CHAPTER 2 Production And Use Metallic copper occurs occasionally in nature. For this reason, it was known to man about 7000 B.C (Killick, 2002). Its early uses were in jewelry, utensils, tools and weapons. Its use increased gradually over the years then dramatically in the 20th century with mass adoption of electricity (Fig. 2.1). 15 1800 1850 1900 1950 2000 Year Fig. 2.1. World mine production of copper in the 19'h and 20th centuries (Butts, 1954; USGS, 2002b). Copper is an excellent conductor of electricity and heat. It resists corrosion. It is easily fabricated into wire, pipe, sheet etc. and easily joined. Electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity and corrosion resistance are its most exploited properties, Table 2.1. 17 18 Extractive Metallurgy of Copper Table 2.1. Usage of copper by exploited property (Copper Development Association, 2002) and by application (Noranda, 2002). Electrical conductivity is the property most exploited. Building construction and electricalielectronic products are the largest applications. Exploited property Electrical conductivity 61 Corrosion resistance 20 Thermal conductivity 11 Mechanical and structural properties 6 Aesthetics 2 % of total use Application % of total use Building construction 40 Industrial machinery and equipment 14 Electrical and electronic products 2s Transportation equipment 11 Consumer goods IO This chapter discusses production and use of copper around the world. It gives production, use and price statistics - and identifies and locates the world’s principal copper-producing plants. It shows that Chile is by far the world’s largest producer of copper, Table 2.3. 2.1 Locations of Copper Deposits World mine production of copper is dominated by the western mountain region of South America. Nearly half of the world’s mined copper originates in this region. The remaining production is scattered around the world, Table 2.3. 2.2 Location of Extraction Plants The usual first stage of copper extraction is beneficiation of ore (-1% Cu) to high-grade (30% Cu) concentrate. This is always done at or near the mine site to avoid transporting worthless rock. The resulting concentrate is smelted near the mine or in seacoast smelters around the world. Seacoast smelters have the advantage that they can conveniently receive concentrates from around the world, rather than being tied to a single, depleting concentrate source (mine). The world’s smelters are listed in Table 2.4 and plotted in Fig. 2.2. The trend in recent years has been towards the latter. Production and Use 19 Copper electrorefineries are usually built adjacent to the smelter that supplies them with anodes. The world's major electrorefineries are listed in Table 2.5 and plotted in Fig. 2.3. LeacWsolvent extraction/electrowinning operations are located next to their mines. This is because leach ores are dilute in copper, hence uneconomic to transport. The world's main copper leacWsolvent extraction/electrowinning plants are listed in Table 2.6 and plotted in Fig. 2.4. Chile dominates. 2.3 Copper Minerals and 'Cut-Off Grades Table 2.2 lists copper's main minerals. These minerals occur at low concentrations in ores, the remainder being 'waste' minerals such as andesite and granite. It is now rare to find a large copper deposit averaging more than 1 or 2% Cu. Copper ores containing down to 0.5% Cu (average) are being mined from open pits while ores down to 1% (average) are being taken from underground mines. Table 2.2. Principal commercial copper minerals. Chalcopyrite is by far the biggest copper source. Sulfide minerals are treated by the Fig. 1.1 flowsheet, i.e. pyrometallurgically. Carbonates, chlorides, oxides, silicates and sulfates are treated by the Fig. 1.2 flowsheet, i.e. hydrometallurgically. Chalcocite is treated both ways. Type Common Chemical Theoretical Primary sulfide chalcopyrite CuFeSz 34.6 minerals ~chYIog.el? su!f?deI. . . . bomi!? . . - - - - - - CuSFeS- . - . . . . . . . . . . . . 63.3 . . . . . . . . . minerals formulae % cu Secondary mineral$ supergene sulfides chalcocite Cu2S covellite cus 79.9 66.5 native copper metal CU" 100.0 carbonates malachite CuCO3Cu(0H), 57.5 azurite ~CUCO~.CU(OH)~ 55.3 hydroxy-chlorides atacamite Cu2CI(OH)3 59.5 oxides cuprite cuzo 88.8 hydroxy-silicates chrysocolla CuO.SiO2.2HzO 36.2 tenorite CUO 79.9 sulfates antlerite CUSO~.~CU(OH)~ 53.1 brochantite CuS04.3Cu(OH)2 56.2 Table 2.3. World production of copper in 1999, kilotonnes of contained copper (USGS, 2002a). Smelting and refining include primary (concen- trate) and secondary (scrap) smelting and refining. Electrowon production accounted for about 20% of total mine production. Country Mine production Smelter production Refinery production Electrowon production a Argentina 145 16 2 Armenia 7 2. F 79 s Belgium 165 423 P Botswana 38 21 8 Brazil 32 195 185 s Bulgaria 75 166 31 0 -0" p Australia 829 393 487 78 Austria 78 Burma 27 Canada 634 604 55 1 Chile 4602 1457 1296 China 590 1190 1400 Congo 21 Cyprus 11 Egypt 5 Finland 12 157 114 France 2 Georgia 8 Germany 350 710 India 36 226 243 Indonesia 1012 174 174 Iran 145 154 130 14 Italy 70 Japan 1 1481 1437 Kazakstan 430 400 395 Hungary 12 21 1373 21 11 127 Korea, North 14 25 25 Korea, South 410 475 Macedonia 10 Mexico 365 328 355 45 Mongolia 125 1 Morocco 7 Namibia 5 13 Norway 27 27 Oman 24 24 Peru 554 340 324 Philippines 32 140 135 Poland 456 518 486 Portugal 76 Romania 16 19 18 Russia 570 780 840 Saudi Arabia 1 Serbia & Montenegro 41 90 86 Slovakia 10 20 South Africa 137 126 101 Spain 23 330 316 Taiwan Papua New Guinea 20 1 Sweden 76 130 130 2 Turkey 76 37 72 2 4 $ United Kingdom 50 6' Uzbekistan 65 80 80 & Zambia 24 1 170 170 55 s United States 1440 1000 1238 557 Q Zimbabwe 2 10 7 2 Total 13200 11800 12700 2300 N 22 Extractive Metallurgy of Copper Production and Use 23 Location Furnace * Location Furnace * 2 Miami, Arizona IS 3 Hayden,Arizona IF 4 Chino, New Mexico IF 5 La Caridad, Sonora F, T 6 Flin Flon, Manitoba R 7 Timmins, Ontario M 8 Sudbury, Ontario IF 9 Falconbridge, Ont. E 10 Noranda, Quebec Ns,Nc 1 I Gasp&, Quebec R 12 La Oroya, Peru R 13 110, Peru R, T 14 Chuquicamata, Chile F,R,T 15 Altonorte, Chile N, R 16 Potrerillos, Chile T, R 17 Paipote, Chile T 18 Chagres, Chile F 19 Las Ventanas, Chile T 20 Caletones, Chile T 21 Caraiba, Brazil F 22 Tsumeb,Namibia R 23 Palabora, S. Africa R 24 Selebi-Phikwe, Botswana F 25 Mufulira, Zambia E 26 Nkana, Zambia R,T 27 Luanshya, Zambia R 28 Huelva, Spain F 29 Hoboken, Belgium IS 30 Hamburg,Gemany F 3 1 Glogow, Poland SF,Fcu 32 Legnica, Poland SF 33 Ronnskar, Sweden 34 Harjavalta, Finland F 35 Monchegorsk, Russ. E 36 Krompachy, Slovakia R 37 Bor, Serbia R E, F, TBRC 200 180 shut 320 60 130 170 30 220 shut 70 285 535 160 160 80 150 115 380 200 20 140 20 230 240 50 290 75 370 350 120 140 150 80 20 165 39 Pirdop, Bulgaria 40 Samsun, Turkey 41 Mednogorsk, Russia 42 Sredneuralsk, Russia 43 Kirovgrad, Russia 44 Krasnouralsk, Russia 45 Norilsk, Russia 46 Oman 47 Sar Chesma, Iran 48 Dzhezkasgan, Kazak 49 Almalyk, Uzbekistan 50 Balkash, Kazakstan 51 Irtysh, Kazakstan 52 Birla, India 52a Swil, India 53 Khetri, India 54 Tuticorin, India 55 Ghatsila, India 56 Kunming, China 57 Bayin, China 58 Daye,China 59 Tonling, China 59a Jinlong, China 60 Guixi, China 61 Shengyang, China 62 Onsan,Korea 63 Leyte, Philippines 64 Gresik, lndonesia 65 Olympic Dam, Aus. 66 Port Kembla, Aus. 67 Mount Isa, Australia 68 Saganoseki, Japan 69 Toyo, Japan 70 Tamano,Japan 71 Naoshima, Japan 72 Onahama, Japan 73 Kosaka. JaDan F F R R R R F,V R K E IF R, V K F F IS F IS N F F S to N F, M F M Feu Ns, Mc IS F F F M R F 50 45 30 40 70 70 40 300 25 150 200 120 300 30 150 50 30 165 30 170 60 100 100 130 200 100 400 180 240 250 150 260 450 250 220 270 260 70 24 Extractive Metallurgy of Copper Production and Use 25 1 Kennecott, Utah 2 Miami, Arizona 3 La Caridad, Mexico 4 El Paso, Tcxas 5 Amarillo, Texas 6 Jocotitlan, Mexico 7 Mexico City, Mexico 8 White Pine, Michigan 9 Timmins, Ontario 10 Sudbury, Ontario 11 Montreal East, Quebec 12 La Oroya, Peru 13 110, Peru 14 Chuquicamata, Chile 15 Potrerillos, Chile 16 Las Ventanas, Chile 17 Caraiba, Brazil 18 Palabora, South Africa 19 Kitwe, Zambia 20 Mufilira, Zambia 2 I Huelva, Spain 22 Olen, Belgium 23 Beerse, Belgium 24 Hamburg, Germany 25 Hettstedt, Germany 26 Lunen, Germany 27 Brixlegg, Austria 28 Krompachy, Slovakia 29 Glogow, Poland, 2 refs. 30 Legnica, Poland 3 1 Ronnskar, Sweden 32 Pori, Finland 33 Pechenga, Russia 34 Bor, Serbia 35 Baia Mare, Romania Table 2.5. Copper electrorefineries around the world. The numbers correspond to those in Fig. 2.3. PC = polymer concrete cells. SS = stainless steel cathodes. y = yes. Prod = production capacity kilotonnes of cathode copper per year. See Appendix E for more details on Chinese refineries. 28 1 shut 30039 426 500 66 120 70 130 170 360 70 280 653 134 300 180 140 220 270 250 350 37 370 60 180 75 20 39C 80 140 125 75 165 50 I Location PC SS Prodjl Location PC SS Prod.1 38 Denizil, Turkey 38a Egypt Oman 40 Sar Chesma, Iran 41 Pyshma, Russia 42 Kyskhtym, Russia 44 Almalyk, Uzbekistan 43 Dzhezkasgan, Kazakstan 45 Balkash, Kazakstan 47 Norilsk, Russia 48 Khetri, India 49 Birla, India 49a Swil, India 50 Silvassa, India 5 1 Ghatsila, India 52 Kunming, China 53 Bayin, China 54 Tonling, China 54a Jinlong, China 55 Guixi, China 56 Daye, China 57 Shengyang, China 58 Cheung Hang. Korea 59 Onsan, Korea, 2 refs. 60 Leyte, Philippines 61 Gresik, Indonesia 62 Olympic Dam, Austral. 63 Port Kembla, Australia 64 Townsville, Australia 65 Saganoseki, Japan 67 Toyo, Japan 68 Nishibara, Japan 69 Naoshima, Japan 70 Tamano, Japan 71 Hitachi, Japan 40 12 20 158 300 75 120 207 300 300 31 Y Y 150 50 Y Y 165 17 170 60 250 130 y 200 100 100 60 Y Y 365 Y Y 200 Y Y 210 Y Y 120 Y Y 270 173 Y 270 Y 105 Y 145 220 Y 220 y y* 180 260 YY YY YY Y Y Y YY YY Y Y Y Y Y YY YY Y Y Y YY Y YY Y 36 Pirdop, Bulgaria Y 45 37 Sarkuysan, Turkey 7 72 Onahama, Japan 73 Kosaka, Japan Y 701 26 Extractive Metallurgv of Copper [...]... Australia 22 a El Tesoro 75 48 Mt Cuthbert, Australia 22 5 49 Cloncurry, Australia 23 El Abra, Chile 60 50 Port Pirie, Australia 24 Lomas Bayas, Chile 25 Michilla, Chile 60 51 Olympic Dam, Aus 26 Radomiro Tomic, Ch 25 6 52 Girilambone, Australia 27 Ivan Zar, Chile 10 Cathode* 45 115 145 130 12 IO 42 3 20 8 30 18 8 110 14 15 25 5 21 21 50 4 6 5 20 18 $35 Santiago ( 40/1 \ c / I" * kilotonnes of cathode copper. .. (1954) Copper, The Science and Technology of the Metal, Its Alloys and Compounds, Reinhold Publishing Corp., New York, NY Copper Development Association (20 02) Copper and copper alloy consumption in the United States by functional use - 1997 www .copper. org (Market data) Killick, D (20 02) Personal communication Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85 721 , U.S.A... for three copper concentrators, 20 01 They all treat ore from large open-pit mines Flotation details are given in Table 3.3 Concentrator Candaleria, Chile Mexicana de Bagdad Copper, Cobre, Mexico Arizona Ore treated per year, 25 000 000 27 360 000 31 000 000 tonnes 0.4 0. 522 Ore grade, %Cu 0.9 - 1.0 Crushing primary gyratory one 2 one crusher 1.5 x 2. 25 1. 52 x 2. 26 diameter x height, m 1. 52 x 2. 26 375... per tonne of ore Hydrocyclones 0.15 0 .2 no 6 no semi-autogenous 2 11 x 4.6 ball mills 12 5 x 7.3 autogenous 5 12 000 4000 4500 9.4-9.8 -13.8 32 10 0 0.1-0.13 0.3 (estimate) 12- 15 12. 5 cm 0.3 kghonne ore 70% ore, 30%H20 80% < 140 pm 22 % ore recycle through two 525 kW crushers 80% . Zambia 24 1 170 170 55 s United States 1440 1000 123 8 557 Q Zimbabwe 2 10 7 2 Total 1 320 0 11800 127 00 23 00 N 22 Extractive Metallurgy of Copper Production and Use 23 Location. 40 300 25 150 20 0 120 300 30 150 50 30 165 30 170 60 100 100 130 20 0 100 400 180 24 0 25 0 150 26 0 450 25 0 22 0 27 0 26 0 70 24 Extractive Metallurgy of Copper Production. Development Association (20 02) Copper and copper alloy consumption in the United States by functional use - 1997. www .copper. org (Market data) Killick, D. (20 02) Personal communication. Engineering,