SILICA ISSUES VERSUS COPPER SOLVENT EXTRACTION PLANT DESIGN

By

1G. Mitshabu, 1K. Tshenye, 2J. Anderson, 2P. Haig, 3M. Mishra and 4P. Ilunga

1BASF,
South Africa
2BASF,
Australia
3Chemaf, Democratic Republic of Congo
4MMG Kinsevere, Democratic Republic of Congo

Presenter and Corresponding Author

Godfrey Mitshabu

ABSTRACT

Most of the copper in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is currently produced as cathodes via the
leaching of copper oxide ore (or concentrates) followed by solvent extraction (SX) and electrowinning (EW).
One of the major challenges faced by many copper solvent extraction plants is the disturbance of mixer stability
associated with the presence of colloidal silica in aqueous phases. Depending on which form most of the silica
is in the leach solution, in addition to the higher likeliness of crud generation in the solvent extraction plant,
phase disengagement after mixing organic and aqueous phases in aqueous continuity tends to be slow. In
practice, the combination of crud and slow phase disengagement often ends up in a transfer of solids and
impurities from the leach solution into the electrolyte, and/or a transfer of acid and copper from the electrolyte
into the raffinate. A loss of production (quality and quantity) is almost unavoidable in this case.

Depending on the design of the SX plant, silica related issues were mitigated so far in two ways in the DRC:

- The addition of a coagulant to reduce silica content in the leach solution.

- The increase of organic to aqueous (O/A) ratio above standards values.

The addition of a coagulant for silica removal has the advantage of being virtually applicable to all plants. It
has an impact mostly on the operating cost. Coagulants have been tested in various DRC plants. They were
successful at lab scale, but the first few plant trials were disastrous and caused many plant staff to lose
confidence in the use of coagulant for silica removal. The first successful coagulant plant trial in the DRC was
achieved at MMG Kinsevere in the second quarter of 2019. From December 2018 to May 2019, the Cu
production lost because of crud runs associated with high colloidal silica in the leach solutions at MMG
Kinsevere was evaluated at 850 tons. The plant design (and construction) could not allow an increase of mixers
O/A above 1.5 without affecting copper production targets. Experience from MMG Kinsevere’s sister company
Sepon in Laos has indicated that the addition of BASF Magnafloc® 9000 coagulant in the clarifier was
successful to reducing silica content in the leach solution and improve mixer stability. To reduce the risk of
potential downstream effects, MMG Kinsevere decided to move the addition point ahead of the post leach
thickener, without compromising neither the dose nor the performance.

The mitigation of colloidal silica related issues by running at higher than standards O/A values had variable
levels of success in DRC potentially high capex plants. In March 2017, Ruashi plant lost 470 tons copper and
45 tons cobalt due to colloidal silica related issues in the leach solution. The problem was mitigated by running
with mixers’ O/A ratios above 2, but an increase of the transfer of impurities from the leach solution to the
electrolyte was noticed. This was a consequence of running towards the high limit of the specific flow
recommended for settlers. At Chemaf Usoke, copper production targets are easily achieved with the settlers
running at a specific flow below 3 m3/h/m2. O/A ratios close to 3 are achieved without impacting significantly
the transfer of impurities from the leach solution to the electrolyte.

Keywords: BASF, Democratic Republic of Congo, Chemaf Usoke, Ruashi, MMG kinsevere