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Surface mining
Published in A.J.S. (Sam) Spearing, Liqiang Ma, Cong-An Ma, Mine Design, Planning and Sustainable Exploitation in the Digital Age, 2023
A.J.S. (Sam) Spearing, Liqiang Ma, Cong-An Ma
According to Mining Technology (February 2020), the five deepest openpit mines in the world are: Bingham Canyon, Utah, US, operated by Rio Tinto, has a pit width of over 4,000m and a current depth of 1,200m.Chuquicamata copper mine, operated by Codelco in Chile, has a pit length of 4,300m, a width of 3,000m and a current depth of 850m.Escondida copper mine in the Atacama Desert of Chile, operated by BHP, has a pit length of 3,900m, a width of 2,700m and a current depth of 645m.Udachny diamond mine located in Siberian, Russia, has a current depth of 630m.Muruntau gold mine in Uzbekistan has just reached a depth of 600m.
Accelerating copper leaching from a complex ore containing atacamite: optimisation and kinetic studies
Published in Canadian Metallurgical Quarterly, 2023
Sepideh Javanshir, Hojat Imantalab, MohammadBagher Fathi
Copper is the third most consumed metal in the industry. Owing to the increasing demand and depletion of high-grade copper resources, copper extraction from different resources has attracted the attention of many producers and researchers [1]. Atacamite or copper(II) chloride hydroxide with the formula Cu2Cl(OH)3 is a comparatively rare mineral found in arid climates, in the oxidation zone of copper-rich deposits, deep seafloor vents, or as a product of copper-rich alloys’ corrosion. It also can form in saline soils contaminated with copper-containing mining effluents. So, this mineral is generally a copper hydroxide which is altered in a neutral to chlorine-rich environment [2,3]. This mineral is naturally found in several main porphyry deposits, including Cerro Colorado, Chuquicamata, El Abra, Escondida, Gaby Sur, Lomas Bayas, Radomiro Tomic, Spence, and also in other types of copper deposits, e.g. Michilla, Mantos Blancos, and Sierra Miranda atacamite [4]. Note that not only the copper content in atacamite (30%) is higher than that of malachite and azurite, but also it is rapidly dissolved in acid compared to other copper oxide minerals. Therefore, the leaching of atacamite can be interesting for both researchers and the industry.