Reapplication Potential of Historic Pb–Zn Slag with Regard to Zero Waste Principles

Dragan Radulović, Anja Terzić (), Jovica Stojanović, Vladimir Jovanović, Dejan Todorović and Branislav Ivošević
Additional contact information
Dragan Radulović: Institute for Technology of Nuclear and Other Mineral Raw Materials, Franchet d’Esperey 86, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Anja Terzić: Institute for Materials Testing—IMS, Bulevar Vojvode Mišića 43, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Jovica Stojanović: Institute for Technology of Nuclear and Other Mineral Raw Materials, Franchet d’Esperey 86, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Vladimir Jovanović: Institute for Technology of Nuclear and Other Mineral Raw Materials, Franchet d’Esperey 86, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Dejan Todorović: Institute for Technology of Nuclear and Other Mineral Raw Materials, Franchet d’Esperey 86, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Branislav Ivošević: Institute for Technology of Nuclear and Other Mineral Raw Materials, Franchet d’Esperey 86, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 2, 1-20

Abstract: Smelting used to be less efficient; therefore, wastes obtained from historical processing at smelter plants usually contain certain quantities of valuable metals. Upon the extraction of useful metal elements, metallurgical slag can be repurposed as an alternative mineral raw material in the building sector. A case study was conducted, which included an investigation of the physico-chemical, mineralogical, and microstructural properties of Pb–Zn slag found at the historic landfill near the Topilnica Veles smelter in North Macedonia. The slag was sampled using drill holes. The mineralogical and microstructural analysis revealed that Pb–Zn slag is a very complex and inhomogeneous alternative raw material with utilizable levels of metals, specifically Pb (2.3 wt.%), Zn (7.1 wt.%), and Ag (27.5 ppm). Crystalline mineral phases of wurtzite, sphalerite, galena, cerussite, akermanite, wüstite, monticellite, franklinite, and zincite were identified in the analyzed samples. The slag’s matrix consisted of alumino-silicates, amorphous silicates, and mixtures of spinel and silicates. Due to the economic potential of Pb, Zn, and Ag extraction, the first stage of reutilization will be to transform metal concentrates into their collective concentrate, from which the maximum amount of these crucial components can be extracted. This procedure will include combination of gravity concentration and separation techniques. The next step is to assess the Pb–Zn slag’s potential applications in civil engineering, based on its mineralogical and physico-mechanical properties. Alumino-silicates present in Pb–Zn slag, which contain high concentrations of SiO 2 , Al 2 O 3 , CaO, and Fe 2 O 3 , are suitable for use in cementitious building composites. The goal of this research is to suggest a solution by which to close the circle of slag’s reutilization in terms of zero waste principles. It is therefore critical to thoroughly investigate the material, the established methods and preparation processes, and the ways of concentrating useful components into commercial products.

Keywords: critical raw materials; alternative deposits; secondary resources; building materials; instrumental analyses; microscopy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/2/720/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/2/720/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:2:p:720-:d:1318921

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().