
12.3 Primary Copper Smelting
(green feed) ore concentrate produces matte, a molten mixture of copper sulfide (Cu2S), iron sulfide (FeS), and some heavy metals. Converting the matte yields a high-grade "blister" copper, with 98.5 to 99.5 percent copper. Typically, blister copper is then fire-refined in an anode furnace, cast into