Copper Industry Research Articles

The Elkington specimen of cathode copper

ABSTRACTThe specimen of cathode copper dated 1880 in the Percy Collection of the Science Museum, London was produced in the world’s first copper electrorefinery located at Pembrey in South Wales, based upon the only known application of jar-cell technology patented by James Elkington in 1869. Drill samples were taken and assayed by ICP-MS for a total of 23 impurity elements, of which 12 were considered for the study. Their average aggregate value of about 20 ppm compares very favourably with about 23 ppm for the same impurities in typical modern cathode. The average silver assay, 2.9 ppm Ag, is very low by modern standards, indicating an anode low in silver, possibly associated with low levels of Pb and Sb and relatively high levels of As and Bi. This unusual combination of anode impurities coupled with exceptional cathode purity is discussed in relation to the contemporary conditions in the Welsh copper industry.

Thermal analysis and kinetics of the oxidative roasting process of a copper smelter dust

As a result of the increasing global demand for refined copper, the reserves of primary sources of copper have been decreasing at a tremendously fast rate; which thus makes secondary copper processing an ever-increasing importance within the global copper industry. Copper smelter dust (CSD) is a potential secondary source of copper that is produced during copper pyrometallurgy. The significant amount of copper value these CSDs often plays host to prompts the need to develop processes to meaningfully remove sulfur and other associated impurities from it, prior to subsequent treatment in the copper recovery process. Hence, this present work carried out a thermal analysis and kinetic study on the oxidative roasting process of copper smelter dust under non-isothermal condition in air using DSC-TGA equipment. The non-isothermal experiments were carried out at heating rates of 5, 10, 15, and 20 °C/min, from room temperature up to 1000 °C. The intermediate phases formed in each stage of the oxidative roasting of the CSD were identified. After the first weight loss step, sulfate compounds were mainly formed in the second stage, and approximately 48% of sulfur contained in the metallurgical waste was removed. In the third stage, the sulfur removal reaction was carried out; the rest of sulfur was nearly removed in this stage. Kinetics of the third stage was analyzed from the dynamic DSC-TGA data by means of Coats and Redfern equation. The nucleation and growth model yielded a satisfactory fit to these experimental data.

Discussion on the Copper Resource Reserve Scale and the Layout of Reserve Base in China

This article measured the reasonable scale of copper resource land reserves in China using the safety stock theory based on the commodity safety stock theory and analyzed the reasonable scale under different circumstances. In combination with the current situation and future development trend of China’s copper industry and through analysis, the appropriate scale of copper resource land reserves in China is between 5–6 million tons for future use. The analytic hierarchy process is used to establish the evaluation model of the spatial layout of copper resource land reserves and make a comprehensive evaluation of mineral resource land reserves in 30 provinces (cities and districts). The study shows that among these provinces, Yunnan, Jiangxi, Inner Mongolia, Anhui, and Gansu contain the most amount of copper resource land reserves. Therefore, copper mines (deposits) in these five provinces (regions) can be selected and included in the mineral resource land reserve plan. Tibet and Xinjiang have huge copper reserves and good prospecting potential, but some mines in such provinces cannot be used because the natural conditions are unfavorable. Therefore, appropriate copper mines (deposits) should be selected and included in the long-term mineral resource land reserve plan

Treatment of Residues from the Copper Industry with an Alternative Approach for Electric Furnace Slag

Today’s copper industry sees itself confronted with a variety of different residues and by-products. This situation can be explained by the decreasing content of copper in the primary ore concentrate and the multitude of further downstream processes and applications. This work aims at giving an overview of the different residues that derive from the primary as well as the secondary copper industry and highlights the potential in eastern and southeastern Europe. The core part of this article describes different recycling and recovery methods, which can be split into two main categories. The direct treatment generally consists of a remelting step which builds on a detailed chemical analysis and aims at the preservation of the contained alloying elements. In contrast to the direct option, the conventional recycling consists of several process steps which gradually increase the purity and quality of the material.The description of a new approach for the treatment of electric furnace slag concludes the considerations concerning the different residues. While the introduction of primary copper smelting slag into an electric furnace displays a commonly applied procedure which leads to a marketable product, legislative as well as environmental restrictions may restrict this opportunity in the near future. As a result, a pyrometallurgical approach that uses pig iron as a reducing agent aims at lowering the contained heavy metal content in the slag and hence at guaranteeing the required marketability.

Towards solar power supply for copper production in Chile: Assessment of global warming potential using a life-cycle approach

Solar energy technologies are a promising option to lower the greenhouse gas emissions of energy generation. Using solar technologies in energy-intensive industries located in arid climate zones is an attractive alternative for that purpose. In this work, the environmental benefit of integrating solar energy in the Chilean copper industry is explored in respect of global warming potential (GWP).A new life cycle assessment model for copper cathodes production in Chile and the integration of three solar technologies was developed. The GWP of the production of copper cathodes was calculated considering local representative conditions for climate, energy mix, and energy demand of the industry. It was computed at 6.0 tCO2eq/t Cu2 for a pyrometallurgical process (P-Cu) and 4.9 tCO2eq/t Cu for a hydrometallurgical process (H-Cu). Further contributions of this paper are the consideration of the decline in ore grade (i.e. copper content in the mineral) and the interconnection of Chile's two main power grids as sensitivities to the baseline. The interconnection of the power grids causes a GWP-reduction of 22% for P-Cu and 37% for H-Cu. In parallel, the expected lower ore grade by 2020 would increase the GWP of copper production by 10% for P-Cu and 4% for H-Cu.If the electricity that is currently taken from the grid is exclusively fed by solar technologies, the reduction on the GWP of copper production would be up to 63% and 76% for P-Cu and H-Cu processes. These numbers do not represent the upper bound for the reduction on the GWP of copper production that can be achieved with solar technologies because the substitution of on-site fossil fuel combustion with solar energy is another interesting mitigation option, which was not considered in this study. In order to achieve even less carbon-intensive production processes, an improved understanding of the copper's industry energy flows and profiles is needed. This would allow to assess the integration of further solar energy technologies and conceive the future of solar copper mining.

Energy Efficiency of the Outotec® Ausmelt Process for Primary Copper Smelting

The global, non-ferrous smelting industry has witnessed the continual development and evolution of processing technologies in a bid to reduce operating costs and improve the safety and environmental performance of processing plants. This is particularly true in the copper industry, which has seen a number of bath smelting technologies developed and implemented during the past 30 years. The Outotec® Ausmelt Top Submerged Lance Process is one such example, which has been widely adopted in the modernisation of copper processing facilities in China and Russia. Despite improvements in the energy efficiency of modern copper smelting and converting technologies, additional innovation and development is required to further reduce energy consumption, whilst still complying with stringent environmental regulations. In response to this challenge, the Ausmelt Process has undergone significant change and improvement over the course of its history, in an effort to improve its overall competitiveness, particularly with respect to energy efficiency and operating costs. This paper covers a number of recent advances to the technology and highlights the impacts of these developments in reducing energy consumptions for a range of different copper flowsheets. It also compares the energy efficiency of the Ausmelt Process against the Bottom Blown Smelting process, which has become widely adopted in China over the past 5–10 years.

Assessing Mercury Content in Plant and Animal Raw Materials in an Area Impacted by the Copper Industry

Assessing Mercury Content in Plant and Animal Raw Materials in an Area Impacted by the Copper Industry

Fuel Provisioning for The Copper Industry in Islamic Period Southern Jordan

The focus of this project is the Middle Islamic period (1000–1400 AD) copper industry in the Faynan region of southern Jordan. Investigation of this industry—the last substantial phase of Faynan's ...

Impact of the copper industry on the content of selected heavy metals and biochemical indicators in the blood of dairy cows

The aim of the study was to compare the levels of selected blood parameters of dairy cattle in an area with copper industry (LGOM, area I, n = 21) and the Wroclaw agricultural suburban area (area II, n = 20). The concentration of heavy metals Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn (atomic absorption spectrometry method) and Hg (spectrometric method) was analysed in full blood. However, other parameters were determined in the blood serum: Ca, P (inorganic), Mg and Fe (photometric method), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) – an enzyme test in accordance with the recommendations of the IFCC, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) – the test optimized according to the guidelines DGKC, gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) – kinetic photometric test. Biochemical parameters in blood serum were determined with the use of an automatic biochemical analyser type Pentra 400 and reagents of Horiba ABX (France). Furthermore, the analysis covered: the total antioxidant capacity (TAS) – colorimetric assay based on the ABTS and peroxidase reaction as well as the activity of glutathione reductase (GR) – colorimetric test based on the reduction of glutathione (GSSG) in the presence of NADPH. These parameters were determined with the use of the same analyser and commercial assays kit of Randox company. The Cd concentration in both areas was very low and did not exceed 1.65 µg/l, while the Pb concentration in the LGOM region was 0.021 mg/l and 0.031 mg/l in area II. The level of mercury in area I in both regions was similar (about 0.03 µg/l). The copper content was significantly higher in area I than in region II (1.67 mgl/l and 0.72 mg/l respectively), which indicates the possibility of industry impact on copper accumulation in cows. The Zn concentration was significantly lower in the LGOM region than in area II (2.50 mg/l) in contrast to Cu. The AST activity was significantly lower in area I (66.56 U/l) than in area II (75.49 U/l). Similar findings were reported with GGT activity (lower concentration in area I – 21.42 U/l). The LDH levels in animals were similar in both areas (2015.0 and 1976.2 U/l respectively), as were TAS (1.12 and 1.16 mmol/l) and GR (422.4 and 429.3 U/l). Mean activity of AST and GGT in cows were present in both areas, reaching ranges of the reference values, but the activity of LDH was significantly higher. There are no reference values for TAS and GR. Similar concentrations of Ca, Mg and Fe were noticed in both regions during the study, while the content of P was significantly higher in area I. The mean concentration of detected macroelements were in the reference ranges. The analysis proved that the cooper industry does not negatively affect the content of biochemical parameters in the blood of dairy cows.

The Iron Age copper industrial complex: A preliminary study of the role of ground stone tools at Khirbat en-Nahas, Jordan

The first industrial revolution in the southern Levant crystallized during the Iron Age when copper production reached scales never before seen in this part of the Middle East. Ever since copper ore was first smelted during the Chalcolithic period, the Arabah valley, and its widespread distribution of copper mineralization, was the main source for copper ore in the region. The main ore deposits are located in Timna (Israel) in the southern part of the valley, and some 105 km to the north, in the Faynan region (Jordan). Faynan is the largest copper ore resource zone in the southern Levant. Excavations at the Iron Age Faynan site of Khirbat en-Nahas and the recent final publication of that project have revealed peaks in industrial-scale production during the 10th and 9th centuries BCE. However, the role of ground stone tools in the Iron Age copper industry in Faynan has not been systematically presented. This paper presents a preliminary study of the ground stone assemblage from one excavation season at Khirbat en-Nahas, thereby highlighting the great potential for ground stone tools research at the site. Using the chaîne opératoire method of technological study, this paper takes a quantitative approach to the typological, material, and spatial distribution of ground stone artefacts at Khirbat en-Nahas to understand their role in copper production. Ethnoarchaeological study of hereditary bronze casting workshops in southern India provides a compelling model of how ground stone tools played a critical role in one of the most important dimensions of metal production in all periods - recycling - in an Iron Age copper factory.

Rhodesia, Rugby and the Afrikaner: ‘Working Together to Send this Country Ahead’

Rugby played an influential role in assisting South Africa’s Afrikaners to migrate to the British colonies of Southern and Northern Rhodesia while maintaining strong transnational ties with their country of origin. The focus of this investigation is on the period immediately after the Second World War although it is necessary to locate events within wider social and political developments that shaped societies in the two Central African colonies. For the first half of the twentieth century the Southern Rhodesian government in particular pursued a policy of deliberately limiting the immigration of the Afrikaner, a white population group of Dutch, French or German descent. The British feared the growing strength of Afrikaner nationalism whilst the majority of Rhodesians did not wish to be absorbed by their powerful neighbour. There was nevertheless a shared passion for rugby which was clearly apparent in Rhodesia’s long-established affiliation to the South African parent body. This meant that Rhodesia not only played as a province of South Africa but the highest ambition of their players was to achieve Springbok selection. The linkages were welcomed on both sides with Afrikaans-speaking players strengthening Rhodesian rugby teams in the course of seeking their fortunes in the tobacco and copper industries.

Modern technology and the possibility of their use for the development of the domestic copper industry

الصناعات النحاسية احدى الصناعات الحرفية التي تتطلب دقة وصبر كبيرين في عمليتي التصنيع والتنفيذ لطرح منتجات نحاسية بتصاميم وأشكال متنوعة, وهدف البحث الى امكانية استخدام التقنيات الحديثة في تطوير الصناعات النحاسية المحلية ,وتحدد البحث بدراسة نماذج من الصناعات النحاسية المحلية لمدينة بغداد , والمتوفرة في الاسواق للفترة من ( 200 - 2011) ,تناول الفصل الثاني موضوع الصناعات النحاسية المحلية والتقنية في صناعة النحاس ،وبعد تحليل نماذج العينة كانت أهم الاستنتاجات: يمكن عمل اشكال متعددة للمنتجات النحاسية بتشكيلات غائرة او نافذة باستخدام تقنية عمل الزخارف والنقوش.- التشكيلات الزخرفية المستمرة والنقوش المتكررة لهيأة المنتجات النحاسية يمكن الحصول عليها باستخدام تقنية الصب بقوالب حديدية

Identifying and Prioritizing Factors Influencing Success of a Strategic Planning Process: A Study on National Iranian Copper Industries Company

<p>Nowadays, global economic activities are performed by medium and small-sized enterprises (SMEs). All these organizations seek success, knock the socks off rival companies and satisfy their customers' needs in a turbulent environment and a very competitive market. Strategic planning, in case of proper formulation and implementation, is an effective tool which can identify opportunities, threats, strengths and weaknesses of the organization so that more realistic goals can be set and implemented. National Iranian Copper Industries Company needs to prioritize its strategies due to structural evolutions in order to determine the budget and formulate short-term planning for them. So the present research examines and ranks these factors. Our research method is descriptive-survey and the sampling process is random. Population size is 180 and the sample size of 120 is calculated according to Cochran formula. This research categorized the factors using factor analysis. The results showed that success factors of Strategic Planning for this company were situated in four groups including administrative process, managerial process, inter-organizational culture and extra-organizational factors. Then the indicators were weighted and prioritized by means of Shannon's method and Topsis technique, respectively. Finally conclusions were provided according to the given priorities.</p>

The cobweb theorem and delays in adjusting supply in metals' markets

AbstractGlobal industrial metal markets have experienced a drastic price decline over the past years. In this paper we link the dynamics of raw material markets and commodity price fluctuations to a delayed adjustment of supply. Drawing on the classical cobweb theorem we show how the implementation of this theorem using system dynamics may yield a valuable explanation, not only for the recent price decline, but also for possible future price movements. Starting from a simple cobweb model of general industrial markets, we couple the price‐adjusting mechanics to the global copper market and demonstrate how a simple market model can be merged with a physical material flow model. This model captures both market dynamics and technical aspects of raw material processing, recycling and substitution and adds an explanation for the widely accepted fact that the cost structure of the copper industry cannot explain current price levels. Finally, we compare the system dynamics forecasting model with a traditional econometric forecasting method and found the system dynamics model to be more intuitive and better suited to capture and convey the structural market fundamentals. Copyright © 2017 System Dynamics Society

Predicting the stock price companies using artificial neural networks (ANN) method (Case Study: National Iranian Copper Industries Company)

A B S T R A C T The purpose of this research is the model fitness of predicting the companies' stock price using artificial neural networks (ANN) method of multilayer Perceptron with back propagation algorithm. The research population is Tehran Stock Exchange and National Iranian Copper Industries Company is considered as research sample. In order to model fitness, predicting of two cases is considered, in the first case, predicting occurred based on independent variables including the Tehran Stock Exchange price index, the price index of operating companies in the field of basic metals, the dollar exchange rate to Rial and monthly inflation rate and in the second case, predicting occurred based on the time series of past prices. The model of predicting stock price of National Iranian Copper Industries Company in the next day was studied and analyzed for each case individually on the fitted training data collection and then performance of fitted models in two cases, on the total testing data based on measuring criteria of error including mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), mean squared error (MSE) and root mean square error (RMSE). Evidence indicates the superiority of the predictive power of artificial neural network based on time series of the past prices. And to provide the predictive model the powerful software of MATLAB2014 is used.

Industrial metabolism of copper and sulfur in a copper-specific eco-industrial park in China

Copper concentrate with high copper and sulfur content is the most important raw material in the copper industry. With the scarcity of copper ore resources, resource efficiency must be improved urgently to minimize further losses. This research seeks to elucidate the industrial metabolism of copper and sulfur in the copper smelting process using substance flow analysis and in turn aid in the optimization of production processes. A general model is constructed, and six indices are proposed to quantify and evaluate copper and sulfur metabolisms as well as the economic performance of the system. The Xiangguang Eco-industrial Park (XGEIP), which is a typical sector-specific industrial park in China that mainly caters to enterprises dealing with copper smelting and cathode copper deep processing, is chosen for the case study. On the basis of a five-year in-depth data collection and verification, this research presents the dynamic changes of copper and sulfur metabolism in the XGEIP. The results show that the resource utilization efficiencies of copper and sulfur increased year by year while the environmental impact decreased from 2008 to 2012. In 2012, resource utilization efficiencies of copper and sulfur reached 99.11% and 98.84%, respectively. Copper loss occurred mostly in the disposal of slag tailings (0.65%) while sulfur loss was observed mostly in the waste gas (0.66%). The environmental factors of copper and sulfur both decreased to 0.014 ton/ton in the system, falling well within the value range of bulk chemicals (i.e., <1 to 5). Meanwhile, the resource productivity of the copper concentrate underwent rapid growth with the extension of industrial chains during this period. In 2012, the resource productivity reached 6.20 thousand Yuan/ton, which showed an increase of 786% from that in 2008. These indices indicated that the XGEIP exhibited high productivity and low environmental impact. The results of this work can serve as a reference for decision makers in planning the future of the XGEIP and the development of the copper smelting industry.

Eco-efficiency indicator framework implemented in the metallurgical industry: part 2—a case study from the copper industry

Purpose Sustainability differentiation has become an important issue for companies throughout the value chain. There is thus a need for detailed and credible analyses, which show the current status and point out where improvements can be done and how. The study describes how a comprehensive product-centric eco-efficiency indicator framework can be used to evaluate, benchmark, and communicate the sustainability of a copper production value chain. The indicator framework, together with the suggested data collection and simulation methods, aims at evaluating the whole system, while still enabling a focus on scopes of different width. The status of the environment, current production technologies, location-specific and process-specific issues all play a role in achieving sustainable development.

Eco-efficiency indicator framework implemented in the metallurgical industry: part 1—a comprehensive view and benchmark

The purpose of this work was to develop an indicator framework for the environmental sustainability benchmarking of products produced by the metallurgical industry. Sustainability differentiation has become an important issue for companies throughout the value chain. Differentiation is sometimes not attainable, due to the use of average data, lack of comparative data, certain issues being overshadowed by others, and a very narrow palette of indicators dominating the current sustainability assessments. There is a need for detailed and credible analyses, which show the current status and point out where improvements can be made. The indicator framework is developed to give a comprehensive picture of eco-efficiency, to provide methods that enable relevant comparisons as well as the tools for communicating the results. In this way, the methodology presented in this study aims to make differentiation easier and thus aid companies in driving the development toward more sustainable solutions. The framework is based on the existing indicator framework Gaia Biorefiner, which is primarily intended for bio-based products. In this work, the framework was further developed for application in the metallurgical industry. The indicator framework is built by first looking at the issues, which are critical to the environment and global challenges seen today and which the activities of the metallurgical industry may have an impact on. Based on these issues, suitable indicators are chosen if they exist and built if they do not. The idea is that all indicators in a group form a whole, showing areas of innovation while refraining from aggregating and weighting, which often compromise a comprehensive and objective view. Both qualitative and quantitative indicators are included. The indicators are constructed following the criteria set by the EU and OECD for building indicators. Each indicator further has a benchmark. The rules for building the benchmark are connected to the indicators. Suitable data sources and criteria for the benchmark and the indicators are gathered from literature, publicly available databases, and commercial LCA software. The use of simulation tools for attaining more reliable data is also studied. The result is a visual framework consisting of ten indicator groups with one to five indicators each, totaling up to 31 indicators. These are visualized in a sustainability indicator “flower.” The flower can be further opened up to study each indicator and the reasons behind the results. The sustainability benchmark follows a methodology that is based on utilization of baseline data and sustainability criteria or limits. A simulation approach was included in the methodology to address the problem with data scarcity and data reliability. The status of the environment, current production technologies, location-specific issues, and process-specific issues all affect the result, and the aim of finding relevant comparisons that will support sustainability differentiation is answered by a scalable scoping system. A new framework and its concise visualization has been built for assessing the eco-efficiency of products from the metallurgical industry, in a way that aims to answer the needs of the industry. Since there is a baseline, against which each indicator can be benchmarked, a sustainability indicator “flower” can be derived, one of the key innovations of this methodology. This approach goes beyond the usual quantification, as it is also scalable and linked to technology and its fundamental parameters. In part 2, a case study “A case study from the copper industry” tests and illustrates the methodology.

Comparative performance assessment of solvents for the extraction of H2SO4 from spent electrolytic bleed stream of copper industry

Direct disposal of any waste into soil/water/air is a matter of great concern due to their hazardous effects on the living beings and environment. Stringent environmental rules imposed on every manufacturer has forced them to reuse-recover-recycle their industrial waste before its final disposal, leading to the emergence of the concept of zero waste technology. Thus all the waste and the discarded by-products are considered as a secondary resource for some new value added product.Copper industry is one such waste effluent producer. In the process of electro-refining of blister copper, the optimum concentration and composition of the electrolyte in the tank is maintained by a periodical purging out of the electrolyte loaded with unwanted species of arsenic, antimony, iron, nickel etc. This represents a considerable amount of copper and sulphuric acid loss in large plants (although only about 1% of this stream is purged out). The purged electrolyte is subjected to electro-winning to recover copper and the copper depleted waste stream enriched with H2SO4 and other impurities originally present is discarded as spent electrolyte.In this endeavor, a hydrometallurgical process has been developed to treat a real life stream discarded from a copper electro winning tank to recover acid values instead of adopting the alkaline treatment and disposal of hydroxide waste. The acid depleted solution may further be used to recover metal values. An extensive study has been carried out on the extraction and stripping of the acid in a pure form using various organic solvents. The extraction and stripping efficiencies of the three solvents used in this study have been compared and are in the order of TEHA>alamine 336>cyanex 923 and cyanex 923>TEHA=alamine 336 respectively.

Some adverse effects of soil amendment with organic Materials—The case of soils polluted by copper industry phytostabilized with red fescue

ABSTRACTThe study was aimed to examine the effects of soil amendment with organic waste materials on the growth of red fescue and the uptake of Cu and Zn by this grass, in view of its potential usage for phytostabilization of Cu-polluted soils. Five soils, containing 301–5180 mg/kg Cu, were collected from the surroundings of copper smelter Legnica, and amended with lignite (LG) and limed sewage sludge (SS). Plant growth and the concentrations of Cu and Zn in the shoots and roots of grass were measured in a pot experiment and related to the results of Pytotoxkit and Microtox® tests performed on soil solution. The effects of soil amendment with LG and SS differed greatly, and depended on soil properties. In some cases, the application of alkaline SS resulted in dramatic increase of Cu phytotoxicity and its enhanced uptake by plants, while application of LG to slightly acidic soil caused increased accumulation of Zn in plants, particularly in their roots. The study confirmed good suitability of red fescue for phytostabilization of Cu-contaminated soils except for those extremely polluted. Organic amendments to be used for metal immobilization should be thoroughly examined prior to application.