PAPER N°4, 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, Nicolás Monsalve and Katherine Saldías

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 acidlixiviation 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 blackCoppers content)

Salty cake from 25 over saturated raffinate solution

Limita Case, concentration of a lixiviation loop

Ch.

Mine

LINEA OXIDOS : Chancado

Geological Parameters :

- Litology

- Alteration

- Humity

Effect :

- Process Capacity

Relevant: Variable

- Crushing Capacity

LINEA OXIDOS : Aglomeración y curadoGeological Parameters :

- CuT- CuS/CuT

- Analytical consume

- in situ humity

- Clays

- mineralogy

- Litology, alteration and structure

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

Aglommeration

LINEA OXIDOS : Lixiviación en Pilas

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

HeapLeaching

Geological Parameters :

- CuT- CuS/CuT

- Analytical consume

- in situ humity

- Clays

- mineralogy

- Litology, alteration and structure

LINEA OXIDOS : Extracción por Solvente

Geological Parameters :

- Mineralogy of ganga

Effect :

- Electrolyte purity

- Efficiency control

- Residence time

Relevant Variable

- Microscopic material (Coloidal)

- Impurity Concentration

- Viscosity

Solvent Extraction

SX

LINEA OXIDOS : Electrowinning

Geological Parameters :

- Ganga´s Mineralogy

Effect :

- Cathods of high quality

- Energy Consume

Relevant variable

- Amount of impurity: Ar, Fe, Co, Mn, Cl

- Cu Concentration

Electrowinning

EW

RAFFINATE

Al2(SO4)3·18H2O

MgSO4·7H2O

FeSO4·7H2O

PROCESS PurifiedRaffinate *

Is this technically possible?

Natural Evaporation, is not a chance

How the future look like