Hydrometallurgy

The copper cathodes to be produced by CLC will be similar to these

To extract the copper, the chosen method is leaching, solvent extraction and electrowinning, hydrometallurgical (water-based metal recovery) technologies that achieve clear benefits in technical, economic and environmental performance, among which the following stand out:

• The final product is obtained directly, as cathode copper (plates of copper metal), in the hydrometallurgical plant integrated into the mining operation, which avoids transporting to smelters and other environmental aspects associated with producing copper using other methods, such as the generation of SO₂. This treatment is designed to directly produce high quality copper metal (LME Grade “A”: 99.9935% Cu).
• The elimination of a traditional tailings dam, a major advance in environmental protection, and its substitution with a dry residue, applying the best available techniques encouraged by European Union reference documents .
• Better recovery of the metal compared to conventional flotation technology.

CLC has sought out the best international technological partners to engineer the copper treatment process and to construct the hydrometallurgical plant.

The Las Cruces Project represents the introduction of hydrometallurgy to the European copper mining industry, a technology applied in other countries such as the United States, Australia, Peru, and Chile.

Treating the copper ore by hydrometallurgical methods is considered by the international mining industry to be the clean technology for obtaining copper .

General virtual view of the future hydrometallurgical plant