Development and Prospect of Arsenic Removal Technology for Containing Arsenic Copper Minerals

Arsenic is a harmful element that widely exists in various non-ferrous metal minerals including copper. With the depletion of free and low arsenic copper ores, containing arsenic copper ore has become an important mineral resource for copper smelting and processing. In the smelting and extraction of copper minerals, arsenic poses a serious hazard to the environment. Therefore, the safe and effective removal arsenic plays a crucial role in copper smelting and processing, and it has a great significance in promoting the green and healthy development of the copper industry. This review summarized the resource characteristics of arsenic containing copper minerals, systematically analyzed current smelting progress of containing arsenic copper minerals, and searched for the difficult and key points existed in pyrometallurgical and wet processes for containing arsenic copper mines. The reasons for difficult point formation were explored in treating arsenic containing copper minerals. The pyrometallurgical roasting followed by high-temperature filtration is documented to be an important development direction for smelting and processing of arsenic containing minerals.