Extraction Process of Antimony from Stibnite by Electrothermal Volatilization

A new pyrometallurgical process to extract antimony from stibnite concentrate was proposed. Thermodynamic analysis of extraction process was conducted. Based on the thermodynamic analysis, the influence of volatilization temperature, volatilization time, blowing oxygen, low melting point slagging on the volatilization rate of antimony and the residual rate of antimony in the slag was investigated. The results show that high temperature benefits for Sb2S3 and Sb2O3 volatilization reaction and the appropriate temperatures is 1623–1723 K, while Sb2S3 volatilization trend is stronger than that of Sb2O3 at the same temperature. While the stibnite concentrated content is 75% (mass fraction, similarly hereinafter), FeO content is 16%, CaO content is 16%, the volatilization time is 60 min, the volatilization temperature is 1673 K, low melting point slagging and non-blowing operation are necessary, the primary volatilization rate of antimony from stibnite concentrate is 94.78%, the residual rate of antimony from melting residue is 0.2%, and the effect of volatilization antimony from stibnite concentrate by electrothermal volatilization is better.