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The above flowsheet shows a basic copper mine process, from mine to metal. There are two distinct types of
copper ore, the sulfide ore and the oxide ore. The sulfide ores are beneficiated in flotation cells, while the
oxide ores are generally leached. First the copper ore from a open pit mine is blasted, loaded and transported
to the primary crushers. Then the ore is crushed and screened, with the fine sulfide ore (~-0.5 mm) going to
froth flotation cells for recovery of copper. The coarser ore goes to the heap leach, where the copper is
subjected to a dilute sulfuric acid solution to dissolve the copper. Then the leach solution containing the
dissolved copper is subjected to a process called solvent extraction (SX). The SX process concentrates and
purifies the copper leach solution so the copper can be recovered at a high electrical current efficiency by the
electrowinning cells. It does this by adding a chemical reagent to the SX tanks which selectively binds with
and extracts the copper, is easily separated from the copper (stripped), recovering as much of the reagent as
possible for re-use. The concentrated copper solution is dissolved in sulfuric acid and sent to the electrolytic
cells for recovery as copper plates (cathodes). From the copper cathodes, it is manufactured into wire,
appliances, etc. that are used in every day life. Below are some photos of the process equipment at an
Arizona Copper Mine.

Copper Ore being loaded

into a 300 ton truck for
transport to the crusher.
 The primary crusher at a copper mine.
The truck dumps ore into the crusher which
crushes the ore. Screens size and distribute
the classified ore to a series of conveyors,
like those above, for transportation to the
mill for further processing.

Conveyors and trucks

deposit coarse ore on a heap
leach pad, which has a series
of pipes and hoses
dispensing a diluted sulfuric
acid solution to the ore.
Copper is dissolved and
flows to a pond at the
bottom of the pad. This
process can take several
months. The leached
solution is pumped to the SX
(Solvent Extraction) circuit,
which looks like a series of
agitation tanks or cells. The
fine sulfide ore is sent to
froth flotation cells like those below for recovery.

The froth flotation cells

recover the copper from sulfide
ores by chemically attaching
the copper to a chemical
bubble and overflowing the
froth (bubbles with copper).
The concentrates from the
flotation cells are sent to the
smelter for processing to a
copper plate. The copper plate
is then dissolved in sulfuric
acid and sent to the
electrowinning cells for plating
onto cathodes, along with the
concentrated copper from the
SX circuits. The copper leach solution typically consists of 40 gm of copper and 200 gm sulfuric acid per
liter. Current densities on the electrowinning cells can be 20-25 amperes per square foot, or more.

Banks of electrowinning cells with cathodes.

Copper on the annodes ranges from 99.0 to
99.5 percent pure. Power consumed in
electroplating copper ranges from 0.08 to
0.20 KWH per pound of copper. Any gold or
silver in the copper does not plate out and
drops to the bottom of the cell with the
sludge to be recovered later.

Machine transporting and handling the copper

cathodes that were removed from the
electrowinning cells. That's it, the rest is
manufacturing products from the pure copper!

COPPER MINE & PLANT

Areal view of surface facilities at underground copper mine. The towering structures are the headframes of
the elevators that lower men, supplies and remove the ore from the mine. This particular mine went 4,500 ft
 deep. It is about 85 degrees at that
depth.

Scene from the copper process plant, the electrowinning cells where the copper is plated onto cathodes from
the sulferic acid solution. Each line in the cell is a plate. There are thousands of plates in this photo. The
overhead crane is used to remove the solid copper cathodes. See photo below.

Plant worker removing a bank of solid

copper cathodes from the electrowinning
cells. Each plate weight 365 pounds and is
solid copper. About 275 volts at 25,600
Amps are used in the electrowinning cells to
plate the copper and it takes 11 days to plate
a bank of cathodes, such as appear above.