We have established a new entity in Zambia called Kachana Mine which is an Open Pit Copper Mine located in North-East region of Zambia, in one of the most prospective copper regions in the world. The company has been formed by joint-venture of Consiliari Partners Ltd, located in United Kingdom and local Zambians? partners. The mining licence area of Mwinulunga, which is owned by Kachane Mine is predominantly oxide ore mine. The ore is sent to reputable refinery in Zambia where is treated through refining process in a conventional flotation and leaching process, producing copper cathodes of the highest grade.
Kachana Mine is aiming to produce 350,000 tonnes of copper in 2016 with steady increase going forward. Proven copper reserves as at December 31, 2015, were 4.2 million tonnes in that specific area.
For more details visit our website http://kachanamine.com
Copper is one of the basic chemical elements. In its nearly pure state, copper is a reddish-orange metal known for its high thermal and electrical conductivity. It is commonly used to produce a wide variety of products, including electrical wire, cooking pots and pans, pipes and tubes, automobile radiators, and many others. Copper is also used as a pigment and preservative for paper, paint, textiles, and wood.
Copper was first used as early as 10,000 years ago. A copper pendant from about 8700 B.C. was found in what is now northern Iraq. There is evidence that by about 6400 B.C. copper was being melted and cast into objects in the area now known as Turkey.
RAW MATERIALS
Pure copper is rarely found in nature, but is usually combined with other chemicals in the form of copper ores. There are about 15 copper ores mined commercially in 40 countries around the world. The most common are known as sulfide ores in which the copper is chemically bonded with sulfur. Others are known as oxide ores, carbonate ores, or mixed ores depending on the chemicals present. Many copper ores also contain significant quantities of gold, silver, nickel, and other valuable metals, as well as large quantities of commercially useless material.
THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS
The process of extracting copper from copper ore varies according to the type of ore and the desired purity of the final product. Each process consists of several steps in which unwanted materials are physically or chemically removed, and the concentration of copper is progressively increased. Some of these steps are conducted at the mine site itself, while others may be conducted at separate facilities.
Here are the steps used to process the sulfide ores commonly found in the western United States.
MINING
Most sulfide ores are taken from huge open-pit mines by drilling and blasting with explosives. In this type of mining, the material located above the ore, called the overburden, is first removed to expose the buried ore deposit. This produces an open pit that may grow to be a mile or more across. A road to allow access for equipment spirals down the interior slopes of the pit.
CONCENTRATING
The copper ore usually contains a large amount of dirt, clay, and a variety of non-copper bearing minerals. The first step is to remove some of this waste material. This process is called concentrating and is usually done by the flotation method.
SMELTING
Once the waste materials have been physically removed from the ore, the remaining copper concentrate must undergo several chemical reactions to remove the iron and sulfur. This process is called smelting. Some modern plants utilize a single furnace, which combines both operations.
REFINING
Even though copper now has 96% pure copper, it still contains high enough levels of sulfur, oxygen, and other impurities to hamper further refining. To remove or adjust the levels of these materials, the copper is first refined before it is sent to the final electrorefining process.
Each copper anode is placed in an individual tank, or cell, made of polymer-concrete. There may be as many as 1,000 tanks in operation at one time. A sheet of copper is placed on the opposite end of the tank to act as the cathode, or negative terminal. The tanks are filled with an acidic copper sulfate solution, which acts as an electrical conductor between the anode and cathode. When an electrical current is passed through each tank, the copper is stripped off the anode and is deposited on the cathode. Most of the remaining impurities fall out of the copper sulfate solution and form a slime at the bottom of the tank. After about 9-15 days, the current is turned off and the cathodes are removed. The cathodes now weigh about 300 lb (136 kg) and are 99.95-99.99% pure copper.
The slime that collects at the bottom of the tank contains gold, silver, selenium, and tellurium. It is collected and processed to recover these precious metals.
QUALITY CONTROL
Because electrical applications require a very low level of impurities, copper is one of the few common metals that are refined to almost 100% purity. The process described above has been proven to produce copper of very high purity. To ensure this purity, samples are analyzed at various steps to determine whether any adjustment to the process is required.
THE FUTURE
Demand for copper is expected to remain high, especially in the electrical and electronics industries. The current trends in copper processing are towards methods and equipment that use less energy and produce less air pollution and solid waste.
Kachana Mine is the leading supplier of copper cathodes from Northern West part of Zambia to Middle East, Asia and Europe.
Our copper ore comes directly from our own mine. Then, delivered to well known and established refinery in Zambia for smelting, leaching and refining operations to form high quality copper cathodes. Copper produced at refinery is transported 5 days a week to the Copper Warehouses in Jebel Ali and Hamburg for further distribution to end clients.
Kachana Mine mainly sells copper via their Consiliari Partners trading team to Middle East, Far East and European manufacturers of copper end products. The end-users are in the construction, electronics, electrical engineering and auto motive industries.
A significant part of the copper cathodes produced is sold to the Asian fabricators for further processing e.g. into plates, tubes, machined products and superconductors.
FACTS
Symbol: Cu
Appearance: Red-orange metallic
Melting point: 1084.62*C
Boiling Point: 2562*C
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION
Cathode Shape: 1,000 x 1,000 x 7 mm
Weight: 50 kg
Package weight: 2,500 kg
Width x length: 1,000 x 1,000 mm
Average height in the middle of the package: 350 mm