CHAPTER 2. Metallurgical Overview and Production of Slags
Elias Matinde, J.D. Steenkamp
Abstract
The smelting of ores and secondary resources for the production and refining of metals, mattes, and alloys generates large volumes of slags. Metallurgical slags are formed from the reaction between fluxes, intentionally added as part of the furnace charge, and gangue minerals in ores and/or reducing agents during the smelting process, or from the reaction between fluxes and dissolved impurities during refining. Depending on the process conditions, metallurgical slags tend to contain appreciable amounts of entrained and/or dissolved metals, mattes, and alloys. Understanding the properties of slags is thus crucial to the valorization of slags and the design of future novel processes. This chapter provides an overview of the unit processes used in the production of selected metals, mattes, and alloys. It also provides a brief discussion on the properties of slags generated in the primary production of metals and alloys from ores and/or secondary resources.