CC Smelter Operations
Smelter Process Description
At the Copper Cliff Smelter, the nickel-copper bulk concentrate from the mill is dried and processed through the Flash Furnaces and converters. This produces a bulk converter matte, sulphur dioxide and slag. The sulphur dioxide from the Flash Furnaces is fixed and sold as sulphuric acid and liquid sulphur dioxide, while the lower-strength gas stream from the converters is vented to the stack after being cleaned of particulate in electrostatic precipitators. The slag from the furnaces is a waste product that is sent to the slag dump.
The converter matte is slow-cooled to produce a coarse crystalline structure Bessemer matte. This is crushed, ground and separated into metallics, nickel sulphides and copper sulphides by magnetic separation and flotation in the Matte Separation Plant.
All of the precious metal bearing metallics and some of the nickel sulphide are sent to the Copper Cliff Refinery. The remaining nickel sulphide is roasted in fluid bed roasters. The resulting nickel oxide is processed in the Copper Cliff Refinery, the Clydach Refinery, or is marketed. Sulphur dioxide from the roasters is fixed as sulphuric acid.
Copper sulphide from Matte Separation is treated in a copper reactor where sulphur is removed as sulphur dioxide, which is then fixed as sulphuric acid. Additional impurities are removed from the molten metal in finishing converters, producing blister copper and a nickel oxide mush. The small amount of sulphur dioxide evolved in the finishing converters is vented to the stack after being cleaned of particulate in an electrostatic precipitator. The molten blister copper is further refined to remove the last of the impurities and then cast into anodes for customers. The nickel oxide mush is redigested with sulphide matte and sent to the Bulk Converters.
Click here to see the general flowsheets:
Ontario Operations Flowsheet 2010Ontario Operations Flowsheet 2007
