Process development for a combined treatment of EAFD and jarosite

Investigation of the chemical and mineralogical properties of electric arc furnace dust and jarosite indicates a high potential for recycling, due to contained valuable metals such as indium and silver beside zinc, lead and iron. The development of new appropriate metallurgical processes establishes new possibilities to reduce the amount of hazardous wastes and to open up new chances for secondary resources. Based on successful volatilization trials with a mix of jarosite and Electric Arc Furnace Dust (EAFD), a metal bath reduction process was developed due to some advantages in further usage of the products. The purpose of the process is to obtain an iron alloy, a metal-bearing off-gas and a heavy metal free slag. Results from characterization and first metal bath reduction trials are presented in this paper.