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An estimated 80% of all copper ever mined is still in use today. [15] In volume, copper is the third most recycled metal after iron and aluminium. [16] As of 2023, recycled copper supplies about one-third of global demand. [17] The process of recycling copper is roughly the same as is used to extract copper but requires fewer steps.
A "matte" layer forms in this step, containing most of the copper originating from the crude lead bullion and some other impurities as metal sulfides. The speiss and the matte are usually sold to copper smelters where they are refined for copper processing. The lead from the blast furnace, called lead bullion, then undergoes the drossing process.
The purest copper is obtained by an electrolytic process, undertaken using a slab of impure copper as the anode and a thin sheet of pure copper as the cathode. The electrolyte is an acidic solution of copper (II) sulfate. By passing electricity through the cell, copper is dissolved from the anode and deposited on the cathode. However ...
The required temperature varies both in absolute terms and in terms of the melting point of the base metal. Examples: Iron oxide becomes metallic iron at roughly 1250 °C (2282 °F or 1523 K), almost 300 degrees below iron's melting point of 1538 °C (2800 °F or 1811 K). [5]
The process used at the Lünen smelter involves charging the furnace with copper residues and scrap containing between 1 and 80% copper and then melting it in a reducing environment. This produces a "black copper phase" and a low-copper silica slag. Initially the black copper was converted to blister copper in the ISASMELT furnace. [57]
The copper ions are liberated from the residue with sulfuric acid. The barred (denuded) sulfuric acid recycled back on to the heaps. The organic ligands are recovered and recycled as well. Alternatively, the copper can be precipitated out of the pregnant solution by contacting it with scrap iron; a process called cementation. Cement copper is ...
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The mining water contains copper salts in the form of copper sulfate CuSO 4. The iron then reacts with the copper, displacing it from the sulfate ions, causing the copper to precipitate onto the iron sheets, forming a "wet" powder. Finally, the precipitated copper is collected and refined further through the traditional smelting process.