Trucks deposit coarse ore on a heap leach pad, whi

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. Desert Construction of Kingman will handle this part of the operation.



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.






Current densities on the electrowinning cells can be 20-25 amperes per square foot, or more. 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.



A machine transports the copper cathodes that were removed from the electrowinning cells.



Stacked and ready to ship!