Сopper slags mineralogy of the Vyisky plant

The Ural region has been the metallurgical center of Russia for over 300 years and has accumulated a huge amount of slags. Studying their mineral composition is an urgent task, since many slags can be a threat to the environment and represent potential ore that can be further processed. In this paper we present the results of a study of the material composition of copper slags from the Vyisky plant (Nizhny Tagil, Sverdlovsk region). It has been established that the slags are composed of a hercynite-fayalite aggregate with the constant presence of magnetite, sulphides (troilite and «melt solid solutions» of the Cu-Fe-S system), as well as glass, native copper and westerveldite. The temperature of their formation is estimated in the range of 1186—1193 °C. The studied slags can be completely processed, namely, copper-sulfide, hercynite-magnetite and fayalite concentrates can be obtained from them, which can then be used in metallurgical processing. It is shown that sulfides in the slag dump decompose and there is a constant removal of chalcophile and siderophile elements, which increases the technogenic load on the population living here.