Development of Mitsubishi Continuous Process for Copper Extraction

Moto Goto President Director PT. Smelting

History of Copper
Copper is one of the oldest metal 6,000-8,000 years ago in the East Europe and the Middle East 4,000 years ago in China 2,000 years ago in Japan

DOTAKU Unearthed

DOTAKU Has a BABY

DOTAKU

WADO-KAICHIN

Buddha in NARA

Smelting Process in 15th Century in Japan

Copper History in 16th Century

Mining and smelting was improved in Germany and Japan
4-5% grade copper ore Good quality of wood as fuel Good quality clay for hearth making Blasting technology like hand bellows and piping

Copper History in 17th-19th Century

Leading countries of copper production are Germany, United Kingdom, Russia and Japan Copper production was declined in Japan at the end of 17th century

Rapid Increase of Copper Consumption

Copper consumption in the world
Year 1,800 : 10.000 tons Year 1,900 : 500,000 tons Year 2,000 : 15,000,000 tons

UK was a leading producer

Copper History in 19th-20th Century

Big copper deposits were found
In North America, South America, and Africa. <1% Cu in deposit 4-5% required to extract copper economically

New technology
Open pit & Flotation

Copper History in 20th Century

New copper mines were found in Asia
Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea

Comparison between Steel and Copper Industry

P rod u ction in J ap an M etal con ten t in O re G an gu e S teel 8 0 M ton s 60% C op p er 1 .3 M ton s 1% 2 .2 tim es

Grasberg Concentrate
C on c. C om p osition 2 0 0 0 A vg. Au Ag Cu Fe S Pb Zn S iO 2 A l2 O 3 C aO M gO As Sb Bi g/T g/T % % % % % % % % % % % % 30 57 3 0 .7 5 2 4 .5 9 2 9 .4 6 0 .0 4 0 .2 9 9 .6 5 2 .2 1 0 .5 8 0 .4 6 0 .0 0 3 0 .0 0 1 0 .0 0 3

Outokumpu Flash Furnace

Key words
% Copper ore Concentrate matte blister anode cathode Cu Fe 1 30 25 68 7 98 99 99.99 S 30 21 1 product of mining flotation smelting fce PS converter anode fce electro- refine

Peirce-Smith (PS) Converter

Hood for PS Converter

Gas Condition
Batchwise Continuous

Continuous Converting
In 1959 (Pioneer)
at Balhashi in Kazakhstan then in Szekoslovakia

In 1960s
Worcra process in Australia Noranda process in Canada Mitsubishi process in Japan

Worcra Process

Noranda Process

Mitsubishi Process
Pilot plant of Mitsubishi process by 72T/D in 1968 Basic idea
Smelting and converting in separate furnace (Two steps) Transportation through launders Top blow lances blowing and feeding

Furnace Arrangement of Mitsubishi Process

C Fce CL Fce CL-Slag Electrod es S Fce Lances C-Slag Blister Lances for concentrat e

Matt e Anode Fce

Launder

Hazelett Caster Mannesman Shear

Cu-Fe-S Phase Diagram

Difficulties of Direct Extraction

Long furnace to keep different O2 partial pressures in one reacter (WORCRA) Insufficient copper recovery from slag (Noranda) Poor minor element elimination

Minor Element Recovery

O n e S tep D u st T reatm en t C -S lag T reatm en t Pb Zn As Sb Bi S ep arate S ep arate 13% 0% 15% 31% 14% T w o S tep s S ep arate S ep arate 11% 0% 3% 14% 7%

Advantage of Top Blow Lance

Possible to replace during operation Reduce damage of refractory Campaign life of Mitsubishi Converting furnace is longer than that of PS converter

Cavity and Deep Penetration

Behavior of gas/solid jet in Smelting Furnace

Main Reaction at C furnace

Phase Diagram of Cu2O - CaO System

Kennecott-Outokumpu Flash Converter

Operation started in 1995 in USA Matte is granulated by water, piled, reclaimed, ground, dried and charged to converter Independent operation of both furnaces Additional equipment, additional energy and high dust generation

Gresik Copper Smelter and Refinery Operation Update and Expansion Plan
Indonesian Mining Conference 2001 Jakarta, Indonesia 7-8 November 2001

Dr. Moto Goto, Budi Priyo Handogo, M.A.Sc Gresik Smelter & Refinery, PT. Smelting

Design Capacity
Copper Concentrate Copper Cathode Water Granulated Slag Sulfuric Acid Anode Slime 660,000 tpy 200,000 tpy 400,000 tpy 600,000 tpy 500 tpy

Merits of Location
Adjacent to a Fertilizer Company Facing on Sea Shore Close to Good Harbor Having Adequate Infrastructure

PT. Smelting Outlook

Smelter Conc. Yard Acid Plant Oxygen Power

Water Reservoir

Refinery

Office Laboratory

Flow Sheet of Gresik Plant

Flux & Coal Copper Concentrate Oxygen Enriched Air

SMELTER

SO2

ACID PLANT

Granulated Slag

Copper Anode

Effluent

Effluent

Sulfuric Acid

REFINERY

Effluent

WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT

Anode Slime

Copper Cathode

Gypsum

Treated Water

Unloader

Furnace Arrangement of Mitsubishi Process

S Furnace Outlet

CL slag granulation

Blister Launder Tip

Hazelett Caster

Copper Anode

Refinery

Acid Plant

Wastewater Treatment Plant

Treated Concentrate and Anode Production

250
Concentrate Anode

Concentrate and Anode ( Kilotons)

200

150

100

50

4th

3rd

3rd

4th

2nd

2nd

1st

1st

1st

1999

2000

2001

2nd

3rd

Copper Cathode Production

6 0 ,0 0 0

5 0 ,0 0 0

4 0 ,0 0 0 C u C ath o d e (T o

3 0 ,0 0 0

2 0 ,0 0 0

1 0 ,0 0 0

1 st

1 st

2nd

2nd

1 st

2nd

3 rd

3 rd

1999

2000

2001

3 rd

4 th

4 th

Expansion plan of Gresik copper productions

From 2003 Nominal production rate of copper cathode

200,000 T/Y 250,000 T/Y

Countries and Consumption of Gresik copper cathode

5 S (1)
SEIRI SEITON SEISO SEIKETSU SHITSUKE Organization RINGKAS Neatness RAPI Cleaning RESIK Standardization RAWAT Discipline RAJIN

5 S (2)

Conclusions