Primary copper production-a survey of operating world copper

smelters

V.”Ram”Ramachandran,
Consulting Engineer,
9650, E.Peregrine Place,
Scottsdale, AZ 85262, USA.

Carlos Diaz,
Director, Centre for Chemical Metallurgy,
Adjunct Professor,
Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering,
University of Toronto,
Room 140, 184, College Street, Toronto,Ontario,
Canada M5S 3E4

Tony Eltringham
Vice-President-Operating Excellence
BHP Billiton Base Metals,
1360 Post Oak Blvd, Suite 150,
Houston, Texas 77056-3020, USA

C.Y.Jiang,
Director- Non-Ferrous, Mining and Mineral Processing, Hatch China,
310, East Ocean Center, A 24 Jian Guo Men Wai Avenue
Beijing, 100004, PR China

Theo Lehner,
Manager, Research and Development,
Boliden Mineral AB
Smelter Operations, Ronnskar,
SE-932 81 Skelleftehamn,, Sweden

Phillip. J. Mackey,
Principal Scientist,
Noranda Inc.Technology Centre,.
240, Hymus Blvd,
Pointe-Claire, Quebec
Canada H9R 1G5
C.J. Newman,
Technical Manager,
Kennecott Utah Copper Corporation,
12000 West 2100 South
P.O.Box 329, Magna,
Utah 84044, USA

A.Tarasov,
General Director, Gintsvetmet
13, Acad. Korolyov Street,
129515, Moscow.

ABSTRACT

Since the last survey of copper smelters in 1988, the copper industry has gone
through considerable changes. Technological innovations, along with stringent
environmental regulations, have caused major changes in many areas. Hence a new
survey was made to review the progress in technology for copper recovery in the last
decade and update data on all the operating copper smelters in the world.

Data summarizing the operations and equipment of 52 copper smelters have been
tabulated and reviewed. Information has been included on all standard aspects of smelter
operation from feed preparation, feed analysis, through to casting and sulfur fixation. The
questionnaires, on which this paper is based on were completed by the respective smelter
personnel during 2002 and 2003.
 INTRODUCTION

The survey presents data for a total of 52 operating copper smelters from all over
the world. This is the first time that smelters from Russia and China have been included
in a survey. The smelters surveyed represent together a total annual production of a little
over 9.71 million metric tons from 23 countries out of which about 200,000 mtpy is
secondary copper. This tonnage includes a) the proposed production of 290,000 mtpy
from Alto Norte which has just been commissioned ,but does not include a) production
from Jinchang smelter in China(80,000 mtpy design) to be commissioned in July/August
2003 and b)future production from expansion plans of Sterlite Copper and Indo Gulf
Fertilisers(~150,000mtpy each). The list in this survey is far from complete. Data from
a number of smelters are not included as they did not respond to the survey. The data
presented here have been assembled from questionnaires completed during late 2002 and
early 2003 by the staff of the participating copper companies and their contributions are
gratefully acknowledged.

Since the last survey of copper smelters conducted in 1988 by Pannell of

Noranda Minerals Inc, (1), significant changes have occurred in the copper industry.
Specifically, a number of copper smelting operations in North America have been
suspended indefinitely. They are El Paso(2/1999) ,San Manuel(1999),
Ray(1986),Chino(1/2002), Hidalgo(9/1999), Douglas(1987), Gaspe(2002), and
Cananea(1999).Also three smelters have been shut down in Africa, viz., Luanshya,
Tsumeb and O’Okiep. RTB Bor, Serbia –which did not participate in this survey-
produced only 40,000 metric tons in 2002(design capacity 170,000 mtpy) due to difficult
conditions. Also,Hindustan Copper Ltd, India and Zhong Tiao Shan , China have cut
back their production considerably in the recent past –either due to non-availability of
concentrates and/or running out of economic ore-bodies nearby. At the writing of this
paper,Port Kembla in Australia announced that their smelter is being shut down
indefinitely-possibly due to economic reasons. In contrast to this, a number of new
smelters have come on stream in Asia, China and Russia- with two of them planning to
double their capacity by late 2003 or early 2004.Since 1988, China has brought on stream
new production of 590,000 mtpy with an additional 80,000 metric tons to be added in
2003.In Asia, about 726,000 mtpy of new copper has been added by smelters in
Indonesia, Thailand and India. There has been no major production level changes in
USA, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and Japan.

In the recent past, autoclave leaching of copper concentrates followed by solvent

extraction-electrowinning (SX-EW) is being investigated as an alternate to the smelting
and refining approach for production of cathode copper. Once the recovery of precious
metals from the leach residue and an environmentally acceptable way of disposing off
the iron leach residue is resolved and the overall economics appears competitive, this
hydrometallurgical process will be a viable competitor to the smelting option. One major
copper producer in USA, Phelps Dodge Mining Corporation has converted all their
copper production to the leach-SX-EW process and are evaluating the autoclave leach
process in a 50 tons of copper per day demonstration/production plant at Baghdad,
Arizona. In contrast to this, the ease of disposal of smelter slag due to Bevill exemption
(in USA) and the total recovery of precious metals-although somewhat time consuming-
still gives an edge to the smelting option.

SMELTER CAPACITY IMPROVEMENTS

One of the changes in the copper smelting industry is that the capacity of plants
has been increasing, in part to improve efficiency and lower plant unit cost. This trend
can be illustrated by the results of the present survey and by comparing theses results
with that of the 1988 survey(1).In 1988, for example, 20% of capacity was in smelters
sized less than 100,000 tpy. The percentage of capacity in smelters less than 100,000tpy
had dropped to about 7% in 2003(refer to the following two figures). In 1988, 80% of the
capacity was represented by smelters in the range up to 200,000 tpy, whereas by 2003,
only about 25% of the smelter production was in plants under 200,000 tpy of Cu , i.e.,
75% in plants over 200,000tpy; In 2003, 35% of the capacity was in plants greater than
300,000tpy,while in 1988, this percentage was only 6%.

Breakdown of total survey smelting capacity by plant size

Survey represented 9.7 million tpy of capacity -
Approx. 75% of survey smelter capacity is with plants >200 k tpy copper, 35% in plants >
300 k tpy
50

45
% of total plant capacity in each capacity

40

35

30
range

25

20

15

10

0
< 100 100 to 200 200 to 300 300 to 400 400 to 500 500 to 600 600 to 700
Smelter capacity range, k tpy of produced copper
 Breakdown of total survey smelting capacity by plant size - 2003 and 1988 cpmpared
In 2003, approx. 75% of survey smelter capacity is with plants >200 k tpy copper;

In 1988, this was only 20% of smelters; in 2003 35% was in plants > 300 k tpy, in 1988, this was only 6% of
plants
Capacity represented, mill tpy Cu : 2003 - 9.7; 1988- 5.7
70
% of capacity - 1988
% of total plant capacity in each capacity range

% of capacity - 2003
60

50

40

30

20

10

0
< 100 100 to 200 200 to 300 300 to 400 400 to 500 500 to 600 600 to 700
Smelter capacity range, k tpy of produced copper

RAW MATERIALS

Feed

Of the 52 smelters reporting feed analysis, the copper concentration in the

concentrate varied from 22 to 38%. Most of the smelters treat a typical chalcopyrite
concentrate with 25 –28% Cu with a few treating higher grade averaging from 32-34%
Cu. Flin Flon continues to use copper concentrates containing high levels of zinc.
Brixlegg-only secondary smelter reporting-treats secondary materials averaging 28% Cu
in the blast furnace, while the anode furnace treats scrap averaging 92% Cu. Most of the
Russian smelters reported low levels of copper –varying from 10 to 20 % -with one
exception that reported 68%. (matte from a nickel plant).

Furnace Flux

Of the 52 smelters, a majority of them-85 %- reported silica as their flux-with the

silica averaging from 75% to 95%. Only one reported calcium carbonate as its flux, while
no data were given by seven smelters.
Converter Flux

Converter fluxes are normally similar in composition to fluxes used in smelting

units. Of the 52 smelters reporting, a majority of them-75 %- reported silica as their
converter flux with the silica content of the same analysis as the smelter flux and in some
cases a slightly higher silica content. Six smelters that use lime as their flux- are
invariably the ones using the Mitsubushi converting process and the Kennecott flash
converter. One smelter stated that it does not use converter flux, while four reported no
data at all.

Feed Preparation

Of the 52 smelters reporting on feed preparation, smelters using flash smelting

furnaces and a few others dried their concentrates-about 65 % of them- while the ones
using bath technology -about 35%- did not dry their concentrates. The rotary dryer was
the most common type of dryer used-about 50%-and steam dryer 25% of the time. Only
three smelters used fluid bed drying, while 15 smelters did not dry their concentrates-
mostly smelters with bath smelting operations. Natural gas and heavy fuel oil were the
most commonly used fuels. The moisture content of dried concentrates averaged between
0,2% to 0.5%; wet concentrates used directly varied in moisture from 8 % to 15%.

PRIMARY SMELTING

Since the last copper smelter survey was done in 1988, considerable advances
have occurred in the primary smelting of copper concentrates with a goal to increase
productivity and reduce unit cost. Major changes include a) single-line smelters
producing around 250,000 metric tons of anode copper b) increased process intensity
accompanied by improved vessel integrity c) a high degree of oxygen enrichment during
smelting and d) higher matte grades. Tighter environmental regulations-probably the
most important factor influencing technological change in the smelting industry in the
last 40 years-have forced smelters to routinely capture well over 95-97% of sulfur as
sulfuric acid. With the adoption of flash smelting and flash converting at Kennecott and
the use of acid plant tail gas scrubbing at other plants (mainly in Japan) sulfur capture has
exceeded 99.9%.

In the last 25 years, there has been a trend towards building large capacity
smelters. Twenty four smelters reported in this survey produced over 200,000 mtpy each,
while five smelters in the100,000-200,000 mtpy range produced over 170,000 mtpy each.
Table I shows the plant tonnage range versus number of plants in each range.
 Table I - Plant Tonnage Ranges and Number of Plants in Each Range

Annual Plant Tonnage Range Number of Plants in Range

Metric Tons

<100,000 11*
100,000 – 200,000 12
200,000 – 300,000 16
300,000 – 400,000 4
400,000 – 500,000 3
500,000 – 600,000 0
600,000 – 700,000 1
No data 1

* At URAL Metallurgical Co, Russia, production from five small plants has been
combined in to one.

Outokumpu flash smelting is currently the most dominant copper smelting

technology. Inco’s oxygen flash smelting technology is used only at Asarco’s Hayden
smelter. In “flash smelting” reactions primarily occur in a gas phase system ”between
oxygen-bearing gas and concentrate particles dispersed within”. With flash smelting
technology, an increase in furnace throughput with simultaneous extension of smelting
vessel campaign has occurred due to a) high oxygen enrichment b) improved feed system
and burner design c) protection of furnace integrity by external cooling d) improved
settler metallurgy and e) mathematical modeling and process control. High oxygen
enrichment-adopted by Outokumpu at Harjavalta in 1971-is now common practice. It has
been the most economic means of increasing furnace capacity without increasing its
physical dimensions and its gas cooling and cleaning system. Using 52-58% oxygen
enrichment, the “ specific shaft smelting rate “(SSSR) , a parameter expressed as Nm3 of
oxygen used/hour/m3 of shaft volume-as defined by Kellogg and Diaz(2)- can be more
than doubled in comparison to the use of normal air.

During the last 30 years, considerable progress has been made in bath smelting of
copper concentrates. In year 2000, about 30% of the world’s copper production will be
produced by this technology. In “bath smelting” the concentrate feed is “enveloped and
reacted in a turbulent bath of matte”. Five major technologies using this smelting
technology are: a) Mitsubushi Continuous Smelting b)El Teniente Converter(TC) c)
Noranda Technology and d) Top Submerged Lance Technology(TSL) -Isasmelt and
Ausmelt . The advantage of this important smelting method is the high intensity mode of
smelting which enables the added charge to quickly reach smelting temperatures and the
chemical reactions to rapidly proceed to completion; this feature translates to smaller
sized furnaces per unit capacity and a high overall efficiency.

Of the smelters surveyed, about 35% use flash smelting, 35% use bath smelting;
rest of the technologies cover the balance of 30%.
 Other technologies in use-however not on a large scale-are the reverberatory
furnace(six), blast furnace(two), and electric furnace(three). It is the authors’ belief that
most of them would have changed to either flash or bath smelting by the time the next
survey of copper smelters is done.

Carlos Diaz (2) and Mackey and Campos(3) have done an excellent review of all
aspects of copper smelting and converting technology in their papers from which some of
the above information has been gathered. Both the papers would make interesting
reading for students of copper metallurgy.

In view of the increasing interest towards producing high matte grades – the
matte grades of all the smelters along with the corresponding smelting furnace slag are
tabulated in descending order in Table II.

Table II – Smelter Primary Furnace Matte and Slag Analysis Arranged in Descending
Order of Matte Copper Analysis

Smelter Primary Furnace Matte Primary Furnace Slag

Cu Fe S Cu Fe SiO2 CaO
(wt %) (wt %)

Olympic Dam 99.0 <1.0 <0.5 22.5 38.0 19.0 -

Brixlegg (Secondary) 75.0 6.0 0.3 1.0 40.0 25.0 3.0
Thai Copper 75.0 3.4 20.8 8.9 36.7 30 0.9
Caletones 74.3 4.0 20.0 8.7 39.3 27.5 1.9
Altonorte 74.2 3.3 20.1 6.0 40.0 28.6 0.8
Las Ventanas 74.0 2.4 20.7 7.1 39.5 27.7 1.8
Paipote 73.5 4.5 21.5 10.0 43.0 26.0 2.5
Ilo (Teniente conv) 73.0 4.0 22.0 5.5 45.0 24.5 1.2
Port Kembla 72.0 7.0 21.0 0.8 45.0 30 4.5
Potrerillos 71.0 5.2 21.0 8.0 38.2 25.0 -
Kennecott 70.0 8.0 20.7 2.2 40.0 30.5 2.1
Horne 69.8 3.4 20.5 6.0 35.7 30.0 1.0
Kidd Creek 68.5 7.0 22.0 2.0 40.0 32.0 3.5
Naoshima 68.2 7.9 21.4 0.7 39.7 36.2 5.2
Gresik 68.2 7.8 21.3 0.7 35.5 34.3 5.3
Daye 68.0 6.0 22.0 4.5 43.5 22.0 5.0
Le Caridad 68.0 7.5 20.7 2.5/7.5 43/45 31/24 -
Harjavalta 68.0 9.0 21.0 2.2 44.1 27.7 -
Saganoseki 65.9 10.3 21.2 1.0 40.3 33.7 1.9
Toyo 65.0 9.0 22.0 1.0 40.0 33.0 1.7
 Table II – Smelter Primary Furnace Matte and Slag Analysis Arranged in Descending
Order of Matte Copper Analysis (Continued)

Smelter Primary Furnace Matte Primary Furnace Slag

Cu Fe S Cu Fe SiO2 CaO
(wt %) (wt %)

Norilsk* 64.7 8.0 23.3 1.4 39.3 31.0 4.0

Pirdop 64.0 12.0 22.0 1.5 45.0 28.0 1.1
Norddeutsche 64.0 12.0 23.0 1.5 40.5 32.0 2.5
Tamano 64.0 11.8 21.7 0.9 37.6 34.2 2.7
Guixi 63.0 12.0 21.0 1.5 39.9 33.9 -
Sterlite Copper 63.0 15.0 22.0 0.8 44.0 30.0 2.0
Caraiba Metals 62.4 12.3 22.0 2.3 42.2 31.0 -
Onsan I 62.0 15.0 22.0 1.5 43.0 31.0 -
Atlantic Copper 62.0 13.0 20.0 1.5 42.0 48.0 2.0
Yunnan Copper 60.0 14.8 22.9 0.7 36.0 32.2 5.1
Hema 60.0 - - 1.1 - - -
Boliden 60.0 10.0 21.0 1.7 40.0 29.0 1.1
Mt.Isa 60.0 15.0 23.0 2.6 41.0 33.0 1.5
Hayden 58.8 14.5 23.0 1.2 36.5 34.0 2.2
Jinlong Copper 58.0 12.0 22.0 1.2 40.6 35.3 -
Phelps Dodge 57.0 14.2 24.0 0.7 48.0 31.0 3.3
Jezkazgan 55.0 14.0 23.0 0.5 28.0 50.0 16.0
PASAR 55.0 24.0 23.0 0.7 38.0 36.0 2.0
Kosaka 55.0 12.0 20.0 0.7 35.0 31.0 2.0
Khatoon Abad, Iran 50.0 22.3 23.2 1.0 40.5 35.2 1.1
Flin Flon 49.5 19.7 24.5 1.0 38.5 32.6 0.4
San Luis Potosi 48.0 17.0 15.0 0.5 28.0 34.0 11.0
Palabora 45.0 28.0 24.0 0.7 35.0 35.0 5.0
SUMZ, Ural 45.0 30.0 25.0 0.7 30.0 32.0 3.0
Almalykskii 43.0 28.0 25.0 0.8 34.0 35.0 1.5
Ilo (Reverb) 41.0 31.0 27.0 0.7 40.6 33.6 5.8
Onahama 41.0 28.0 27.0 0.7 35.0 5.0 33.0
Jinchuan 36.0 35.0 25.0 0.5 43.5 22.0 2.0
Oman 34.1 36.1 25.5 0.5 39.1 33.2 5.2
Kirovgrad 31.0 14.0 24.0 0.4 30.0 31.0 24.0
Krasnouralsk 29.0 30.0 29.0 0.4 32.0 31.0 24.0
Mednogorsk 28.0 30.0 25.0 0.4 28.0 24.0 22.0

* Average of three furnaces

Note: No data from Onsan II plant and Karabashmed Smelter, Russia
Data from Ilo Smelter are from two different furnaces.
Matte data from Le Caridad is average from two furnaces: slag data are from two
different furnaces.

MATTE GRADE IMPROVEMENTS

Another change in the copper smelting industry has been a gradual increase
inmate grade produced in the smelting furnaces. This trend was noted in 1988 survey (1),
and it continues such that a greater proportion of plants are operating at higher matte
grades. For example, in 1988, only 26% of plants had a matte grade over 60 % Cu, while
the present survey indicate that about 55% of plants surveyed had a matte grade over 60
% Cu. Also, in 1988, 51% of plants in the survey had matte grades up to 50% Cu; this
percentage has dropped to 24% in the present survey.

The average matte grade in this survey was 58.6% Cu compared to 53.0%
reported in the last survey. Eliminating the lowest three matte grades –31% Cu and
below raised the average matte grade to 60.4% Cu for the remaining 49 smelters.

The trend with more plants having higher matte grades follows the trend to more
widespread use of modern flash and bath smelting technologies being used throughout
the copper industry.

CONVERTING

The Peirce –Smith(P-S) converter continues to retain its role as the major work
horse for converting copper matte to blister in most of the copper smelters in the world.
Of the 52 plants surveyed, 43 smelters use the P-S converter;next in line was Mitsubushi
continuous converter(five) and one each of Noranda, Flash , Ausmelt. Olympic dam does
not use a converter as it produces blister copper from the smelting furnace.

Oxygen enrichment of air is common in most converter operations-with oxygen

varying from 23% to 30 % with an average around 24.5%.Mitsubushi continuous
converters seem to use the highest levels of oxygen at around 30%.Although oxygen
enrichment enables the charging of reverts to the converter, it results in considerable
refractory wear near the tuyere line-which invariably is the limiting factor in the
converter life.

Mitsubushi pioneered the continuous converting practice at Naoshima in

1974.Since then, four other smelters, viz., Kidd Creek, Onsan, Gresik and Port Kembla
have adopted this technology. In recent years, two other continuous converting
technologies have been commercialized ; Kennecott-Outokumpu flash converter and
Noranda continuous converter. The Mitsubushi and Kennecott-Outokumpu converters
produce blister copper and operate only with two condensed phases, metal and calcium-
ferrite slag. In the Noranda converter, white metal is also present which permits the
oxygen potential to be lower and thus permits the use of a conventional iron-silicate slag.
Vessel integrity problems that has affected continuous converting operations have been
overcome by major strides that have taken place in furnace water-cooling technology.

Iron-silicate slags produced in P-S converters are invariably recycled back to the
smelting furnace, while calcium-ferrite slags produced in continuous converters are slow
cooled and milled for copper recovery.

Readers are referred to references (2) and (3) for details of the converter
operations.

SLAG CLEANING

Since the survey of 1988, cleaning of both smelter slag and converter slag has
become common practice. Two major approaches to slag cleaning processes are use of an
electric furnace and/or slow cooling the slag and milling it to produce a copper
concentrate. Use of both these processes have gone in tandem with the move towards
production of high grade mattes in the industry. As a rule, electric furnaces have been
used for cleaning smelting furnace slags; sometimes converter slags are added along with
the smelting slag. There was no case where only converter slag was cleaned in an electric
furnace.The slow cooling and milling approach has been mostly used for converter slags
with smelting slags added at a few smelters. Smelters using the continuous converting
(Mitsubushi, Outokumpu-Kennecott, Noranda)) always slow cooled and milled their
converter slag. Only one smelter used slow cooling for smelter slag. One smelter
reported using fuel fired furnace while another uses a rotary furnace where some
reductant is added to improve copper recovery. Most smelters report average slag
cleaning copper recoveries varying between 85 to 90 %.

Of the 52 smelters reporting, 22 used electric furnace, 13 used slow cooling

followed by milling, one used a rotary furnace, one used fuel fired furnace, seven did not
clean slag and eight smelters did not provide any information on slag cleaning.

The average copper content of the discard slag from the electric furnace was
0.78% Cu ( compare 0.66 % Cu in the last survey with 9 smelters reporting).In slow
cooling and milling, the copper content of the tailings averaged 0.54% Cu(compared to
0.51%Cu in the last survey with 13 smelters reporting).The copper in the final slag from
the rotary furnace and the fuel fired furnace was 0.75% Cu and 0.9% Cu respectively.
The Fe/SiO2 ratio in the final slag from the electric furnace averaged at 1.31(compare
1.27 from the last survey); the ratio ranged from a low of 1.06 to a high of 1.64.Due to
the narrow range of final copper content of the discard slag from the electric furnace,
viz., from 0.6 to 1.0% Cu, there was no definite relationship between copper loss and
Fe/SiO2 ratio.

ANODE CASTING AND REFINING

The rotary anode furnace seems to be the standard for fire refining of blister
copper all over the world. Of the 52 smelters surveyed, 39(75%) smelters use the rotary
furnace. Two smelters use the reverberatory furnace and one smelter(PASAR) uses the
Peirce-Smith type unit. Four smelters produce only blister copper and do not fire refine
copper. Six smelters did not provide any data.

A wide variety of reductants are used in fire refining with heavy oil leading the
pack at 11 smelters followed by LPG at 8 smelters and natural plus steam at 6
smelters.The rest of the reductants used for refining are:propane(two), coal, wood,
hydrocarbon fuel, ammonia, propane/butane mixture with one each.

The majority of smelters use wheel type casting machines with casting rates
averaging at 62 mtph (compare 40.4 mtph in the last survey) with a low of 30 mtph and
a high of 100 mtph. Two smelters use Hazlett type casting machines.

The average anode weight has increased from 307 kg in the last survey to 329 kg
in the current survey. Only 68% of the smelters surveyed cast an anode within 60 kg of
the average weight of 329 kg.The anode weights ranged from a low of 200 kg to a high
of 418 kg. The Pirdop smelter casts anodes with two different weights, viz., 418 kg for
the Olen refinery and 242 kg for the Pirdop refinery. Similarly, the new Altonorte smelter
casts anodes of three different weights , 333 kg, 347 kg and 400 kg for CCR, Elmet and
Altonorte respectively. Two smelters-Onahama and Kidd Creek- using Hazlett machines
cast anodes of weights 140 kg and 182 kg respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Operating data from 52 smelters have been compiled and presented here.Based
on the figures in this survey, South America leads the list with 21% of the production.
Europe, Japan , North America,Asia have 16.2%,15.7%,14.5% and 12.9% share of the
total world production respectively.Asia’s share would increase considerably after the
completion of the expansion plans of Sterlite Copper and Indo Gulf Fertilizers. China’s
current share of 9.7% would increase to 10.4% after the commissioning of the Jinchang
smelter this year.

The current survey indicates that a major share of the copper production has
shifted to Asia and this has been accompanied by a steady decrease in production in
North America. The main reason for this shift seems to be the relatively low cost of
production in Asia .

Environmental concern in an overall sense has played a major role in the

technological advances that has occurred in the copper industry in the last 20 years.
Further technological developments will continue to maintain a high level of productivity
and lower unit cost.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors wish to thank all the smelters and their staff for participating in this
survey and their contributions are gratefully acknowledged. Our special thanks are due
to Mrs Vasanti Ramachandran without whose help in the computer area and collation
of all the survey data, this paper would not have seen the light of the day.

REFERENCES

1. D.G. Pannell,”A Survey of World Copper Smelters”, World Survey of

Nonferrous Smelters, J.C.Taylor and H.R. Traulsen, Eds.,The Metallurgical
Society of AIME, Warrendale,PA,U.S.A.,1987, 3-14.

2. C.Diaz,” The Changing Landscape of Copper Smelting”, Brimacombe Memorial

Symposium , G.A.Irons and A.W.Cramb, Ed.,Metallurgical Society of CIM,
Montreal, Quebec,Canada, 2000, 313-332.

3. P.J.Mackey and R Campos,”Modern Continuous Smelting and Converting by

Bath Smelting Technology”,Canadian Metallurgical Quarterly, Vol. 40, No.3,
2001, 355-376.