CWD 2022 ISSUE 1/2 MARCH
CWDigital 1
CONTENTS
* 2
NEWS
* 3
21ST CENTURY SMELTING
* 4
NEWS
* 5
ELECTROWINNING
* 6
MANAGERIAL REVIEW
* 7
CRU 2022 WORLD COPPER CONFERENCE
* Look out for future CWDigital and CW Issues
A Copper Worldwide Magazine Publication ISSN 2634-7040
NEWS | 2
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Breakthrough on Oyu Tolgoi Underground Project JAN 25 - Rio Tinto, Turquoise Hill Resources (TRQ) and the Government of Mongolia have reached an agreement that will move the Oyu Tolgoi (OT) project forward. The OT Board, comprised of representatives of Rio Tinto, TRQ and Erdenes Oyu Tolgoi (EOT) which is wholly owned by the Government of Mongolia, has unanimously approved commencement of
underground operations, with first sustainable production expected in the first half of 2023. The Parliament of Mongolia has approved a resolution (Resolution 103) that resolves the outstanding issues that have been subject to negotiations with the Government of Mongolia over the last two years in relation to addressing Parliament Resolution 92 (December 2019).
An updated funding plan has been agreed to address TRQ’s current estimated remaining funding requirement for the OT Underground Project. Until sustainable underground production is achieved, OT will be funded by cash on hand and rescheduling of existing debt repayments, together with a pre-paid copper concentrate sales agreement with TRQ. The
NFC Lao Cai Copper Smelter expansion project
capital forecast for the project is US$ 6.925 billion, including US$ 175 million of known COVID19 impacts to the end of 2021. Forecasted remaining undergound capital expenditure is approximately US$ 1.8 billion. A reforecast will be undertaken during H1 2022 to determine a revised cost and schedule estimate. www.riotinto.com
Power agreement
JAN 25 - The Oyu Tolgoi Board Lao Cai province. The contract scope has approved the signing of an covers design, equipment supply Electricity Supply Agreement to and installation, commissioning and provide OT with a long-term source technical services. of power from the Mongolian Since the commissioning in March grid, under terms already agreed 2021, all the project personnel with the Government of Mongolia. have overcome the difficulties Rio Tinto will work with the caused by COVID-19, adopted Government to support longa series of measures to speed term renewable energy generation Casting production wheel at Lao Cai up project construction, restored in support of the Mongolian grid. the channel of equipment delivery both COVID-19 prevention and The Government of Mongolia and and personnel despatch, and project implementation. OT are in constructive discussions managed to achieve successes in www.nfc.com.cn with the Inner Mongolia Power International Cooperation Company Capital projects progress for Zijin (IMPIC) for an extension of current power import arrangements beyond JAN 6 - In 2021, Zijin Mining concentrator is on track to begin in flotation system (13.2 Mt/yr ore), is the current agreement of July 2023. expected to produce 46-48 kt copper completed and put into operation April 2022. www.riotinto.com On 22 October, Cukaru Peki per year. several key copper projects at On 27 December, Julong Phase 1 home and abroad. On 25 May, the Copper-Gold Mine in Serbia started Phase 1, 3.8 Mtpy concentrator commercial production. The upper formally came into production. Julong plant of stage one of the Kamoa- zone is expected to produce 91,400 concentrator started commissioning Kakula Copper Mine Project t of copper and 2.5 tonnes of in October 2021. Including the in the Democratic Republic of gold annually, with an annual peak output of Zhibula Copper mine, the Congo started production output of 135,000 t of copper and Julong Copper Company is expected ramp-up to its 200 kt nameplate 6.1 tonnes of gold. In November, to produce 120,000-130,000 t of capacity. The construction of Phase the 40,000 t/day concentration copper in 2022, and about 160,000 2 is accelerating and is expected to plant of MS mine of Zijin Copper t of copper per year after reaching be completed and put into operation in Serbia was officially put into full production of Julong Phase 1. in the third quarter of 2022. FEB trial operation. The 40,000 t/d www.zijinmining.com 5 - Hot commissioning of the grinding system and 20,000 t/d www.antaike.com JUL 1 - On 26 June 2021, the first furnace of anode copper was produced successfully in the Lao Cai Copper Smelting Plant expansion project NFC - China Nonferrous Metal Industry - has been working on in Vietnam. This successful production serves as a tribute to the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC. The project of Expanding Lao Cai copper Smelting Plant is a key project of Vietnam. The project is located in
Chinese cathode production at end 2021 DEC - According to Antaike November survey results, 22 sample companies produced a total of 746,600 t of copper cathode (+1.55% y-o-y). From January to November, sample enterprises produced 8.37 Mt of copper cathode (+8.12% y-o-y). In December, to ensure the completion of the annual production plan, some enterprises will speed up the production schedule. It is expected that the output of copper cathode in December will show a good recovery from the previous month, and the output of copper cathode in 22 sample enterprises will be about 790,000 t. www.antaike.com
AMMAN selects EPC Contractors AUG 9 - PT Amman Mineral Industry (AMIN), a subsidiary of AMMAN, issued a Letter of Intent (LoI) on 22 July 2021 to the consortium of China Non-ferrous Metal Industry’s Foreign Engineering and Construction Co., Ltd (NFC) as the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contractors and China Nerin Engineering Co., Ltd. (NERIN) as the technical provider to set up AMMAN’s Smelter project in West Sumbawa Regency, West Nusa
Tenggara Province (NTB). The signing ceremony was held virtually and attended by AMIN’s President Director, Rachmat Makkasau and NFC President, Qin Junman. The consortium will work on the spectrum of works, from design, engineering, procurement, structural fabrication and installation, civil construction, commissioning, starting up, and finally ramping up to the plant’s design capacity. www.amman.co.id
Toth to join Newmont in July OCT 19 - Newmont Corporation is appointing Peter Toth as Executive Vice President, Strategic Development from 1 July 2022. Toth was most recently Group Executive, Strategy
and Development with Rio Tinto. Prior to this he was Chief Executive of OM Holdings and spent 15 years with BHP. Newmont is S&P 500. www.newmont.com
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Chris K. Holding Editor (2011 -) Publisher: Chris K Holding BSc BEng Contributing Editors: Phillip Mackey Jonathan Barnes Published by Wimborne, UK Tel: +44(0)7731 784798 www.copperworldwide.com The articles within Copper Worldwide and CWDigital are copyright and are the property of the publisher Metallic Media Limited and cannot be reproduced in any media form without permission of the publisher. Designed by: The Magazine Production Company Shoreham-by-Sea, UK info@magazineproduction.com
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Metallurgical engineering in copper smelting JAN 12 - Some common questions arise when choosing a copper production flowsheet, namely: • What kind of raw material? • What do customers value? • How do different technology options reflect on business case? • How to operate in the most sustainable manner? • How to ensure licence to operate? Drivers for automation of future copper smelters include: • People and equipment cause over two thirds of the abnormal situations at the plant operations • Reducing these occurrences will have a great effect on the efficiency and safety of the plant • Human errors can be minimised with improved training and practice and by reducing work stress (by making the operations easier)
• Equipment failures can be minimised by using well-tested and maintained process equipment, instrumentation and controllers, and by running the equipment within the design limits • Process disturbances can be minimised by deep process and operational understanding. Lecturer (see below) Miikka Marjakoski is Product Manager, Anode furnaces for Metso Outotec since November 2021. He was commissioning consultant for the Sarchesmeh project in 2017, and spent over five years with Boliden Harjavalta, most recently as Manager of the Nickel Smelter. www.mogroup.com Acknowledgment Extracted from CHEM-E6160 Fundamentals of Pyrometallurgy Lecture, Aalto University - REFRACTORIES AND EXTRACTIVE TECHNOLOGY FOR PRIMARY AND SECONDARY COPPER LinkedIn Group post.
Some refractory misconceptions Refractories are not a generic product. Refractories will wear over time - a good maintenance and inspection schedule will maximise refractory life. The wrong water quality or amount can damage the refractory and be detrimental to its performance, by affecting bulk density, strength, shrinkage and segregation. Similar materials from different suppliers are not compatible. The ‘similarity’ stops on paper. Weather condition precautions must be taken during mixing, installation and storage of refractories. Acknowledgment Extract from a LinkedIn post presentation by API 396 Refractory Inspector Barnie Enslin of PBE Projects pty ltd t/a BE Vuurvast.
Gaspe Tuyere Punchers In the mid-1960’s H&S began licensed manufacturing of the Gaspe Tuyere Puncher, which was invented by operators at the Gaspe Copper Smelter and patented by Noranda Mines and the Noranda Technology Centre (now Glencore). The machine was created to mechanise a labour-intensive task where operators had been forced to work in a noisy, dirty and dangerous environment. Since that time, 265 Gaspe Tuyere Punchers have been commissioned in virtually every copper and nickel smelter using Pierce-Smith and Teniente converters and Noranda Reactors. Working in conjunction with perfectly aligned tuyere lines, possible with use of the H&S Refractory Drill and H&S Tuyeres and Tuyere Silencer arrangements, modern Gaspe Tuyere
Schematic of a Heath & Sherwood Tuyere Puncher
Punchers provide a safe and efficient means of clearing tuyere accretions. Heath & Sherwood is also a leading designer of mineral processing
sampling systems, including for smelter concentrate reception. www.heathandsherwood64.com
Refractories for secondary scrap recycling furnaces
Furnace Tapping 2022
JAN 25 - The most severe wear occurs at the slagline on the burner wall adjacent to the tuyere line and above the tuyeres in a tilted refining furnce. HWI AUREX® 30SR mortared with SHAMROCK® 394 has been found to perform successfully in this area. At and adjacent to the main and auxiliary oxy-fuel burners, SHAMROCK® 493 is preferentially recommended. The AUREX® 30SR is a high purity thermal shock resistant alumina-chrome product with 30% chromic oxide. It is fired to develop a solid-solution bond. HWI supports customers in the primary and secondary copper industries across the globe.
The Furnace Tapping 2022 Symposium was co-located with TMS 2022. There is something magical in the combination of light, energy, and danger that simultaneously stirs the primal instincts to ‘run for your life’ and ‘go closer and have a look.’ Much engineering goes into the design of the tap-hole. Due to the aggressive nature of the process, material selection is as important as layout. The design process kicks off with a set of design criteria, which needs to be revised as the results of laboratory, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and time-and-motion studies become available. The tap-hole life-cyle is taken into account with designers addressing the requirements for installation and operability as well as for maintenance. Matters such as online monitoring of the taphole wear, handling of liquid products, and extraction of fumes are considered.
www.thinkhwi.com Acknowledgment REFRACTORIES AND EXTRACTIVE TECHNOLOGY FOR PRIMARY AND SECONDARY COPPER LinkedIn Group post by Joe Rigby.
Installing Aurex® 30SR in high-wear areas can increase entire vessel campaign life by up to 300%. Photo: HWI
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www.tms.org
NEWS | 4
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A China-wide recycling system for waste materials According to Antaike Copper & Copper Fabrication Monthly February 2022 No. 301, China’s NDRC and Other Departments advocate that by 2025, a country-wide waste material recycling network system should be basically established, and more than 1,000 green sorting centres should be built. The recycling volume of nine major renewable resources, including
scrap iron and steel, scrap copper, scrap aluminium, scrap lead, scrap zinc, scrap paper, scrap plastic, scrap rubber, and scrap glass, should reach 450 Mtpy. About 60 large and medium-sized cities have taken the lead in building a basically perfect recycling system for waste materials. The Departments call for improving the waste material recycling network,
including rationally arranging waste material recycling sites, and promoting the specialisation of waste material recycling, strengthened industry supervision and management, among other things. For the Copper Industry, which relies on foreign materials by more than 80%, it is expected to receive greater policy support to strengthen the domestic self-
Recycling tech firms partner up JAN 31 - BHS-Sonthofen Group has held a 50% interest in RW Recycling World GmbH in Switzerland since September 2021. Founded in 2002, the company has technologies for crushing, separating, sorting, sifting, balling, screening and separating. For the BHS Recycling & Environment division in particular,
this represents an expansion of the depth of value added and process competence. The RW Recycling World GmbH technologies are based on the mechanical process principles of shredding and separation. The machine portfolio includes air separating tables, zigzag classifiers, circular screening
Zijin cleans up Bor River for garden mine FEB 16 - On 7 February, Serbia Zijin Copper launched a comprehensive environmental treatment project of the Bor River. Improvements are expected in the safe operation of both the tailings pond and open pit after the project is completed. The ecological environment of natural water system in the Bor River and the lower reaches of the Timok River will also be improved, which will bring great benefits to ecological environmental protection
and the society at large. The Krivelj River is an upper tributary of the Bor River which flows down into the Timok River. The project will build a sewage reservoir to collect, treat and recycle municipal sewage, and divert the relatively uncontaminated Krivelj River to the historically polluted Bor River. A new clear water reservoir and a sightseeing corridor in the lower reaches of Bor River will also be built to tailor-make a tourism and
New ICSG Directory of Global Copper First Use JAN 12 - The International Copper Study Group has released its 2021 edition of the ‘Directory of Copper and Copper Alloy Fabricators First Use’. This directory provides a systematic global overview of companies and plants involved in the use of refined copper, copper scrap and copper alloy scrap. For the year 2021 it is expected that over 1.7 Mt of new fabrication capacity will be commissioned in China, with at least five new
copper wire rod and other projects identified. In addition, at least nine new copper and alloy flat rolled plant capacities are expected to be commissioned in China as well as a record volume of new copper foil plant capacity. Outside China, details of new copper foil plants, flat rolled and tube plants, and some copper wire rod expansions and projects are reported. This new capacity is mainly located in Vietnam, with a smaller volume
Adviser aids MAC acquisition of CSA Mine MAR 18 - Squire Patton Boggs Australia has advised US-based Metals Acquisition Corporation (MAC) in relation to its acquisition of the CSA Copper Mine (the CSA Mine) for total consideration of US$ 1.1 billion (consisting of US$1.05 bn cash and US$ 50 M scrip consideration in MAC plus a 1.5% net smelter royalty on
machines, bead mills and cyclones as well as container and dosing technology. In an initial phase, BHS-Sonthofen has taken over 50% of the business shares and agreed to cooperate in partnership. BHS-Sonthofen Group is based in Sonthofen in Germany.
sufficiency rate of copper resources and promote the proportion of recycled copper to reach 35%. From January to November 2021, China imported 1.533 Mt of recycled copper (physical quantity), an 85.3% y-o-y rise. It is estimated that the annual import volume will reach 1.67 Mt, a 77% y-o-y increase. www.antaike.com
Adams Executive secretary of EERA
DEC 20 - European Electronic Recyclers Association (EERA) Executive Secretariat Lida Dik, has departed after almost 9 years. The EERA Board are pleased to announce that Julie-Ann Adams, of Really Green Credentials, agreed to take over Lida’s job from the www.bhs-sonthofen.com start of January 2022. Julie-Ann has a detailed knowledge and extensive experience of all matters leisure area, the ‘one river and WEEE and EU. two banks’ for Bor citizens and www.eera-recyclers.com neighbouring villages, together branding Bor with an ecological reputation for ‘Green Mine, New MMC platform Beautiful City’. The afforestation DEC 20 - Mitsubishi Materials o f a l l t a i l i n g s p o n d s , o p e n Corporation has launched ‘MEX’ pits and some abandoned waste (Mitsubishi Materials E-Scrap dump slopes has involved planting EXchange), a new platform for the over 60,000 seedlings, adding E-Scrap business, and a website another 350,000 squere metres introducing MEX. With MEX, customers are provided with around of green space. the clock access to all information www.zijinmining.com required for E-Scrap trading. It has an inquiry feature that accepts questions anytime. The platform also has enhanced security by adopting two-step authentication. MMC’s in Malaysia, the United States, the processing capacity of E-Scrap in Korean Republic, Hungary and fiscal 2019 was 160,000 tonnes. Luxemburg. A detailed review of the https://lp.mex-mmc.com/en capacity commissioned over 2016- www.mmc.co.jp 2021 and projects in the pipeline is provided and the Directory Glencore boosts also includes a comprehensive database. The Directory costs e-scrap recovery EUR 500 to instutions based in DEC 16 - Glencore recovered member countries, else EUR 1,000, 27,000 tonnes of copper, 132,000 with a 20% discount to Copper ounces of gold, 1.3 million ounces Bulletin subscribers. of silver, 16,000 ounces of palladium and 5,000 ounces of www.icsg.org platinum from e-scrap in 2020, according to the company’s 2021 sustainability report. Glencore has the issued share capital of Cobar e-scrap-focused sites in San Jose, Management Pty Ltd, the owner California; Osceola, Ark.; and and operator of the CSA Mine. East Providence, R.I. The Osceola The CSA Mine is an established, plant has the potential to be the high-grade producing copper mine largest e-scrap pre-processing that is expected to produce more plant of its kind on the continent. than 40 kt of copper in 2022 with Glencore became a founding an estimated current mine life of member of the Circular Electronics over 15 years. Partnership in 2021.
copper produced from the CSA Mine). On 17 March 2022, MAC’s wholly owned subsidiary Metals Acquisition Corp. (Australia) Pty Ltd entered into a definitive sale and purchase agreement with Glencore Operations Australia Pty Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Glencore International AG (Glencore), to purchase 100% of www.squirepattonboggs.com CWDigital 2022 e 1/2
www.resource-recycling.com
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Adding value to MMO anodes
Innovator McCol Metals has developed a process to recover Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) from the Mixed Metal Oxide (MMO) Anodes used at Vale’s Long Harbour Processing Plant in Newfoundland, Canada. The process is currently commercialised and a 5-year contract secured with Vale. This innovation has provided McCol Metals with the platform to target global customers, who can similarly benefit from their proprietary recovery process. Effective recovery The unique McCol Metals process effectively facilitates the recovery and recycling of iridium and ruthenium from spent MMO Dimensionally Stable (DSA) electrodes. On the one hand, McCol Metals customers can derive benefits from the value of the precious metals at the recovery stage of the process. On the other, anodes can either be re-coated for re-use, or be scrapped for base metal value. The process, with its inherent potential for recycling, has created a circular economy for MMO Anodes and provides for sustainability to the global PGM markets. Market interest An early adopter, Cobre del Mayo has already sent more than 12,000 mesh anodes from its
Recapture of PGMs will extend the life of your investment in MMO Anodes. Photo: McCol Metals
copper mine in Sonora, Mexico to McCol Metals in Long Harbour, Newfoundland for processing and PGM recovery. With both cost- and timeefficient shipping arrangements built into the planning, this is proving to be a mutually beneficial business relationship. Based on its ongoing investment into the recapture of PGMs from MMO Anodes and the establishment of such successful working relationships, McCol Metals is looking to target more customers who are using anodes for: • Electrowinning of base metals (Nickel, Copper) • Chrome electroplating • Electro galvanizing of steel • Electro chlorinator cells for hypochlorite generation • Chlor Alkali for production of caustic soda and chlorine • Cathodic protection anodes • Hydrogen production using PEM Electrolysis. To find out more contact McCol Metals, Darrell Coombs VP, Global Sales (e: darrell@mccol.ca) or visit their below website. www.mccol.ca
New flotation solutions from FLSmidth
The WEMCO II and the REFLUX™ Flotation Cell (RFC™) on display. Photo: FLSmidth
FEB 28 - FLSmidth launches two exciting developments in their flotation portfolio - the WEMCO II and the REFLUX™ Flotation Cell (RFC™) - at the MINEXCHANGE 2022 SME Annual Conference & Expo in Salt Lake City. The WEMCO II Flotation Cell builds upon the success of the industry standard, WEMCO, but with optimisations to the rotor and stator/hood that greatly improve power consumption, air flow and pumping. For decades WEMCO flotation cells (there are 40,000 machines globally) have consistently delivered at the highest level when it comes
to recovery. Now WEMCO II’s combination of efficient aeration and optimum solids suspension increases recovery and concentrate grade performance, as well as reducing reagent consumption. The WEMCO II design features full air control without blower and froth maintenance, which elevates kinetic performance and lowers operational costs. The result is better hydrodynamics and circulation, improved kinetics and performance, optimised energy efficiency and lower operating costs and the ability to control air without an external air supply. Also getting an official launch at SME is the REFLUX Flotation Cell. The smallest industrial scale version of the RFC, a ground-breaking technology that reduces plant footprint as well as water, air and energy requirements, was displayed. The RFC reduces CAPEX by 35% and with no direct power input to the RFC, this results in 60% less energy use in a flotation circuit. Results from pilot-scale studies indicate that RFC technology can help mines use up to 60% less energy in their flotation circuits. Improved kinetic efficiency also reduces the amount of water used in the recovery process. The RFC is a high efficiency flotation cell and can be applied as a rougher, scavenger and cleaner across all minerals. www.flsmidth.com
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INE approves 13 cathode brands FEB 9 - The Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE) received (FEB 8) the application for brand registration from 13 producers of deliverable copper cathode. In accordance with rules including the Registration Rules for Deliverable Commodities of Bonded Copper Futures, INE: • Approves the registration of the 13 copper cathode brands, all of which are subject to standard delivery prices • The products are deliverable against INE copper cathode futures contracts as of the date of the Announcement. Producers (Brands) include Shanxi Northern Copper (Zhongtiaoshan), Dongying Fangyuan (Lufang), Minera Escondida (ESOX), and PT Smelting (Gresik). JAN 26 - The LME has listed HLJ ZIJIN brand under its Grade A Copper Contract. The producer is Heilongjiang Zijin Copper Co Ltd. www.metalreg.com
Olen to recycle more FEB 16 - Aurubis announced an investment of EUR 70 million in the construction of a state of the art and energy-efficient bleed treatment facility at its Olen site. In a hydrometallurgical process, BOB (Bleed treatment Olen Beerse) will recover nickel and copper contained in electrolyte streams that are generated in the tankhouses at the Aurubis sites in Beerse and Olen (both in Belgium). The installation comprises a complete tankhouse purification system that is known as bleed treatment. As a high-performance metal recycling site in the Aurubis smelter network, the plant in Olen processes, besides blister copper, up to 135,000 t of multimetal recycling materials annually and produces copper cathodes via electro refinery as well as Aurubis Rod, Foxrod, and Bars and Profiles. The plant in Beerse processes more than 250,000 tons of complex recycling materials and operates a copper tankhouse. BOB is an important addition to the Belgian production cluster to extract nickel and copper from material flows as well as to remove impurities from the bleed. Detailed engineering and approval processes for BOB are currently underway. The start of construction for the facility is planned for September 2022. Commissioning of BOB is planned for summer 2024. www.aurubis.com
Metso Outotec
JAN 17 - Finland’s Metso Outotec is transferring its Hydrometallurgy business from Metals to Minerals. The objective of the change is to accelerate profitable growth in the minerals processing industry by more efficiently leveraging the opportunities and synergies in the minerals and hydrometallurgical processes. A strategic review will be conducted in the remaining Metals business area. www.mogroup.com
MANAGERIAL REVIEW | 6
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SCC continues organic growth track FEB 1 - Southern Copper Corporation 2021 production decreased 4.3% y-o-y to 958,200 t. However, this mark was 1.6% higher than the year plan of 943,000 t. Production fell 8.5% in 4Q21 q-o-q due to lower ore grades. Buenavista and Toquepala operations are purposely mining lower ore grades in 2021 and 2022 (922,000 t planned), whereas the targets are 1 Mt in 2023 and 1.8 Mt by 2030. The Southern Peru Copper Corporation (SPCC) Los Chancas greenfield project envisions an open-pit mine with a combined operation of concentrator and SX-EW processes to produce 130,000 t of copper and 7,500 t of
molybdenum annually. The estimated capital investment is US$ 2,600 million and the project is expected to begin operating in 2027. Elsewhere SPCC has been recognised for its assistance to the area around the Tia Maria site during the pandemic, so remains hopeful of securing Peruvian government support at some point. In Mexico, the Buenavista Zinc concentrator (20 kt copper) is due to enter operation in 2023. The El Pilar open pit project is due to start up in 2024 with 36 kt SX-EW cathode capacity. www.southerncoppercorp.com
BHP production performance JAN 19 - BHP Operational Review for half year to 31 December highlighted three years with no fatalities. Total copper production decreased by 12 per cent to 742 kt. Full year production is trending towards the low end of the guidance range. Escondida copper production decreased by 15 per cent to 488 kt due to concentrator feed grade decline despite a record performance for material mined. Pampa Norte copper production increased by 40 per cent to 136 kt, reflecting the continued ramp up of the Spence Growth Option (SGO). Olympic Dam copper production
decreased by 56 per cent to 44 kt as a result of the major smelter maintenance campaign in the period. The maintenance campaign was completed in January 2022 and ramp up to full capacity is now expected by April 2022. The full scope of the maintenance campaign was delivered, including the rebuild of the flash furnace and its ancillary equipment and refurbishment of the acid plant, which has resulted in significant plant improvements. Lastly, Antamina copper production increased by one per cent to 74 kt. www.bhp.com
FCX seeks to increase recoveries JAN 26 - Freeport McMoRan capital expenditures totalled US$ 0.8 bn in Q4 2021 and US$ 2.1 bn (including $1.25 bn for major mining projects and $0.2 bn for the Indonesia smelter projects) for the year ended 2021. Capital expenditures for the year 2022 are expected to approximate US$ 4.7 bn (US$ 3.3 bn excluding the Indonesia smelter projects), including US$ 2.0 bn for major mining projects. Seven FCX sites already have Copper Mark assurance and four more are under assessment. The Lone Star copper leach project has exceeded its initial 200 Mlb design capacity and produced approximately 235 Mlb of copper in
2021. FCX is evaluating an expansion of the Bagdad operation in 2022, and continues to advance initiatives to recover additional copper from its large existing leach stockpiles. Milling rates at Cerro Verde’s concentrator facilities averaged 376,700 t of ore per day in Q4 2021 and 380,300 tpd for 2021. Subject to ongoing monitoring of COVID-19 protocols, Cerro Verde is targeting milling rates to increase to 400,000 tpd during 2022. Lastly, FCX continues to evaluate a large-scale expansion at El Abra to process additional sulphide material and to achieve higher copper recoveries.
the highest number of workers and was most affected by absenteeism, completion is now planned for the beginning of 2023. At Zaldívar construction of the Chloride Leach project was completed during January 2022 and it is now being commissioned. During 2022 negotiations are scheduled with the supervisors’ unions at Zaldívar (August), Los Pelambres (October) and Antucoya (November), and with the workers’ union at Antucoya (September).
www.glencore.com
SMM sets out business aims FEB 15 - FEB 15 - President & Representative Director Akira Nozaki announces the formulation of the Sumitomo Metal Mining (SMM) 2021 3-Year Business Plan - Renewed Challenge for Change - including its ‘4 Challenges’, from 3 of which the following are extracted: Increasing corporate value Production launch in the Quebrada Blanca 2 (QB2) project (Chile) is set for the second half of 2022. Annual copper production of 71,000 t (SMM’s interest) is planned in FY2024, and it is expected to reach 270,000 t in copper output interest thanks to the contribution to the QB2 project. Improving core businesses sustainability Ensuring stable operation for electrolytic copper production of 450,000 tpy, and strengthen production capacity through the improvement of various facilities with an eye on the establishment of an annual 460,000 t production system. Adapting to changes in the social environment Investments totalling 12 billion yen are planned to reduce GHG emissions during the 2021 3-Year Plan. www.smm.co.jp
Anglo American is optimistic
cobalt production in 2021. I am especially proud of our Clean Cobalt and Copper Framework which ensures responsibly sourcing in line with OECD and RMAP guidance’.
JAN 27 - Copper production in Q4 decreased by 4% to 160,700 t. Production from Los Bronces decreased by 11% to 84,900 t in the quarter due to planned lower grades and recovery. At Collahuasi, Q4 attributable production increased by 11% to 66,000 t, and production from El Soldado decreased by 23% to 9,800 t. Chile ‘s central zone continues to face severe drought conditions. Production guidance for 2022 is 680,000 - 760,000 t.
www.eurasianresources.lu
www.angloamerican.com
www.antofagasta.co.uk
Praise for Metalkol RTR team FEB 18 - Benedikt Sobotka, CEO of ERG, posted: ‘Another good day at Metalkol RTR - all credit to Paul Viljoen (General Manager), Wezi Banda (Head of Process: Operations), and their excellent team for achieving record copper and
FEB 2 - Glencore own-sourced copper production of 1,195,700 t was 62,400 t (5%) lower than 2020, mainly due to the Mopani disposal (23,800 t), expected lower copper grades at Antapaccay (14,800 t) and lower copper byproducts from our mature zinc and nickel mines (26,600 t). Own sourced cobalt production of 31,300 t was 3,900 t (14%) higher than 2020 due to the limited restart of production at Mutanda in 2021. The Ernest Henry copper mine disposal also completed in early January 2022. African copper operations produced 277.2 kt copper in 2021, the same amount as Collahuasi’s copper in concentrates output. Antamina reached the 150 kt Cu in conc. level.
www.fcx.com
Antofagasta output and projects JAN 19 - Group copper production for 2021 was 721,500 tonnes, with 178,900 t in Q4. As at the end of 2021 the Los Pelambres Expansion project was 68% complete (design, procurement and construction). The final estimated project costs are under review, considering the impact of COVID-19, higher input and logistics costs and project workers absenteeism. The completion schedule for the water supply system remains unchanged and is expected in H2 2022. For the concentrator plant expansion, which has
Glencore reports 2021 progress
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