PAPER N4, HydroCopper 2007

WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN THE COPPER RECOVERY PROCESS WHEN A NEW GENERATION OF COPPER ORE GET INTO MINNING PROGRAMS?
Sergio Rivera, Ademir Ramirez, Julio Rosales, Arturo Gutierrez, Nicols Monsalve and Katherine Saldas

Process Department, SKM-MinMetal, Chile

Summary
The current high price of cooper opens the door to several mining projects kept until now under extremely special precautions. Nowadays those resources in-situ become base reserves which can be economically demonstrated. The question is what kind of collateral effect can be expected when the so named reserves will be fed to the processes

Copper Process

Mineral able to acid lixiviation inside a porphyry Oxide Copper ore

A normal concentration of a lixiviation loop

Getting into an anormal situation. The Limit Case

Black Coppers

Akthtensita

Ramsdellita

Hausmannita

Manganita

Braunita

Tenorita

Melaconita (es lo mismo que Tenorita) Paramelaconica(es otro arreglo espacial de la tenorita)

Copper Wad

Neotocita

Apoyo, Crisocola (normal)

Limonitas con Cobre

Delafosita

New mineral (without black Coppers content)

Salty cake from 25 over saturated raffinate solution

Limita Case, concentration of a lixiviation loop

LINEA OXIDOS : Chancado

Mine Geological Parameters : - Litology - Alteration - Humity Effect : - Process Capacity

Ch.

Relevant: Variable - Crushing Capacity

LINEA OXIDOS : Aglomeracin y curado

Geological Parameters : - CuT- CuS/CuT - Analytical consume - in situ humity - Clays - mineralogy - Litology, alteration and structure Aglommeration Effect : - Channels formation + Recovery of fines + mechanical resistence of glommers + Size distribution - Copper recovery - Consume of H+

Relevant variable: - Humity - Distribution size - Particle shape factor - Porosity - Acid dosification - Aglommeration time, rotation velocity, scope angle - Rest time

LINEA OXIDOS : Lixiviacin en Pilas

Geological Parameters : - CuT- CuS/CuT - Analytical consume - in situ humity - Clays - mineralogy - Litology, alteration and structure Heap Leaching Effect : - Cu of PLS - Process Sustentability - Consume of H+ - Impurity Concentration in PLS

Relevant variable - Recovery - Cu Concentration in PLS - Impurity Concentration in PLS - Consume of acid

LINEA OXIDOS : Extraccin por Solvente

Effect : Geological Parameters : - Mineralogy of ganga Solvent Extraction - Electrolyte purity - Efficiency control - Residence time

SX

Relevant Variable - Microscopic material (Coloidal) - Impurity Concentration - Viscosity

LINEA OXIDOS : Electrowinning

Geological Parameters : - Gangas Mineralogy Electrowinning

Effect : - Cathods of high quality - Energy Consume

EW

Relevant variable - Amount of impurity: Ar, Fe, Co, Mn, Cl - Cu Concentration

Is this technically possible?

Purified Raffinate *
FeSO47H2O

RAFFINATE

PROCESS

MgSO47H2O

Al2(SO4)318H2O

Natural Evaporation, is not a chance

How the future look like