Study on thermal decomposition and arsenic removal of a silver bearing copper ore

By thermodynamic calculation and analysis, a hypothesis is suggested and provided that tennatite gets easily converted to Cu3As which exists in slag in the traditional pyrometallurgy process. Due to the formation of Cu3As, the economic value of high-arsenic silver bearing copper ore is greatly reduced, and the copper recovery ratio declines. Arsenic in the silver bearing copper ore is a punitive element in a trade. It is verified that arsenic could be removed from tennantite and most of sulfur is retained satisfactorily at low oxygen pressure.