Codelco Norte is a large mining and metallurgical complex located in the Second Region in Chile. The annual fine copper productions in 2003 were 478 kt and 429 kt of fine copper. CODELCO With a production of 1,563,000 t of copper in 2003 is a leader producer on a world-wide basis.
Codelco Norte is a large mining and metallurgical complex located in the Second Region in Chile. The annual fine copper productions in 2003 were 478 kt and 429 kt of fine copper. CODELCO With a production of 1,563,000 t of copper in 2003 is a leader producer on a world-wide basis.
Codelco Norte is a large mining and metallurgical complex located in the Second Region in Chile. The annual fine copper productions in 2003 were 478 kt and 429 kt of fine copper. CODELCO With a production of 1,563,000 t of copper in 2003 is a leader producer on a world-wide basis.
Codelco Norte is a large mining and metallurgical complex located in the Second Region in Chile.
The operation considers two main lines of mineral processing: the Concentration line and the Hydrometallurgical line. The annual fine copper productions in 2003 were 478 kt and 429 kt of fine copper, respectively. Codelco Norte has nowadays the largest hydrometallurgical copper complex in the world.
This article describes the hydrometallurgical processing plants, the main results of its operations in 2003 and the development projects considered in this process line.
There are two operation to be emphasized in the leaching of sulfide ore resources: the ROM leach operation denominated SBL Plant, operating since 1994, and the huge secondary sulfide resources in Radomiro Tomic Mine, still not beneficiated.
1. CODELCO
With a production of 1,563,000 t of copper in 2003, Codelco is a leader producer on a world-wide basis. Its mission emphasizes to develop mining and related business in responsible and agile way, aimed to maximize its economic value and contribution to the Chilean state in the long-term.
The Corporation has four Divisions in operation, each one with its respective productive process. Codelco's production and cost by Division in 2003 are shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Copper Production and Cost by Individual Codelco Division.
Division Production kt copper Net Cost US$/lb Codelco Norte 907 49,7 Salvador 80 82,3 Andina 236 62,8 Teniente 339 61,5 Total 1.536 65,4
2. CODELCO NORTE
2.1 Integrated Vision
Codelco Norte was created in 2002 to integrate and rationalize the management of resources and facilities that Codelco has in II Region, given the huge existing potential value and the large reserves and mining resources of its property concentrated there. Joining the ex- Divisions Chuquicamata and Radomiro Tomic (RT) is part of the current business strategy to duplicate the economic value of the Corporation.
In the above framework an integrated handling of the District was adopted. The best practices of each ex- Division were chosen, thus generating an integrated geo-mining-metallurgical planning, in order to guarantee that each ton of mineral entering to the process is maximizing its contribution to the business. Also a rearragement in the sequence of exploitation of the deposits and the best way to employ the distrital territory has been identified. Figure 1 illustrates the Codelco Norte district, which contains about 16.6 billion tons of ore bearing 0.5% of total copper as average grade within an area of 25x68 km 2 .
The distrital management includes two areas according to mineral type, oxide or sulfide, which are distributed as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3.
Figure 1. Codelco Norte District.
Figure 2. Sulfides Location in Codelco Norte District.
Figure 3. Oxides Location in Codelco Norte District.
2.2 Mineral Process Lines
Codelco Norte presents two process lines:
Concentration Line, that includes concentration, smelting and refining steps, with an annual fine copper production in 2003 of 478 kt of copper.
Hydrometallurgical Line, including leaching stages, solvent extraction and electrowining. It consideres two areas, North Hydrometallurgy and South Hydrometallurgy with a total annual production in 2003 of 429 kt of copper.
3. HYDROMETALLURGICAL LINE
The hydrometallurgical line has had an increasing development due to the incorporation of new leachables resources, being these oxides and leachable sulfides, those that are processed in the North and South Hydrometallurgy.
It should be emphasized that production cost in the hydrometallurgical line are lower than those in the concentration line.
3.1 Leachable Resources
The existing leachable resources are summarized in Table 2, some of which are being leached and considered in the Division production plans, whereas the stock of leachable resources, ripios in reprocess and secondary sulfides from RT appear like development projects.
Table 2. Existing Leachables Resources in Hydrometallurgical Line of Codelco Norte.
Chuquicamata Mine South Mine North Extension South Mine (ENMS) Stock of leachable resources Stock of ripios in reprocess
Low Grade Sulfide (SBL) Oxide Oxide Oxide Oxide
3.2 Processing Plants
429 kt of copper per year is the current capacity of the Codelco Norte hydrometallurgical plants. Three plants are distinguished according to the mineral type processed and its location in the district:
3.2.1 Oxide South Mine Plant
This plant belongs to the South Hydrometallurgy Area and processes the old Chuquicamata ripios dump and also fresh oxide ores coming from South Mine. The last one, with an average grade of 1.87% copper, is processed by vat leaching with recoveries of 70%. This facility can process 7 million annual tons of oxide ore. Figure 4 shows in schematic way the processes, which are as follows:
Primary vat leaching (14 days cycle lenght) Secondary dump leaching of old ripios (leach cycle extent of several years) Agitation leaching of smelting dust Treatment of electro-refining discarding solutions Treatment of the ACL-Project solutions (bacterial leach of copper concentrates) Solvent Extraction - Electrowinning.
Main characteristics of the SX-EW plant are:
SX-EW Capacity 120 kt Cuf/year Mineral Type South Mine Oxide Chuquicamata Oxide Ripios Others Production year 2003 105,546 t Cuf (vat leach, ripios dump leach and others)
SMELTING DUSTS PLANT SHIPPING SOUTH MINE H 2 SO 4
CHUQUICAMATA RIPIOS LEACHING VAT LEACHING GREEN HOUSE WELL Agglomeration Pond Raffinate (Cu 20 g/l, 500 m 3 /h) PLS (Cu 6-8 g/l) Pond PLS ACL Solutions Extraction (Cu 2-3 g/l, 1600 m 3 /h) Raffinate (Cu 0.5-1.0 g/l) SOLVENT EXTRACTION
Loaded Organic Unloaded Organic Loaded Electrolyte (Cu 52-55 g/l) ELECTROWINING Stripping Spent Electrolyte (Cu 37-40 g/l) CopperCathode 99.99% H2O H 2 SO 4 H2O
Figure 4. Unitary Operations Description of Oxide South Mine Plant.
3.2.2 SBL Plant
This Plant is inserted in the productive line of the South Hydrometallurgy Area and processes secondary sulfide ores coming from the Chuquicamata Mine. Its copper grade is below the concentrator cut grade but over 0.20% CuT. The ROM ore sent to process bears 0.36% CuT as average, and is 80% chalcopyrite and 20% chalcocite. Sulfides are leached by bacterial action, obtaining an average recovery of 33% CuT within a 3-year period. The leaching solutions are processed by its own SX-EW plant (see Figure 5).
The main characteristics of the SBL plant are:
SX-EW Capacity 22.5 kt Cuf/year Ore Type Chuquicamata mine low grade sulfides Production year 2003 18,757 t Cuf 22,560 t Cuf (expansion).
Copper Cathode Cu : 99.99 % EXTRACTION 2 STAGES PARALLEL STRIPPING CELL EO Chuqui Electrolyte Filter Rich Electrolyte Spent Electrolyte PLS Recycled Raffinate to Leaching Unloaded Organic Crud Sparkler Filter Purge of Water to E-1 Coalescer Orgnico Cargado PLS Pond Raffinate Pond Flowrate : 1500 m 3 /h Cu: 2-3 g/l Flowrate : 1100 m 3 /h Flowrate : 155 m 3 /h Total : 94 1 STAGE SBL DUMP Rectifier Recovered Organic Loaded Organic Copper Cathode Cu : 99.99 % EXTRACTION 2 STAGES PARALLEL STRIPPING CELL EO Chuqui Electrolyte Filter Rich Electrolyte Spent Electrolyte PLS Recycled Raffinate to Leaching Unloaded Organic Crud Sparkler Filter Purge of Water to E-1 Coalescer Orgnico Cargado PLS Pond Raffinate Pond Flowrate : 1500 m 3 /h Cu: 2-3 g/l Flowrate : 1100 m 3 /h Flowrate : 155 m 3 /h Total : 94 1 STAGE SBL DUMP Rectifier Recovered Organic Loaded Organic
Figure 5. Unitary Operations Description of the SBL Plant.
3.2.3 Radomiro Tomic Plant
This plant constitutes the North Hydrometallurgical Area and processes ores extracted from the Radomiro Tomic Mine. Facilities allow to process 62 million of oxide copper ore per year, with 0.60% CuT average grade. Recovery is about 90% of copper fed to the plant in primary and secondary leaching steps. Also since 2003 a low grade oxide ROM ore is leached in a dump (see Figure 6). Recoveries in the leaching step are as follows:
Primary heap leaching (75% to 80% recovery) Dump secondary leaching of primary ripios (45% recovery) ROM leaching of low grade oxides (40% recovery).
Copper solutions from all leach steps are processed in a SX-EW plant. Main characteristics are as follows:
SX-EW Capacity 307 kt Cuf/year Ore Type Radomiro Tomic mine oxides Production year 2003 279,053 t Cuf (primary leaching) 24,585 t Cuf (secondary leaching) 3,000 t Cuf (ROM leaching).
Figure 6. Unitary Operations Description of Radomiro Tomic Plant.
Sln Intermedia E W S Coalescers SET 5 SET 3 SET 2 SET 4 SET 6 SET 1 Chancado Primario Stock Pile Gruesos Stock Pile Intermedios Chancado Secundario Chancado Terciario Botadero de Inertes Botadero de Ripios Lagunas de Refino Desanding Ponds Lagunas de PLS Cure on Belt Pilas de Lixiviacin Columnas de Flotacin Filtros TK de electrolito Filtrado TK de electrolito Rico Extraccin Reextraccin Lavado Intercambiadores de Calor Mina TK Organico Cargado Lixiviacin OBL Sln Intermedia Desde Lagunas de Refino Dump Inert
Stock Pile
Coarse
Stock Pile
Medium Size
Heap Leaching
Pond Raffinate OBL Leaching
OfF RaffinatePond
Secondary Crushing Tertiary
Crushing
PLS Pond
Dump Waste
Medium Solution
ILS
Flotation Column
Filters
TK Filtrate Electrolyte Heat Exchange
TK Loaded Electrol y te
Washing
Stripping
TK Loaded Organic
Primary Crushing
Mine
Extraction
4. DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
4.1 Oxide Ores
The development projects of existing leachable resources in Codelco Norte district, basically correspond to low grade oxide ores and ripios that can be reprocessed, located in dumps distributed in different places in the district.
Projects are divided in two types: new development projects by one hand and optimization projects by the other. These have been evaluated according to the new integrating vision of the administration. Projects in progress and their main characteristics are presented in Tables 3 and 4.
Table 3. Leachable Resources: New Development Projects.
CuT CuS Total Year M (th) % M (ts) % % % ktf ktf/a N Treatment of Ripios from ENMS blended with Chuqui Ripios 3 ROM Processing of RBL 61,4 3 59,6 0,33 0,29 45,0 88 11 8 53,4 218 20 11 10 151 0,27 0,16 55,4 193 28 7 7,5 158,4 0,22 0,16 1 2 171,3 167,8 Grades Recovery Recovered Cuf Years Projects Resource Moisture Resource Treatment of Ripios from South Mine blended with Chuqui Ripios
CuT CuS Total Year M (th) % M (ts) % % % ktf ktf/a N Treatment of Altered Ore from the South Mine blended with RT Ores 65,0 151 40,0 34 LBL from RT Economically processable resource 8 15 0,19 0,14 40,0 123 2 170 2 167 1,26 0,87 9 1 20 8 18 Grades Recovery Recovered Cuf Years Projects Resource Moisture Resource
LBL Low Grade Leached
4.2 Leachable Secondary Sulfide Ores
According to the integrated management of the resources, the secondary sulfide existing at Radomiro Tomic should involve the study of hydrometallurgical and concentration routes prior to decide the best business option for the Corporation.
Each alternative process was subjected to a preliminary study, based on cost variables, anticipated cash flows and plant capacities, all inserted within the Business and Development Plan 2004.
At profile level it was evaluated feasibility to process this ore in the Chuquicamata concentrator or leaching them in RT. In the following diagram each alternative is described (Figure 7), For the concentrator alternative, the ore should be transported 14 km from the RT mine to the Chuquicamata plant.
SULFIDES IN NORTH HYDROMETALLURGY SULFIDES IN CONCENTRATION PLANT ALTERNATIVE II TRANSPORT CONCENTRATOR SMELTING REFINERY PIT EXTRACTION MINERAL CRUSHING LX SX -EW PIT EXTRACTION ALTERNATIVE I
Figure 7. Alternatives to Process the RT Secondary Sulfide Ores.
Secondary RT sulfides present two mineralization zones:
Strong secondary sulfide (SSF), with presence of chalcocite and/or secondary covellite in greater proportion, and minor presence of chalcopyrite and/or bornite.
Weak Secondary sulfide (SSD), with presence of covellite and/or secondary chalcocite coexisting with chalcopyrite and/or bornite.
The average recovery of sulfides processed by hydrometallurgical route is considered as first approach between 48 and 63%, relatively low values with respect to the state-of-the-art, because it does not consider a suitable process adapted to sulfide ores, but only the use of the current process for oxide treatment, where clearly the crushing size -1 currently used is not appropriate for these ores, aspect feasible to be improved. The direct cost for this alternative ranges between 45 to 39 US/lb, according to the assumed recovery. These costs are over those stated in the traditional oxide line, due to the lower extraction compared to that obtained in the North Hydrometallurgy operations.
In the hydrometallurgical option, the secondary sulfides should enter the existing plant after the year 2012, when the oxides exhaust. This is because the actual 90% recovery makes the first option to continue processing oxides.
In the case of the concentrator, preliminary estimates in the mining plans, indicate that these ores could be processed starting at 2006, although the costs of this line are higher than hydrometallurgical line. The concentration option involve two important advantages: it allows a greater recovery of copper (86%) and the cash flows can be anticipated, thus improving the economical return for this alternative.
The dominant presence of chalcocite gives to the flotation concentrate different properties from the average Chuquicamata concentrate, like higher copper grade (close to 50%) and probably lower impurity concentration (particularly As). Assuming 86% copper recovery at this stage, about 63 USS/lb cost is estimated for the complete concentration line, including the transportation cost from RT to Chuquicamata. See Table 5.
Relevant characteristics of each alternative are as follows:
Concentrator Hydrometallurgy Process residence time < 1 hour 300 400 days Recovery % 86 48 63 Unit cost US/lb 63 45 39 Year of start up 2006 2012
Differential NPV associated to each process alternative with a discount rate of 8.5% and a copper price of 85 USS/lb are shown in Table 6. The reference used is the hydrometallurgical processing beginning at 2012, with 47.5% as total copper recovery.
Table 6. Differential NPV Associated to Each Process Alternative.
Line Process NPV MUS$ Hydrometallurgy year 2012 (R = 48%) 0 Hydrometallurgy year 2012 (R = 63%) +94 Concentration year 2006 (R = 86%) +42
Both alternatives present advantages and disadvantages and together with the economic feasibility study would allow to determine the best process alternative. The choice also would depends on policies and commitments adopted by the administration. Variables such as plant availability, start up opportunity, recoveries, ore resource availability, ore supplying alternative, environmental variables and process time, among others.
The study of processing alternatives for the RT secondary sulfide ores goes on, with the target of improving information to generate a better geo-mining-metallurgical planning that allows to establish the best options and process opportunities and business.
5. CONCLUSIONS
The production of 429 kt Cuf during the year 2003 in the Hydrometallurgical line in Codelco Norte, is an important contribution to the Codelco Norte production, particularly considering the low production cost, it stands out the relevance of the development projects mentioned before, because its application would significantly impact the future operational result of the whole Division.
Interesting additional leachable resources appear to be worked out, to establish their stage and process alternative, according to the integrated management plan. Reprocessing of existing ripios and the ROM leaching operations are the most attractive alternatives to beneficiate these resources.
The challenge to detect the marginal capacities of the existing plants, will allow to adapt the plants to higher demands with low investments and reduced times, thus increasing profit of the business.
It should be noted that considering a low copper recovery (48%), the concentrator option is more attractive than the hydrometallurgical route, besides in the first one an important benefit occurs by advancing the start up in the year 2006 compared to 2012 in the hydrometallurgical route.
Still within a conservative frame, the increase of leaching copper recovery from 48 to 63% would report important economic profit increasing the differential NPV to 94 MUS$, exceeding to the concentration route in 52 MUS$. Therefore, although the processing of these ores is planned for the 2012, the pertinent studies to define processing conditions, required investments, better knowledge of the resource (mineralogy, grades) and more precise metallurgical response (copper recovery, acid consumption), must begin as soon as possible due to the high potential business.
6. REFERENCES
1. J. Camus, F. Azcar. Integrated Planning in the Mining Business, Copper 2003 - Copper 2003 Volume I - Plenary Lectures, Economics and Applications of Copper, Santiago, Chile, 2003, 279-291.