Question

What is the composition of ‘Copper matte’?

Answer 1

This question is asked from the topic of metallurgy. The term ‘Copper matte’ is like an alloy that is a mixture of one or more compounds. So, their composition of the different compounds will different as per its use.

Complete answer:
You may know that the term ‘Matte’ is used in pyrometallurgy. ‘Copper Matte’ is a mixture which consists of the compounds copper sulphide and some iron sulphide.
During the extraction phase of copper, matte is the phase before the final reduction. For this process, ore is introduced into a blast furnace after roasting and mixing with coke and silica. The FeO is converted to ferrous silicate after air is blasted in the furnace. The slag will float on the molten state of copper matte.
$\text{2FeS + 3}{{\text{O}}_{2}}\text{ }\xrightarrow{\Delta }\text{ 2FeO + 2S}{{\text{O}}_{2}}\text{ }$
$\text{FeO + }\dfrac{1}{4}{{\text{O}}_{2}}\text{ }\to \text{ Fe}{{\text{O}}_{1.5}}$
$\text{FeO + Si}{{\text{O}}_{2}}\text{ }\to \text{ FeSi}{{\text{O}}_{3(\text{slag)}}}$
From the above explanation we can conclude that the component present in the copper matte mixture is iron sulphide and copper sulphide.

Additional Information: Metallurgy is the branch of science which deals with physical and chemical behaviour of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds and their mixtures called alloys. The metallurgy includes both the technology and science of metals.

Note: You should notice that the extraction of copper from its ore is different from the making of alloys or the copper matte. The alloys are the mixture which can enhance the properties of the metals by adding some other substances.