In December 2024, Clareo Mining‘s Satish Rao and Grant Caffery contributed to an article in the Engineering and Mining Journal summarising the challenges facing copper processing.
With rising demand for copper worldwide, declining global ore grades mean companies must process larger volumes to maintain copper output. This leads to increased energy and water usage and more waste generation. Increasingly, complex ores require more sophisticated and energy-intensive extraction techniques.
In the context of specific processing challenges for leaching, flotation and grinding, integrating synergistic technologies is necessary to address declining ore grades and environmental challenges in copper processing. The option of completely rewriting the flowsheet with in-situ recovery presents a transformational step-change. Innovation, whether in existing or new processes, is the way forward.
