From waste to wealth: Unlocking the value of copper anode slimes through systematic characterization and pretreatment

Technology, in addition to supply and demand, is driving current advances in mineral processing. Over the past three decades, demand for various minerals has continued to rise, while the mineral processing sector has faced challenges such as the need for more sophisticated ore treatment, lower plant feed quality, and poorer plant performance due to mixing of ores with varying characteristics. Gravity separation has long been a cost-effective method for the mining industry, especially in the processing of precious metals. Copper anode slime contains significant amounts of gold, silver, and platinum group metals. In this study, we tested the functionality of a slime shaking table for recovering precious metal components by recycling barite particles from the copper anode slime. Additionally, we used several characterization methods, including backscattered electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, optical microscopy, and physical testing, to improve our understanding of the copper anode slime particle phases. This study highlights the challenges associated with recycling and processing secondary materials and demonstrates the complexity of physical separation methods for extracting barite particles from copper anode slime.