Copper slag is a by-product obtained during the smelting of matte and the refinement of copper. Despite the increasing rates of copper slag reuse, to this date, the tremendously large amount of its annual production lead to its disposal in dumps or stockpiles. One of the potential applications for reusing copper slag is in cement production. The use of copper slag as supplementary cementitious material in ordinary Portland cement mortars is investigated in this study. Various mortar samples were produced with increasing copper slag contents ranging from 0 to 50 wt%. To study the effects of copper slag substitution as a replacement for cement on the properties of cement mortars, specimens were prepared containing different percentages of copper slag with total binder. The physicochemical properties of the cement mortars, i.e., slump, workability, water absorption, and compressive/flexural strength, were investigated aiming towards the replacement of cement. In addition, chemical resistance properties were evaluated by measuring the weight loss during the immersion of cement mortars in 5% sulfuric acid solutions for 28 days.

Keywords: Copper slag, Cementitious material, Compressive strength, Chemical resistance.