Microscopic and quantitative characterization of germanium-indium bearing by-product from heavy metal metallurgy

This article presents the results of study on the material characterization of germanium-indium drosses (Ge-In-D). Ge-In-D are a by-product of obtaining zinc and lead, which are currently not processed yet. Due to the exceptionally high concentrations of germanium and indium in them, as well as the commercial value of these elements, it became important to properly identify Ge-In-D, which was the aim of this work. Ge-In-D were characterized quantitatively and microscopic analyzes were also performed. The chemical composition of Ge-In-D was determined as follows (percentage by mass): 27.195% Sn; 20.737% Pb; 15.764% Cu; 9.782% As; 9.274% Ge; 7.875% In; 3.872% Fe; 2.617% Ag; S, Ni, Zn, Ga, Se, Cd, Sb as the rest. The combination of granulometry and chemical analyzes shows that germanium and indium tend to accumulate in fine fractions.