Chilean Mining Industry Research Articles

The use of seawater in copper hydrometallurgical processing in Chile: A review

Seawater has become a viable alternative for different uses in copper hydrometallurgy. In this paper we review the main physical and chemical characteristics of seawater and how these influence copper production. Reliable data on the use of continental water are reported, and the current use and consumption of seawater in the Chilean mining industry is analysed, indicating the main areas of use and the main problems encountered. Additionally, the influence of the elements in seawaterthat have the most influence on the extractive metallurgy of copper are considered. The Chilean copper mining industry currently consumes approximately 4.1 m3/s of seawater, which corresponds to 25% of the total water used. The use of seawater for the leaching of copper sulphide minerals, such as chalcopyrite, is beneficial because it provides 20 g/L of chloride, thereby improving copper dissolution kinetics.

An Overview of the Behavior of Concentrates with Arsenic, Antimony, and Bismuth under Roasting Conditions

It is well-known that the mining industry in Chile and the world is searching for eco-friendly, highly efficient mineral treatments. This is because the content of toxic elements such as arsenic, antimony, and bismuth have increased in the copper concentrates in the last years. This trend has affected the market of this metal, as well as increased the potential of producing solid wastes that represent a threat to the environment. In this paper, a review on the fundamentals of the current treatments aimed at removing arsenic, antimony, and bismuth from copper concentrates under roasting conditions is presented. The literature survey included the research conducted from 2000 until now and is focused on the different types of roasting of copper concentrates reported in the literature. A summary of the experimental conditions and major findings of each work is discussed. Depending on the type of roasting, the behavior of arsenic, antimony, and bismuth species during the experiments is analyzed.

Assessment of the Ecological Status of Soils Contaminated by the Copper Mining Industry in Chile: Earthworms to the Rescue

Soil fauna can serve as an excellent tool for ecological assessment of soil quality. The earthworm Eisenia fetida L. is widely used as a bioindicator organism to assess the toxicity of metals, metalloids, and other pollutants. Many studies have shown that the concentrations of metals and metalloids toxic to earthworms are an order of magnitude lower in artificially contaminated soils than in industrially contaminated soils. The novelty of this study is that toxicity estimates were made using native industrially contaminated soils. The results of the two experiments demonstrate the potential use of earthworms for ecological assessment of soils contaminated with metals and metalloids due to copper mining activities in central Chile. The main contaminant in these soils was copper, but arsenic, commonly found in copper ore, was also present in the contaminated soils. In the short-term bioassay, E. fetida earthworms avoided the soil in response to increasing copper content. However, in long-term experiments, arsenic proved to be more toxic to earthworm reproduction, while copper had little effect. In this study, we present toxicity thresholds for copper and arsenic to E. fetida in industrially contaminated native soils.

Assessment of the Ecological Status of Soils Contaminated by the Copper Mining Industry in Chile: Earthworms to the Rescue

Assessment of the Ecological Status of Soils Contaminated by the Copper Mining Industry in Chile: Earthworms to the Rescue

Simplified Circular Economy Indicator for Mining Operations: A Case in the Chilean Mining Industry

The circular economy is becoming increasingly important in mining operations as the industry faces pressure to become more sustainable and responsible. This article proposes a circularity indicator to solve the problem of comparing mining operations over time. This indicator considers total production, CO2 emissions, water consumption, and total energy used in production. The model responds to the industry's need to find indicators that are more adjusted to the data and less dependent on opinions. Results indicate that this indicator is relatively easy to implement and is demonstrated by comparing three mining plants over three years, evidencing the possibility of direct comparisons, and establishing the temporal progression of each mining plant.

Theoretical technical–economic comparison of hybrid energy for gas and solar concentration plants in the Region of Antofagasta Chile

Electricity demand from mining industry in Chile will increase up to 34 % in the next 10 years. The Antofagasta region has several mining operations and gas pipelines, in addition to being an area with very high solar resource availability. This study focuses on reviewing hybridization alternatives for combined cycle plants with concentrating solar generation technologies. In this work a techno-economic analysis of two alternative small scale hybridized solar-combined cycle technologies is developed, a solarized combined cycle with STP and a solarized combined cycle with PTC. To perform the solar concentration systems simulations, TRNSYS software was used for PTC, and Solstice software for STP system, while the thermodynamic simulation for the combined cycle system was developed using EES software. The LCOE was calculated for all plants considering a fuel cost of 66 USD/MWh. LCOE obtained for combined cycle is 202 USD/MWh, while LCOE for combined cycle with STP integration is 149 USD/MWh, and LCOE for combined cycle with PTC integration is 197USD/MWh. The lowest LCOE is achieved with the STP integration, since part of the fuel that feeds the combined cycle is replaced by solar energy, avoiding the emission of 16,603 tons of CO2.

Environmental Management Strategies in the Copper Mining Industry in Chile to Address Water and Energy Challenges—Review

The mining industry faces diverse challenges to maintain sustainable production, particularly regarding critical water and energy supplies. As a significant player in the copper mining industry, Chile has become a global reference. Therefore, this research analyses the distinct challenges of the Chilean copper mining industry in terms of water and energy. We also identified ten key challenges that the Chilean copper mining industry must address to remain competitive and relevant. Several mining companies were examined to review and understand the different types of Environmental Management Initiatives (EMIs) adopted. The most prevailing strategies involved implementing Environmental Management Systems, which allow organisations to define, implement, and track their specific goals and standards. This review acknowledged four relevant water-related initiatives, including seawater use, community strategic plans, general environmental monitoring programs, and water recycling and recirculation systems. In terms of energy, the key initiatives included energy efficiency projects, the use of Non-Conventional Renewable Energy (NCRE), and mine process optimisation. The benefits of implementing EMIs are multiple, with the most relevant being ensuring continuous operation, cost reduction, and improved Social License to Operate (SLO) outcomes.

Use of Alternative Water Resources in Copper Leaching Processes in Chilean Mining Industry—A Review

Due to the significant growth of the world population, the accelerated growth of economic industries in various countries, and improved living conditions, freshwater consumption has increased dramatically and is currently under critical pressure. Its good use and rationing are essential. Even though mining is an industry that consumes much less water than other industries, such as agriculture, surrounding communities are constantly questioned. This occurs mainly because mining deposits are generally found in arid areas where freshwater is scarce, forcing government authorities to regulate water use in mining processes more severely. Faced with this scenario, the mining industry has innovated the use of seawater and wastewater from processes for its production processes. In addition, various projects are under development to construct desalination plants and water impulsion systems of the sea; therefore, it is expected that seawater and/or wastewater in mining will continue to grow in the coming years. Among the main challenges faced in the use of these water resources in mining is: (i) the close relationship that exists between the use of seawater and energy consumption, transferring the problem of water scarcity to a problem of energy cost overruns; (ii) generation of greater integration between the use of water and sustainable energy; and (iii) brine management is economically expensive and technically challenging and, therefore, most desalination plants discharge untreated brine directly into the sea, causing an environmental impact. On the other hand, regarding the use of these water resources in leaching processes, there are very positive results for the dissolution of copper from sulfide minerals, where the wastewater from desalination plants presents better results than seawater due to its higher concentration of chloride ions, allowing it to work at higher redox potential values in order to increase copper dissolution. This manuscript is a bibliographic review in which finally, it is concluded that it is feasible to incorporate wastewater from water desalination plants in heap leaching processes for copper sulfide ores, as long as the cost of transfer from water desalination plants to mining sites can be supported.

Engaging Stakeholders in Extraction Problems of the Chilean Mining Industry through a Combined Social Network Analysis‐Analytic Network Process Approach

This paper proposes a state‐of‐the‐art methodology for the analysis of stakeholders and their role and performance related to SMEs in the mining industry in the Chilean region of Coquimbo. The relationships between the actors are studied and prioritized according to their support network position. An individual index for each actor based on their influence on solving problems is provided. The social network analysis was used to know the influence of the actors in the sector through the centrality measures. Furthermore, a methodology to measure stakeholders’ influence based on the multicriteria method analytic network process approach is proposed. Both methods are used to identify the main stakeholders, study their relationships, and identify the most influential actors involved in executing strategies to boost the sector performance. The results show that the network remains cohesive thanks to certain actors, while the links between private actors must be strengthened; likewise, some public actors should assume a more proactive role in dealing with the problems of the sector.

Integrated planning framework for preventive maintenance grouping: A case study for a conveyor system in the Chilean mining industry

Increasingly complex production environments pose new challenges and require the development of new methodological approaches in the search for effective and cost-efficient maintenance planning, taking into account their applicability in real industrial environments. In this context, this article proposes an extension of the integrated framework for opportunistic preventive maintenance (PM) planning, proposed originally in Viveros et al. integrating non-negligible execution times of PM activities and time-window tolerances criterion for the generation of opportunistic grouping schemes. This work offers the implementation of the proposed framework in a practical case within the Chilean mining industry, expanding the analysis on scarce resource availability scenarios for PM tasks to be performed on conveyor belts in the grinding process. The proposed planning optimization model is formulated under the mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) paradigm, and searches minimizing the asset unavailability under several tolerance levels for the case study analyzed. The results show a 35% downtime reduction for a maximum tolerance factor of 10% considering an unconstrained maintenance resource scenario, which confirms the ability of the model to increase asset availability, minimizing system interruptions, improving its cost efficiency, and enhancing productivity levels in the mining industry.

Feasibility of re-processing mine tailings to obtain critical raw materials using real options analysis

The re-processing of mine tailings to obtain critical raw materials (CRMs) could reduce the mining of new deposits as well as ensure the profitable use of the waste materials. Though, it requires large scale industrial installations and the development of specialized technologies to obtain CRMs. New investment in mining activities is an operation, engaging for considerable financial resources involved. The scale of such an endeavor makes a new mining activity a high-risk operation due to several uncertainties present. Therefore, there is an acute need to use new tools to assess the risk associated with the planning and development of new mining activities.This study introduces a framework to evaluate the economic risk related to the re-processing of mine tailings to obtain CRMs. The framework, based on real options analysis (ROA), and sensitivity and uncertainty analysis, was applied to analyze the profitability of using mine tailings as a source of CRMs in the Chilean mining industry. The novelty of this approach consists in enabling the investment decision making including the uncertainties related to a novel investment mining project. Resultsshow that tailing storage facilities in Chile have some stocks of CRMs, like scandium, whose extraction could be profitable. For the data used, the results of uncertainty and sensitivity analyses show that capital expenditure has a more significant influence than the other variables. Therefore, for the case of mine tailings re-processing, it is essential to develop processes and technologies that enable lower capital expenses.

Deaths in the Chilean Mining Industry: An Analysis of Factors Associated with the Fatalities of the Accident

Deaths in the Chilean Mining Industry: An Analysis of Factors Associated with the Fatalities of the Accident

Effect of Eh and pH on the flotation of enargite using seawater

The presence of enargite in porphyry-copper deposits is an important matter as this sulfosalt displays good floatability in the presence of the collectors which are usually used in the flotation of copper sulfides, thus it readily floats and contaminate the copper concentrates. Scarcity of water resources is a relevant problem in the Chilean mining industry and the use of seawater in the mineral processing plants is today a feasible solution. The flotation behaviors of copper sulfides and molybdenite in seawater was studied to some extent, but the enargite behavior in this aqueous medium has seldom been investigated. The objective of this work was to study the flotation behavior of enargite in seawater under different pulp electrochemical potentials (Eh) and pH. The independent effects of calcium and magnesium were also evaluated. The experimental results show that enargite flotation in seawater is depressed at both reducing and oxidizing conditions at pH = 9. At pH = 10.5 enargite is strongly depressed to values even below 20% at the whole range of Eh studied which may be explained by the adhesion of magnesium hydroxo-complexes to the enargite surfaces rendering it hydrophilic. The depressing effect of calcium on enargite flotation is stronger than the depressing effect of magnesium, although calcium concentration in seawater is lower. This conclusion may be related to the presence of highly stable compounds such as hydrophilic calcium arsenates on the enargite surface.

Manganese Nodules in Chile, an Alternative for the Production of Co and Mn in the Future—A Review

Given the active growth of emerging technology industries, it has become essential to have large quantities of critical metals to meet the current demand. In the Chilean mining industry, there is a depletion of high-grade mineral ores, and there is hence a need to increase production levels in the copper industry and diversify its market by extracting other elements. One of the strategies is to foster the production of lithium batteries, but the manufacture requires reserves of cobalt (Co) and manganese (Mn). Currently, Co reserves are not being exploited in Chile, and Mn production is almost negligible. This is due to the apparent shortage of high-grade ores on the land surface of the country. Given this scenario, the seabed manganese nodules are presented as a good alternative due to their high average grades of Co and Mn, which in turn would allow the growth of strategic value-added industries including lithium battery production. Chile’s current environmental regulations prevent the exploitation of marine resources. However, given technological advances worldwide, both in collection mechanisms and extractive processes, in addition to the needs generated from the future strategic plans, leads us to think about a project to exploit manganese nodules locally.

Causal relationships between economic activity and the mining industry in Chile

Red Iberoamericana para la Competitividad, Innovacion y Desarrollo (REDCID) in Programa Iberoamericano de Ciencia y Tecnologia para el Desarrollo (CYTED)

Considering environmental variables in the design of waste dumpsites.

Mining generates a significant quantity of waste material including ballast, gravel, and slags, which are often deposited in areas without taking into account the environment impacts and the need to ensure the physical and chemical stability of the disposed waste. One of the less studied problems is the emission of particulate matter produced by wind erosion at the dumpsites. This erosion is mainly caused by two factors, wind speed and turbulence, due to surface phenomenon. Until now, the design of waste dumpsites in the Chilean mining industry has not considered these environmental conditions. Efforts to minimize disposal costs have always been achieved by depositing ballast without considering these variables. When wind impacts this unprotected surface, it creates a source of dust that requires some special attention. The problem that this research tries to solve is to reduce particulate material to the atmosphere from waste dumps in which, under certain atmospherics and geographic conditions, specifically on winter season, its concentrations overpass the maximum limit allowed by law, generating bronchopulmonary diseases and even closing partially or totally mine operation. The result is the creation of a waste dumpsite design model, with its corresponding algorithms, which will allow optimization of the waste dumpsite design. From these results, future researches could explore more sustainable mining, such as unit operations, drilling, blasting, load and crushing material, reducing particulate material emissions to the atmosphere, and minimizing environmental impact due to exploitation.

Development of an empirical model for copper extraction from chalcocite in chloride media

Multivariate models are a useful tool when studying the effects of independent variables on one or more dependent variables, since this approach allows modeling of the dynamics of complex systems based on simple analytical models with considerable certainty. Due to the decrease in the copper oxide mineral grades, leaching of copper sulfide minerals (secondary sulfides) has positioned itself as a benchmark of operation for the Chilean mining industry. The present work proposes the study of the effects of sulfuric acid, chloride concentration and time on the extraction of copper from sulfuric minerals (chalcocite), considering an experimental design, the surface optimization methodology and the adjustment of a quadratic model. The experimental data were adjusted by multiple regression analysis and were statistically analyzed. A model was developed to represent the copper extraction from the Cu2S mineral as a function of the statistically significant variables (chloride concentration and time) that contribute to explain the variation of the response variable under the set of parameters sampled.

Prospective study using archetypes and system dynamics

PropósitoEste artículo propone una combinación de métodos de pronósticos que permite una comprensión holística de una situación futura, dadas ciertas variables de influencia mediante una combinación de datos reales y conocimiento de expertos.Diseño/metodología/enfoqueLa propuesta combina dos métodos conocidos: (i) arquetipos de sistemas que corresponden a estructuras genéricas, lo que nos permite manejar los modelos, y (ii) la dinámica de sistemas que ofrece soporte técnico a nivel computacional para evaluar diferentes escenarios o soluciones de problemas.ResultadosEl caso de estudio considera la situación de la industria minera en Chile y sus variables relacionadas, incluidos cuatro escenarios diferentes. Según la metodología propuesta, los resultados indican que i) el precio del cobre es primordial para la industria y sus efectos no se limitan a las ganancias de la empresa; ii) un largo período de caída en los precios del cobre podría detener los proyectos de exploración y desarrollo.Limitaciones en la investigación/implicacionesLos arquetipos sistémicos siguen siendo un tema de investigación y su aplicación en diferentes campos del conocimiento continúa aumentando para mejorar este enfoque de simulación.Implicaciones prácticasEl estudio de caso ilustra la combinación de una matriz de Vester y los modelos de arquetipos del sistema inicial que se enriquecen utilizando el enfoque de dinámica de sistemas. De hecho, el caso de estudio apunta a comprender las consecuencias de diferentes escenarios basados en el enfoque orientado a los problemas proporcionado por Vester.Implicaciones socialesEl objetivo de los estudios prospectivos para situaciones de gran escala y complejas es modelar la situación real para obtener soluciones que puedan mejorar el bienestar social.Originalidad/valorLa metodología propuesta contribuye a la literatura existente mediante la integración de técnicas como la matriz de Vester, el modelado de arquetipos del sistema y la simulación de dinámica de sistemas, todo lo cual se propuso anteriormente en la literatura como técnicas independientes.

Implementación de un sistema de control interno en la empresa PyC Tecnología Limitada

La presente investigación tuvo como propósito estudiar el sistema de control interno de una PYME existente en la Ciudad de Concepción ? Chile. El enfoque del trabajo es cualitativo sobre la base de un caso de estudio de una empresa PYME perteneciente al sector de servicios a la industria minera en Chile. Se llevó a cabo entrevistas y encuestas semi estructuradas aplicada a distintos personas de la empresa, también se utilizó estudios referentes a las empresas PYME en Chile y en Latinoamérica, su problemática y continuidad en sus negocios. Los resultados de la investigación para este caso de estudio indican por un lado, que aun cuando ella logra sostenerse en el tiempo y administrar sus recursos financieros para continuar desarrollando sus actividades, por otro lado, su sistema de control es débil dado que el foco de atención de los dueños de la entidad se centran sólo en las operaciones normales de su negocio y en menos medida, en la información interna que sustentan los flujos de información. Una PYME que ha incrementado sus operaciones y comienza a estabilizarse, necesita que su información (manual y/o digital) sea administrada y mantenida bajo ciertos procedimientos y controles a objeto de salvaguardar los activos y recursos, contribuyendo de esta manera a la sustentabilidad y crecimiento de la empresa en el tiempo.

Using Partial Desalination Treatment To Improve the Recovery of Copper and Molybdenum Minerals in the Chilean Mining Industry

Limited water resources and greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels used in electricity production are problems experienced in Chile. To address water shortages, many copper mining companies have started to use seawater or desalinated water in their operations. However, seawater exerts a negative impact on the mineral processing operation. It reduces the recovery of copper and molybdenum minerals in the flotation of copper–molybdenum sulfide ores due to the presence of calcium and magnesium ions. This study aims to propose a partial desalination treatment for calcium and magnesium species removal to improve the recovery of valuable minerals in the flotation of copper–molybdenum sulfide ores. The proposed method uses carbon dioxide gas and sodium hydroxide to promote the removal of calcium and magnesium ions from seawater. As a result, the partial desalination treatment can remove 60.5% of calcium and 98.3% of magnesium species. In addition, it helped in reaching a high recovery of molybdenum (81.1%) an...