Current Energy Requirements in the Copper Producing Industries

Since about 90% of all copper ore mined in the United States comes from open pit
mining,2 this study has been restricted to open pit copper porphyry operations. The energy
attributable to mining largely depends on the physical parameters of the individual mine-in
particular, the nature of mineralization, the cutoff grade separating "ore to mill" from "low-
grade ore to dumps," the overburden to ore stripping ratio, and the depth and dimensions of
the pit. In addition, the energy required by the mining operation per ton of cathode copper
produced is also a function of the recovery factor in the subsequent processes of copper
sulfide concentration and refining. The lower the recovery in these processes the more ore
must be provided by the mining operations to produce a ton of cathode copper. Areas where
further research may be useful in reducing energy use are rock hauling, use of explosives, and
optimization of cutoff grade, taking into account the tradeoff between conventional
concentration and dump leaching.
Considerable potential exists for optimizing entire plant (and mine) performance.
Traditional ideas concerning the best size for run of mine ore, primary crusher product,
secondary crusher product, primary grinding product, and secondary grinding product may
change if the energy economy of the overall size reduction process is taken into account. In
addit.ion, integrated grinding and flotation circuit performance may be improved from an
energy efficiency point of view by reducing the extent of size reduction in the primary
grinding circuit. Locked mineral particles in the smaller mass rough concentrate are reground
to achieve the final liberation required. Solution of these types of integrated optimization
problems can significantly improve the overall energy economy of mineral processing plants.
The major energy consuming steps in copper concentrating are crushing, grinding, and
flotation. Possible methods to conserve energy include use of autogenous or semi-autogenous
grinding, or pebble mills. Other methods include improvements in classifier efficiency and
integrated computer control of plant operations to optimize efficiency.