bcMetals Corporation (C-T) is considering using Outokumpu Technology’s hyrdometallurgical process to recover copper and gold from sulphide ores at its Red Chris porphyry copper and gold deposit in northwestern British Columbia, and produce copper on site.
Outokumpu Technology and bcMetals signed a memorandum of understanding to build an integrated copper production facility that would include Outokumpu’s new HydroCopper process to produce commercial copper directly from copper concentrate at the mine site at the rate of 50,000 tonnes of copper per year.
The new trade-marked HydroCopper process was finalized in May 2003 with a demonstration plant that was set up at Pori in Finland. It is designed to enhance hyrometallurgical copper recovery from sulphide concentrates and is based on chlorine leaching under normal atmospheric pressure.
The companies agreed to conduct pilot bench scale testing on 24 tonnes of Red Chris drill core at Outokumpu’s research facilities in Pori, over the next six months.
The $90 million estimated capital cost of the plant would be offset by the savings in producing the copper on site, according to the company.
The Red Chris project is at the final stages of a feasibility study by an independent consulting firm, AMEC E&C Services, to be released during the last week of November.
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