By-products recovery via integrated copper operations at Rio Tinto Kennecott EU Commission - Brussels 12 th Nov 2015
Who we are Rio Tinto is a leading global business delivering value at each stage of mineral and metal production We employ approximately 60,000 people in more than 40 countries We fulfil vital consumer needs that help improve living standards Our commitment to safety is fundamental to the way we do business Sustainable development is at the heart of everything we do Underlying earnings in 2014 of US$9.3 billion 2015, Rio Tinto, All Rights Reserved
Where we operate North America Europe Asia Key Mines and mining projects Smelters, refineries, power facilities and processing plants remote from mine Aluminium Copper Diamonds & Minerals Energy Iron ore South America Africa Australasia 2015, Rio Tinto, All Rights Reserved
Rio Tinto is a world leader in mining Aluminium Leading position in: bauxite alumina aluminium Copper Leading position in: copper molybdenum Diamonds & Minerals Leading position in: diamonds titanium dioxide borates and salt Energy Leading position in: uranium export coking and thermal coal Iron Ore Leading position in: seaborne iron ore 2014, Rio Tinto, All Rights Reserved
Rio Tinto Kennecott (40 km of operations, in Utah USA)
Recovery of by-products from anode copper slimes Autoclave Used to de-copperize slimes from tank house Chlorination leach Separate 2 main by-products gold & silver (gold dissolves, silver remains solid) Gold recovery Solvent extraction - removes gold from solution Gold reduction - extracts and precipitates gold from organic from SX Gold casting - converts gold sand into high purity bar and removes minor impurities such as oxygen Selenium recovery Precipitates selenium and minor amounts of gold and PGMs Lead recovery Dissolves silver using ammonia, converts lead sulfate to lead carbonate and then removes lead solids, ion exchange to remove any soluble lead Silver recovery Precipitates silver by evaporating ammonia and water Silver casting - converts silver sand into high purity bar and removes minor impurities such as oxygen
RTK Refinery by-products Gold Bars 400 oz. bars Purity 99.99% Au ~300,000 oz. per year Sold to Banks, Traders, Jewelry Silver Bars 1000 oz. bars Purity 99.95% Ag ~3 million oz. per year Sold to Banks, Traders, Jewelry Crude Selenium Selenium sand Contains minor amounts of Au and PGMs Lead Carbonate Lead carbonate sand Contains minor amounts Ag
Sulfuric acid product & power generation Major modernization of RTK Smelter in 1990 s Captures 99.9% SO 2 off-gas from copper smelting & converting Double contact absorption acid plant produces ~1Mtpa sulfuric acid product (sold mostly to local fertilizer manufacturers) Heat recovery system generates ~60% of Smelters energy needs (green power)
Molybdenum recovery from copper ores Molybdenum production (as MoS 2 ) at RTK has typically averaged ~25,000 tonnes per year Molybdenum is recovered through flotation processes (as is copper), then concentrated, filtered, and bagged before being shipped to domestic and international molybdenum roasters Typical downstream olybdenum products, after roasting, include molybdenum oxide briquettes, powders, and ferromolybdenum Europe is a key value-add market for RTK s Molybdenum products
Recovery of copper from acidic mine water Copper dissolves due to meteoric (rain) water contacting mine waste dumps Advanced Copper Cementation (ACC) plant commissioned to recover copper from acid mine water (containing 500 mg/l Cu) ACC process utilizes iron media charged to vibration mills; retention time ~2 min to cement copper metal from mine water solution Current copper recovery ~80%, and ~2t/day of copper fines produced in form of 98% pure copper powder Product collected and transported to RTK Smelter where it is charged to anode refining furnaces to supplement copper production
Rhenium recovery RTKC smelts copper concentrate containing trace amounts of Rhenium Rhenium volatilizes in flash smelting process off-gas and is recovered in Acid Plant Blow-down (APB) solution Use of Continuous Ion-Exchange technology, with potential yield of ~1 tonne per annum of recoverable Rhenium Good example of a high value byproduct now being recovered (previously lost to tails) Rhenium is a strategic by-product used mainly in aerospace applications
Future opportunities RTK have conducted studies relating to extraction and recovery of other byproducts, such as Tellurium, Bismuth oxy-chloride, Antinomy, Lithium, Platinum and Palladium Rare Earth Metals also hold strategic importance due to their use in high technology applications in civilian and military domains, and the ability to further extract high-value rare-earth by-products at economies of scale will provide unique advantages for companies Key to unlocking future value of by-products will be more detailed Ore Body Knowledge as it all starts with knowing what is in the ground and how best to recover metals economically Smelting of post-consumer electronic scrap offers an attractive pathway for second pass recovery of valuable by-products, given diminishing quality of mine ore bodies globally Regional synergies help create even more pull for by-products and value creation, and Rio Tinto is well placed to leverage such opportunities
Thank you any questions?