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La metalurgia desde la perspectiva de la ingeniería química Metallurgy from a chemical engineering perspective
By Rocío Santos Madrid
Soy ingeniera química de profesión y actualmente estoy trabajando en la unidad minera Cozamin, del Grupo Capstone Gold, con el puesto de jefa de Proyectos Metalúrgicos. He tenido diversos retos en los seis años que he sido responsable del proceso metalúrgico, y uno de los más gratificantes ha sido el incremento de la recuperación de cobre de 93% a 96%. I have a degree in chemical engineering, and I am currently working in the mining unit Cozamin of Capstone Gold Group, holding Metallurgical Project Manager's position. I have faced several challenges in the six years of being responsible for the metallurgical process, and one of the most gratifying has been the copper recovery increase from 93% to 96%.
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nicié en Grupo Capstone Gold en 2014, recuerdo que el reto era obtener un cobre de mejor calidad y no perder recuperación que se fuera a colas finales o presa de jales. Para tal efecto, se realizaron las pruebas metalúrgicas a nivel laboratorio con un cambio completo de reactivos químicos, que dieron muy buenos resultados. Esto fue discutido con el gerente de planta y, sin pensarlo dos veces, me apoyó y adquirimos los reactivos para dicho esquema. Lo difícil vendría después, ya que supervisores y colaboradores
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started at Grupo Capstone Gold in 2014. I re-
member that the challenge was to obtain better quality copper without losing recovery that would end up in the final tailings or tailings dam. For this purpose, we carried out metallurgical tests at a laboratory with a complete change of chemical reagents, which gave excellent results. The issue was discussed with the plant manager and, without thinking twice, he supported me, and we acquired the reagents for the scheme. The hard part would come later because supervisors and collaborators in the flotation area had to agree and make the changes following conviction and not an order. Fortunately, from day one, there were positive changes. Six years have passed since then, and we continue working under the same chemical scheme. The next goal is to reach 97% copper recovery in the future. I believe that the success of metallurgy within the company is based on teamwork. It is complex to work in an industry mainly composed of men. It
