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Copper Concentrate
Key Characteristics
- Copper Content: Typically contains 20% to 36% copper (compared to just 1% to 2% in raw mined ore), along with iron and sulfur.
- Moisture: Usually dried to around 8% to 9% humidity before shipping or storage.
- Primary Use: Serves as the main feed material for smelters and refineries to produce high-purity copper cathodes (99.99% pure) used in electrical wiring, electronics, construction, and plumbing.
How It Is Made
- Crushing & Grinding: Raw ore is crushed and milled into a fine powder, then mixed with water to form a slurry.
- Froth Flotation: Reagents and air bubbles are introduced into flotation tanks; copper-bearing sulfide particles attach to the bubbles and rise to the surface as a mineral-rich froth, while waste rock (gangue) sinks to the bottom.
- Thickening & Drying: The separated mineral slurry is thickened, filtered, and dried into a concentrated powder ready for transport to a smelter.