Environmental upgrades top Southern Peru Copper’s priorities

At a cost of US$103 million, Southern Peru Copper (SPCC) has modified its copper smelter in Ilo, Peru.

In addition to constructing a sulphuric acid plant, the company installed a new furnace.

The furnace technology, known as Modified El Teniente Converter, has enabled SPCC to close three older furnaces and reduce emissions from the old equipment.

The sulphuric acid plant, which took two years to construct, began operating in September 1995, and is now producing 530 tons of acid per day. The plant is expected to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions by 18%, and, when fully operational, will produce 175,000 tons of acid per year. A portion of this will be used by SPCC at its Toquepala and Cuajone mines, where solvent extraction-electrowinning is carried out. The remainder of the acid will be sold on the open market.

In another environmental initiative, SPCC plans to begin operating a new tailings storage plant this year, and it recently constructed a plant for treating waste waters from the Ilo employee camp.

In total, SPCC will spend US$135 million on environmental improvements in 1996.

The company is also considering expanding its mining operations and constructing a smelter. Though still in the planning stages, the Ilo smelter could cost more than US$500 million.