Non-Ferrous Extractive Metallurgy

Remove the misconception that metallurgical and materials engineering centres around iron and steel. The most important industrial metal/alloy and underscore the importance of non- ferrous metals like gold, silver, aluminium, copper, lead, nickel, chromium and lithium. At the end of this course, the students should be able to: 1. use the periodic table to study the behaviour of metals; 2. demonstrate knowledge of the three fields of extractive metallurgy: pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy and electrometallurgy; 3. properly grasp the theory and application of Ellingham diagram in pyrometallurgy, McCabe Thiele Diagram in hydrometallurgy and Pourbaix diagram in electrometallurgy; 4. develop process flow sheets for extraction of common metals like aluminium, tin, copper, nickel, lead and zinc from their ores; and 5. identify techno-economic and environmental challenges in non-ferrous metal extraction industry with a view to proffering appropriate solutions.

Review of the Periodic Table; classification and sub-classification of extractive metallurgy. Pyro-metallurgy: Theory and application. Flow sheet development for lead, zinc, tin, gold and nickel. Hydrometallurgy Review: Theory and application flow sheet development for aluminium, copper, gold, silver and platinum group of metal (PGM). Electrometallurgy: Theory and application. Flow sheet development for gold and silver. Application of Ellingham diagram, McCabe Thiele diagram and Pourbaix diagram in pyro-metallurgy. Hydrometallurgy and electrometallurgy processing of minerals/metals respectively. Refining of metals with particular reference to gold, silver, copper and tin. Techno-economic and environmental issue in the design and operation of metal extraction and refining plants.