nickel & Cobalt
 Nickel sulfate by-product of electrolytic
copper refining. Used by the electroplating
industry
 Cobalt pigments produced in cobalt plants
 Wood preservatives
 The copper industry is the main supplier of
arsenic oxide, which is used in making wood
preservatives.
 The oxide is volatilized during smelting of copper
concentrates, which usually contain 0.5–2 % As.
 Arsenic oxide collected in the gas filtration
system is then mixed with CuSO4 and sodium
dichromate to form chromated copper arsenate
preservative.
 Progress and Problems in
Extractive Metallurgy
Processing of low-grade ores
Processing of complex ores
Preparation of high-purity metals
Increased demand for metals
Conservation of mineral resources
- Utilization of scrap metal
- Recovery of metals that would be otherwise lost during
processing
- Converting mineral waste into useful products

Pollution abatement
Decreasing expenditure of energy
Efficient process control
Minimum utilization of manpower