Abstract

FREEMANTLE, C.S.  and  SACKS, N.. Recycling of cemented tungsten carbide mining tool scrap. J. S. Afr. Inst. Min. Metall. [online]. 2015, vol.115, n.12, pp.1207-1213. ISSN 2411-9717.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2411-9717/2015/v115n12a9.

The zinc recycling process (PRZ) and acetic acid leaching (AC) were successfully employed to recycle cemented tungsten carbide mining tool scrap for re-use as production powders. The main success of the PRZ process was that it produced powders which were suitable for manufacturing sintered alloys having properties within the commercial benchmark ranges for WC-6 wt% Co mining-grade tools. Although the powders produced from the AC process were deemed unsuitable for manufacturing the same grade of mining tools, the process cannot be viewed as a failure, since the recycled powders are suitable for different commercial applications. The two recycling processes can therefore be used as complementary processes on an industrial scale.

Keywords : cemented tungsten carbide; recycling; zinc process; acetic acid leaching; mining tools.

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