Superior and Sustainable Copper Production

The Intec Copper Process is a proven, patented hydrometallurgical process for the extraction of pure copper and precious metals from sulfide concentrates. The process is based on the electrolytic deposition at the cathode of LME (London Metal Exchange) Grade A purity copper from a purified sodium chloride-sodium bromide electrolyte. During electrowinning, the mixed halide species BrCl2- (HalexTM) is generated in solution at the anode and exhibits powerful leaching characteristics when it is re-circulated to treat incoming concentrate feed. The Intec Copper Process has been developed and proven over the last ten years at a cost of US$16 million.

Development commenced at bench scale, progressed through to a continuous 50 kg-Cu per day pilot plant and was subsequently proven in a 350 tpa-Cu demonstration plant. Accordingly, design methodologies, materials of construction and process control have all been validated. Following a thorough review, H.G. Engineering of Toronto, Canada, has concluded that the Intec Copper Process is suitable for commercial application.

Description of the Intec Copper Process

For a detailed description of the Intec Copper Process and a comparison of its economic and environmental advantages with smelting/refining and other hydrometallurgical processes, the following document in PDF format is available for download in English, Spanish and Chinese languages.

English:

Intec Copper Process Description.pdf (Revised December 2008), (Acrobat PDF Document, 714Kb)
Intec Copper Sustainable Processing.pdf (Acrobat PDF Document, 406Kb) (revised - 21 December 2001)

Spanish:

El Proceso de Cobre Intec: Producción de Cobre Superior y Sostenible (Acrobat PDF Document, 387Kb) (8 August 2001)

Chinese:

Intec Copper Sustainable Processing -Chinese.pdf (Acrobat PDF Document, 445Kb) (22 August 2003)

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Proving the Intec Copper Process

Click here to read about the ICP demonstration plant

Click here to read about the further development of the electrowinning cell

Click here to read the environmental studies conducted on the ICP demonstration plant residues

More Information

For more information, contact Intec:

Dave Sammut
Intec Ltd
Phone: +612-9925-8170
Fax: +612-9925-8110
Email