| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2025 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
REWAS 2025: Sustainable Practices in Strategic and Critical Raw Materials: Exploring Supply Chain Resilience and Recycling Innovations
|
| Presentation Title |
Recovery Potential of Spent Magnesia-Chrome Refractories from Copper and Nickel Industries |
| Author(s) |
Kerrin Witt, Stefan Steinlechner |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Kerrin Witt |
| Abstract Scope |
The pyrometallurgical production of various nonferrous metals such as copper and nickel relies primarily on magnesia-chrome refractory linings. During their service life, they are infiltrated by melt phases containing Cu and Ni, but also associated metals such as Co, Pb, Sn, or Zn. Presently, spent refractories are disposed of in landfills to a great extent. Given the current push for enhanced resource efficiency, it is important to explore the potential of such residues as possible alternative sources and identify viable processing options. The presented research focuses on the evaluation of spent magnesia-chrome refractories from both the copper and nickel industries with respect to the recoverability of the contained fractions, the refractory material itself and the infiltrated metals. Based on characterization and small-scale experiments, possible separation and recovery concepts are outlined, pointing out arising opportunities and challenges for their implementation. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Copper / Nickel / Cobalt, Recycling and Secondary Recovery, Extraction and Processing |