Tag Archives: Bagdad

Jetti Resources to deploy catalytic leaching tech at Freeport-operated El Abra

21st February 2023Base metals, Environmental, Mine operation news, Mining services, Sustainable mining, Water managementBagdad, Chile, copper, El Abra, Freeport McMoRan, Jetti Resources, leaching, Mike Outwin, Sociedad Contractual Minera El AbraDaniel Gleeson

Jetti Resources has reached an agreement with Sociedad Contractual Minera El Abra and Freeport-McMoRan to deploy Jetti’s leaching technology at the El Abra copper mine in Chile, majority-owned and operated by Freeport.

The use of Jetti’s technology will enable El Abra to produce more copper while taking advantage of existing infrastructure and will generate strong financial returns, according to Jetti.

This is not the first Freeport installation for Jetti, with a spokesperson for the mining company recently confirming to IM it was trialling the technology through “a commercial installation” at its Bagdad mine in Arizona, USA.

Jetti’s catalytic technology will be deployed on the existing leach stockpiles at El Abra and will target over 20 MIb/y (9,072 t/y) of incremental copper cathode production after an initial ramp-up period. The project will leverage existing El Abra infrastructure including excess tankhouse capacity sufficient to process all production from Jetti’s leaching technology. Engineering work for the establishment of Jetti’s on-site catalyst facility is already well advanced, with construction expected to commence in the first half of 2023 and commissioning expected in the second half of the year, Jetti said.

El Abra is an open-pit copper mining complex with a large sulphide resource as well as an established leaching operation. In 2022, El Abra produced approximately 200 MIb of copper.

Mike Outwin, CEO and Co-Founder of Jetti Resources, said: “El Abra is Jetti’s first deployment in Chile, and we are delighted to extend our partnership with Freeport to a second site. Real momentum is building behind the deployment of Jetti’s technology as its unique technological, commercial and environmental benefits become increasingly clear. We look forward to working with Freeport to successfully unlock profitable new pounds of copper with a low carbon footprint and with reduced water consumption.”

Freeport furthers its leading copper leaching excellence

7th February 2023Base metals, Energy minerals, Environmental, Metallurgy, Mine operation news, Mineral processing, Mining services, Sustainable mining, Water managementArizona, Bagdad, Capstone Copper, catalytic leaching technology, chalcopyrite, copper, electrowinning, Freeport McMoRan, heap leaching, Jetti Resources, leaching, Morenci, Pinto Valley, solvent extraction, SX-EWDaniel Gleeson

Among the new applications, technologies and data analytics Freeport-McMoRan is advancing as part of a plan to improve copper recovery from its leach processes in North and South America is Jetti Resources’ patented catalytic technology, the company has confirmed to IM.

In its December quarter and 2022 annual results, released late last month, the leading copper miner said it believed the leach innovation initiatives it was pursuing provided potential opportunities to produce incremental copper from its large existing leach stockpiles and lower-grade material currently classified as waste.

The company has been exploring the potential for incremental low-cost additions to its production and reserve profile for some time, saying in the latest results release that it had identified opportunities to achieve an annual run rate of 200 MIb/y (90,718 t/y) of copper through these initiatives by the end of 2023.

Freeport has a long history of copper leaching production with its Americas division, which includes assets such as Morenci and Cerro Verde, having developed and implemented industry-leading technologies for leaching of oxide ores.

The company has been pursuing internal and external initiatives to expand this leading position, focusing on traditional ores and sulphide orebodies that have been typically considered difficult to leach, like chalcopyrite.

This is where Jetti’s technology comes in.

The Colorado-based company has developed catalytic technology to allow for the efficient and effective heap and stockpile leach extraction of copper. This bolts onto existing solvent extraction/electrowinning (SX/EW) leaching plants so it can be deployed rapidly with limited capital expenditure and, because it uses no heating or grinding, has low operational costs. In addition, there are huge environmental benefits from using leaching over pyrometallurgy, according to Jetti.

A Freeport spokesperson confirmed to IM that the company was in a trial of the Jetti technology through “a commercial installation” at its Bagdad mine in Arizona, USA. This mine is one of its major leaching test hubs, with the company targeting over 3 MIb/y of incremental copper cathode production from the open-pit copper mine through this work.

Bagdad has a 77,100 t/d concentrator that produces copper and molybdenum concentrate, an SX/EW plant that can produce approximately 6 MIb/y of copper cathode from solution generated by low-grade stockpile leaching, and a pressure-leach plant to process molybdenum concentrate.

The spokesperson added: “There is potential to expand production via the treatment of additional stockpiles at Bagdad in the future based on results.”

The use of Jetti’s technology is one of several leaching initiatives the company is pursuing – some with outside vendors, some using its own technology and some with joint venture partners.

All of these are focused on not only adding low-cost production to Freeport’s large production base, but also achieving a lower carbon footprint.

Jetti, which Freeport is an investor in, has been conducting a carbon footprint study and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of its technology, with the LCA including analyses of typical copper mining operations without Jetti’s technology and a mining operation with Jetti’s technology installed. The LCA is being conducted in conformance with the ISO 14040/44 standard and will be critically reviewed by an independent expert.

*Jetti Resources has developed catalytic technology to allow for the efficient and effective heap and stockpile leach extraction of copper*

Jetti has also committed to starting to track water usage and waste at all its operations and sites, which includes the installation it has at Capstone Copper’s Pinto Valley operation, also in Arizona.

At Capstone’s operation, Jetti technology is being used extensively as part of a plan to recover up to 350 MIb of cathode copper over the next two decades from historic and new mineralised waste piles.

Teck Resources has also taken an interest in Jetti’s technology having signed an agreement for the evaluation of the solution at a number of Teck’s assets with potential copper resources outside of existing mine plans. BHP, through its BHP Ventures arm, is also an investor in Jetti.

As to Freeport’s wider leaching plans, it said it was looking to use data analytics to provide new insights to drive additional value, while new applications to retain the heat in the stockpiles were “yielding results”.

The company has assessed that it has some 38,000 MIb of contained copper in leach stockpiles deemed “unrecoverable” by traditional leach methods. Of this amount, about 50% is from the massive Morenci mine, which already has leaching production capacity of 900 MIb/y of copper.

Another six mining operations apply for ‘The Copper Mark’

21st June 2021Base metals, Environmental, Mining industry recognition, Mining services, Sustainable miningAdolfo Vera, Bagdad, Chino, Compañía Minera Condestable, copper, Freeport McMoRan, Kathleen Quirk, Michèle Brülhart, Safford, Sierrita, Southern Peaks Mining, The Copper Mark, TyroneDaniel Gleeson

The Copper Mark, the assurance framework to promote responsible practices and demonstrate the copper industry’s contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, has added six new participating sites to its pending list of mining operations to have achieved its Assurance Process.

Five of the six operations are US mines majority owned by Freeport-McMoRan, namely Bagdad, Chino, Tyrone, Safford (pictured, the Lone Star project) and Sierrita. The sixth is Compañía Minera Condestable SA in Peru, owned by Southern Peaks Mining.

These sites are now beginning the process of assessment based on the Copper Mark’s Assurance Process, The Copper Mark said, adding that the total number of participating sites is set to grow to 23 with these new additions.

To receive the Copper Mark, copper producers must be assessed independently against a comprehensive set of environmental, social and governance criteria on a site-by-site basis. The Copper Mark was originally founded and developed by the International Copper Association, in conjunction with various stakeholders including financial institutions, commodities exchanges, non-governmental organisations, original equipment manufacturers and copper fabricators. The Copper Mark now is an independent entity and builds on the advice of its multi-stakeholder advisory council.

The Copper Mark also added two new fabricator partners to its list of industry partners, with Nexans and Halcor both joining as partner organisations that use or rely on copper in their businesses and have made a public commitment to the Copper Mark’s vision and objectives of promoting responsible copper production.

Michèle Brülhart, Executive Director of the Copper Mark, said: “We are delighted to secure new partners in Nexans and Halcor, both of which recognise the vital importance of the sustainable production of copper, both for the local communities within which the copper industry operates and for the wider green transition.

“The addition of six new participating sites from our long-standing partner Freeport-McMoRan and our new participant Southern Peaks Mining will enable us to build further on the momentum and progress made by the Copper Mark last year in working to embed responsible production practices within the copper industry.”

Kathleen Quirk, President and Chief Financial Officer of Freeport-McMoRan, said: “We are proudly committed to the Copper Mark. Responsible production is central to Freeport’s strategy of being foremost in the global copper industry. The Copper Mark helps to demonstrate our responsible production practices to all of our stakeholders. Copper plays an essential role in the technologies necessary to develop and deliver clean energy. As one of the world’s largest copper producers, we understand we play a critical role in the global energy transition, and we are dedicated to supplying the global economy with responsibly produced copper.”

Adolfo Vera, President of Southern Peaks Mining, said: “We are very proud to be part of the Copper Mark, as it emphasises our commitment to modern mining, relying on innovation, striving for social and environmental responsibility, and focused on the sustainable development of the industry for the benefit of our country. We believe that the Copper Mark is the new standard for world-class mining and would be thrilled to see more Peruvian companies adopting this standard. At SPM, we work hard in following a path to becoming a mining company recognised by our high standards. A mining company that generates an excess of well-being while aiming to cause little to no negative impact to the world.”

Freeport to invest in data science, AI programs at North/South America mines

24th January 2020Base metals, Comminution of minerals, IoT, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services, Mining softwareBagdad, copper, data science, Freeport McMoRan, machine learning, McKinsey, mineral processingDaniel Gleeson

After carrying out a successful pilot at its Bagdad copper operation, Freeport McMoRan says it is rolling out a program across its North America and South America mines involving the use of data science, machine learning and integrated functional teams.

The program, aimed at addressing bottlenecks, providing cost benefits and driving improved overall performance, was announced in its December quarter results this week.

It said: “During 2019, FCX (Freeport) advanced initiatives in its North America and South America mining operations to enhance productivity, expand margins and reduce the capital intensity of the business through the utilisation of new technology applications in combination with a more interactive operating structure.”

It said the Bagdad mine (Arizona, USA) pilot program, initiated in late 2018, was “highly successful” in utilising these innovative technologies and it would build on this for the implementation across its other mines in North and South America.

According to a report in the Financial Times, the system at Bagdad found that the mine was producing seven distinct types of ore and that the processing method, which involves flotation, could be adjusted to recover more copper by adjusting the PH level.

The company didn’t provide any details on who it was working with on this project, but confirmed at the back end of 2019 that the Bagdad trial was carried out with management consulting firm McKinsey.

In its investor presentation announcing its December results, the company provided a little more colour on these initiatives.

On the processing/concentration side, it was using a digital twin for processing plant, in tandem with a machine-learning algorithm. These used historical data to predict results and optimise throughput and recovery. In addition to this, the solutions were able to provide “quality recommendations”, aiding real-time data-driven decisions. This allowed the processing teams to target “best performance every day”, while unlocking bottlenecks and providing more consistent operations.

It was a similar story on the mine side. Data is being aggregated from multiple systems to help inform the data-science algorithms to predict the most efficient setups. It also sends commands to dispatch to adjust mining equipment and resource execution, allowing for clear visibility of the best possible performance for shift/day, again, effectively providing real-time decision making.

Under the title “agile way of working”, Freeport said it was promoting a more interactive organisational structure that will challenge norms and identify and prioritise opportunities as part of these initiatives.

Freeport continued: “A series of action items have been identified, prioritised and are being implemented. Based on the opportunities identified to date, FCX has incorporated higher mining and milling rates in its future plans, resulting in estimated incremental production of approximately 100 MIb (45,359 t) of copper in 2021 and around 200 MIb in 2022.”

Freeport said capital expenditures associated with these initiatives are expected to be “attractive” in relation to developing new copper supply, with the company estimating capital costs – principally associated with mining equipment and ongoing development of data science and machine-learning programs – of some $200 million.

Looking back at the quarterly production figures, it is easy to see the impact this trial had on Bagdad. In the March quarter of 2018, the mine produced 49 MIb of copper, with 48 MIb coming out in the June quarter of that year. It dropped to 45 MIb in the September quarter before stepping up to 57 MIb in the last quarter of that year (when the trial commenced). In the March quarter of 2019, output dipped slightly to 55 MIb, before heading back to 57 MIb in the June quarter and surpassing that (58 MIb) in the September quarter. Output fell back to 48 MIb in the most recent December quarter.

The Bagdad operation consists of a 75,000 t/d concentrator that produces copper and molybdenum concentrate, an SX/EW plant that can produce up to 32 MIb/y of copper cathode from solution generated by low-grade stockpile leaching, and a pressure-leach plant to process molybdenum concentrate.