Metals recovery in Cassiterite Smelting by-products

The purpose of this study is to evaluate routes to recover metallic tin and other economic interest metals from by-products generated at the cassiterite ore smelting. The high unit value of these metals encourages Brazilian companies to seek both methods of minimizing their losses and recover tin along the process, leading them to become more competitive worldwide.

Currently, the Extractive Metallurgy, Residue Treatment, and Recycling Laboratory (LAREX) is acting couple ways: on the tin slag treatment using physical beneficiation methods (gravity separation), magnetic methods (magnetic separation) and hydrometallurgical routes (leaching and solvent extraction), seeking to recover tin, zirconium, niobium, and tantalum; and on metallic tin recovery from a tin, iron, and niobium alloy generated in the smelting process.

To realize tin slag treatment, the slag will be characterized and separation tests using shaking table, spiral, magnetic separator and leaching as well will be carried out. The results obtained will be compared.

Tin, iron and niobium alloy will be characterized and tin separation will occur using pyrometallurgical (reduction furnace and induction furnace) and hydrometallurgical (leching) routes.