Use of Thermal Analysis for Study of Characterisation of Multimetal Sulphides and Their Oxidation Behaviour

Abstract

Although extensive literature is available on thermal analysis work describing oxidation behaviour of sulphide minerals this is mostly confined to simpler and often ideal systems. For technological purposes, a more complete characterisation of the natural metal sulphides and bulk concentrates is highly warranted. However, the oxidation reactions of these minerals are often complex. This is especially true for the oxidation of multimetal sulphides for which the characteristic thermograms are generally quite different from those for analytical grade reagents due to many pernicious interactions.

This paper presents a comprehensive review of thermoanalytical studies on sulphide minerals and bulk concentrates. It also discusses possible uses of thermal analysis for understanding oxidation reactions during roasting and/or leaching.

Keywords:

• Multimetal/complex sulphides
• characterisation
• thermodynamic stability
• oxidation
• roasting
• leaching
• thermal analysis
• XRD of sulphides