Low arsenic residues13 Jul 2019 16:42
The following may shed some light as to why they are considering Hyperleach to produce low arsenic residues from copper concentrates. Depending on the amount of money saved in hazardous waste disposal (plus the other benefits of further utilising the treated concentrates)....the value to companies could be huge. 17 million metric tons of copper are produced worldwide.
'Scientists at Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) say the results of the first techno-economic evaluation of the arsenic-reduction technology at laboratory-scale are encouraging and warrant further development.
Copper concentrators and smelters will feel the benefits, says Warren Bruckard, Research Program Leader for Mineral Processing and Agglomeration at CSIRO. ‘Under normal circumstances, when high-arsenic copper ores are processed, the arsenic is concentrated along with the copper. When these concentrates get to the smelter, the arsenic gets dispersed into the biosphere in various streams, causing concerns for smelter operators and the people who live around them.’
Smelter operators are therefore imposing stricter penalties on the amount of arsenic they will allow in the concentrates that feed them. Bruckard says generally anything above 2,000ppm is fined, while arsenic levels above 5,000ppm are not accepted.
‘Those limits will be coming down further, meaning concentrators who mine and beneficiate the copper ores have to either reduce the arsenic levels by blending high and low arsenic ores, or avoid mining some sections of the orebody,’
https://im-mining.com/2016/02/23/high-arsenic-copper-concentrates/
“In 2014/15, production of complex concentrate increased significantly and the volume of complex concentrates available on the market is expected to rise by 700% between 2013 and 2016. New mines, such as Toromocho in Peru (1% As) and Ministro Hales in Chile (4% As), are producing complex concentrates, while As content in concentrates produced at existing mines, including Marcapunta in Peru (8% As), Chelopech in Bulgaria (6% As) and Chuquicamata in Chile (1.2% As), has risen.
“Around 30% of world copper concentrates output contains more than 0.1% or 1,000 ppm As. complex copper concentrates have an As content greater than 0.2% (2,000 ppm) with no upper limit, although China imposes a limit of 0.5% As (5,000 ppm) on imported base metal concentrates.
“Many copper smelters able to process “dirty” or complex concentrates prior to the 1990s, have either stopped this practice or closed for environmental reasons. These smelters include La Oroya in Peru, San Luis de Potosi in Mexico, Tacoma in the USA, Rönnskär in Sweden, PASAR in the Philippines and Kosaka in Japan.
“The problem of treating high-As concentrate is not going to go away and will be overcome by continued blending, use of existing technology and the development of new technology."
Could be huge!
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