Conference "Exchange of good practices on metal by-products recovery – technology and

policy challenges at the Thon EU Hotel, Brussels (Belgium), on 12-13 November 2015.

Treatments of Secondary Raw Materials

in Non-Ferrous Smelters in Japan

ETSURO SHIBATA
Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced
Materials, Tohoku Univ. (IMRAM), Japan
 Construction of Metal Resources Circulation
System (Resource Circulation Society)
Mass use of electrical and electronic equipments (use
Non-ferrous Smelters of various metal material) (Electric vehicles, Batteries,
（Copper, Lead, Zinc） PC, Mobile phone, Consumer appliances etc.)

･Population increase
･Depletion and low grade of mineral resources
･Movement of resource efficiency in EU

Base metals (Cu, Pb, Zn)

Minor metals (Ni, Co, Se, Te, Sb, Bi, Sn, In, Ga etc.)
Precious metals (Au, Ag, Pt, Pd)
Supply of metals
Mineral resource
Difficulty of metal resources ensure / low-grade ores Wastes
(China's economic growth, Resource majors, etc.)

Secondary materials (E-scrap etc.)

(Physical separation, New technology of metal recovery, Effective use of existing
smelting facilities)

Efficient circulation of metal resources based on non-ferrous metal smelting industry

Secondary Materials and Wastes Treated in
Non-ferrous Smelters
Electric Vehicle (ELV) ・ELV and HV (waste) (Motor, battery, wire
Hybrid Vehicle (HV)
harness, electrical parts etc.)
・Waste electrical and electronic
equipments (print circuit board)
・Metal smelting dust (ferrous and non-
ferrous smelting dusts )
・Sludge from waste water treatment
E-scraps
(containing Cu, Pb, Zn etc.)
・Shredder residues (heat source,
containing Cu)
・Fly ash from municipal wastes melting
treatment (containing Zn)
・Others (scrap, industrial wastes)
Social Role of Non-ferrous Smelting Industry
Intensification of environmental regulation
Use of low-grade concentrates
Non-ferrous smelting industry: Originally, the industry has
technologies to control a wide variety of elements
※Necessity of technology development according to social condition
・Recovery of metals from wastes and secondary materials
・Control of hazardous elements (stabilization)
Essential industry for the realization of
a resource circulation society

To a growth industry by acting an important role of

metal recycling
Treatment of Secondary Materials
in Non-ferrous Smelters in Japan
Copper Smelter
・PCB is important secondary material containing Au and Cu (usually in
incineration as pre-treatment)
・Treatment of shredder residue using copper smelting facilities
・Production of copper matte from sludge containing Cu and heavy metals
・Recovery of Au、Ag、PGM, Se、Te etc. from by-product (anode slime)
・By-products (residues) containing Pb need to be treated in lead smelter
・Control of arsenic (As) by recharge of smelting dust and reutilization of
slag
・Severe problems of increasing in impurities (Ni, Sb, Sn, Bi etc.) from PCB
・Operation of a copper smelter treating only by-products and secondary
materials (mainly PCB)
Treatment of Secondary Materials
in Non-ferrous Smelters in Japan
Lead Smelter
・Lead smelter is necessary in order to treat various by-products and
wastes from copper and zinc smelters and other industries
・45-50% of lead bullion is produced from secondary materials (mainly
waste battery) in Japan
・Various type of wastes containing heavy metals can be treated
・CRT glass is treated as an alternative to silica flux
・Control of molten lead, speiss, matte, slag and vapor phases in the
furnace (various metals can be separated)
・Removal of heavy metals from slag by a fuming technology
・Recovery of Au、Ag、PGM, Sb、Bi, Sn etc. from by-products (anode slime,
dross etc.)
Treatment of Secondary Materials
in Non-ferrous Smelters in Japan
Zinc Smelter
・EAF dust is important secondary material for zinc smelter
・Operations of hydrometallurgical smelters for zinc concentrate, and
(pyrometallurgical) ISP for various types of secondary materials containing
Zn, Pb and halogens (Cl, F)
・ISP is necessary for resource circulation in Japan
・Production of crude ZnO by treating fly ashes containing heavy metals
from melting treatment of municipal wastes
・Recovery of Cd, In and Ga from by-products (dust, leaching residue,
precipitation etc.)
・Development of halogen removal technologies for secondary material
treatment
・Intensification of environmental regulation for mercury (Hg) discharge
Tasks for Secondary Material Treatment in
Non-ferrous Smelters in Japan
※Problems by increasing in secondary materials
・Pre-treatment technologies different from mineral dressing
<Physical separation technologies of E-scrap, and
concentration of valuable metals from industrial wastes>
Different from ore properties
(Ex. E-scrap → Mixture of plastics and metals)

※Engineers in non-ferrous smelters must develop

physical separation technologies of E-scrap to remove
impurities by themselves, and also for efficient utilization
of copper and lead smelters, respectively
Tasks for Secondary Material Treatment in
Non-ferrous Smelters in Japan
・Development of new smelting technology due to the
increase in impurities
<Improvement of primary smelting process, and
development of new process>
・Generation of various by-products, and their efficient
processing technologies
<Recovery technologies of valuable metals from
smelting by-products, and extraction and
stabilization of toxic elements>
 Ideal Linkage among Non-ferrous Smelters
Linkage among Cu, Pb and Zn smelters
Various secondary materials Efficient treatment of by-products
(recovery of metals)
Collecting system Cu concentrate
of E-scrap Cu scrap
ASR etc.
Pre- Recovery and
PCB etc. stabilization of
treatments Cu smelter toxic elements
Dismantling/Phy (Electrolytic Cu)
sical separation Dust (As, Hg, Cd)
(Cu, Pb, As)
Nd magnet etc.
Anode slime Residues (As, Hg, Cd)
Recovery of active metals (Cu, Pb, Se, Te, Ag, Au, Pt, Pd)
Solvent extraction/
Electro-refining etc. Liberation slime (Cu, As)
Residues (Cu) Electrolyte (Cu, Ni)

Precipitation (Cu)
By-products (Refining) Cu dross
Recovery of Se, Te, Ni, Co, Sn, (Cu, Pb)

※Separation of active Residue

Sb, Bi, In, Ga, Ag, Au, Pt, Pd Matte
(Cu)
(Zn)
metals (REEs, Ta, W Harris slag (Sn, In, Pb, As) Speiss
Distillation (Cd) (Ni, As, Sb) Residue
Dust
etc.) by pre-treatment Residue (In, Ga) (Pb, In, Zn, As) Anode slime
(Pb)
Precipitations
(Cd, Sb, Ni, As) (Sb, Bi, Ag, Au)
※Refinery specialized for Zn smelter
Pb-Ag residue (Pb, Ag)
Pb smelter
(Electrolytic Zn) (Electrolytic Pb)
treatment of by-product (Distilled Zn) ISP crude Pb (Pb, Cu, In, Sn, Sb, Bi, Ag, Au)
Pb concentrate
from Cu, Pb and Zn Zn concentrate Waste Pb battery
EAF dust CRT glass etc.
smelters Crude ZnO
Fly ash etc.
Important Smelters for Secondly Materials in Japan
Kosaka Smelter (DOWA)
・Copper smelter utilizing TSL furnace for
treating only secondary materials (PCB etc.)
and by-products from smelters
・Control of oxidizing and reduction stages in
the single TSL furnace
・Sulfuric acid leaching of copper blister, and
recovery of insoluble residue containing
precious metals
・Electro-winning of copper sulfate electrolyte
(purification of electrolyte by bleed-off)
・Recovery of 16 metals by combining with
Lead smelter TSL furnace（Ausmelt）
Minerals Engineering 22 (2009) 742–751
(Provision of information from DOWA)
Important Smelters for Secondly Materials in Japan
HMC (JX Nippon Mining & Metals)
・Recovery of valued metals such as Cu , Pb and rare metals (Ni, Sn, Sb, Bi,
etc.) from secondary products of copper smelter and a wide range of
secondary material (at Hitachi from 2008)
《Cu smelting and refining process》 《Raremetals refining process》

Industrial waste Recycled raw Intermediates Recycled raw materials

materials materials from Cu smelters

Incinerater
Zn Pb Ni
Ash,Residue refining process refining process refining process

Cu recovery furnace Rare metals refining process

Anode furnace

Cu electrolytic
refining process

PGM
refining process

Cu Au,Ag PGM Zn Cd Sb Bi Sn In Pb Ni

Flow sheet of the HMC

Proceedings of Copper 2013, Vol.IV, 79-90
Important Smelters for Secondly Materials in Japan
HMC (JX Nippon Mining & Metals)
Lead sulfate Other raw materials

Carbonation

electric furnace Lead smelting flow

Harris furnace

Lead anode Cu-scum Sn-scum In-scum

Electrorefining Leaching & Leaching &

purification precipitation

Refined Lead Lead slime Electrowinning Electrorefining

Smelting-reducation

Volatilization Chlorination

Electrorefining

Lead ingot Antimony trioxide Bismuth ingot Tin ingot Indium ingot

Pb Sb2O3 Bi Sn In
Flow sheet of recovery process of Pb, Sn, Bi, Sb, and In from lead sulfate
Proceedings of Copper 2013, Vol.IV, 79-90
Important Smelters for Secondly Materials in Japan
Takehara Smelter (Mitsui Mining & Smelting)
・By-products from non-ferrous smelters (anode slime, dross etc.) are
treated by pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical processes
・Various type of wastes are treated by utilizing lead blast furnace
PCB Lead battery

CRT glass Residues containing Pb

PPT material from Mitsui Mining & Smelting

Important Smelters for Secondly Materials in Japan
Takehara Smelter (Mitsui Mining & Smelting)
NiSO4 Cu dross Anode slime PCB Pb battery Pb bullion Electrolytic Pb
(crude)
Lead blast
furnace

NiSO4 CuSO4 Cu Se Cu2Te Ag Pt,Pd Au Sn Pb Sb2O3 PbO

Pamphlet of Takehara Smelter, Mitsui Mining & Smelting

Conclusions
Non-ferrous smelting industry is crucial for Japan’s resource
circulation system for recovery of valuable metals from by-products.
However, we need the establishment of more organic linkage
among copper, lead and zinc smelters for the efficient interchange of
smelting intermediate compounds.

Especially, lead smelters such as blast furnaces and ISP are

important in the treatment of by-products generated in copper and
zinc smelters, because of the control of several phases such as
molten lead, speiss, matte, slag, and gas.

Furthermore, non-ferrous smelters in Japan must develop physical

separation technologies of E-scrap to remove impurities for more
efficient by-product treatment.
Thank you for your attention!!