ENERGY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN HYDROMETALLURGY - AN EMERGING PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Any innovative approach made in non-ferrous metallurgical industry centers upon developing new processes, saving materials, improving production quality, and born-again materials. Aqueous processing is commonly used to treat lean grade or more complex ore bodies. Its sustenance largely depends on energy and environmental compliance including water and wastewater management. The present paper focuses the importance of using particle size distribution and surface area measurements during ammoniacal dissolution of a Cu-Pb-Zn sulphide bulk concentrate and with an overview of the effect of water salinity on the process chemistry and residue mineralogy. Accordingly, an effort is made here to discuss the emerging perspective and highlight the recent successes and trends in terms of energy savings in non-ferrous hydrometallurgy.