HYDROMETALLURGY 2014 – VOLUME II 339

INTEGRATED DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS OF COPPER SOLVENT EXTRACTION AND

ELECTROWINNING PLANTS TO MAINTAIN HIGH QUALITY ELECTROWON COPPER

*G. Miller1 and B. Currie2

1
Director Miller Metallurgical Services Pty Ltd
23 Stanfell Street
Corinda, 4075 Australia
(* Corresponding author: [email protected])
2
Lead EngineerSX/EW, XT Canada ( A Glencore Company)
10th Floor, 700 West Pender Street
Vancouver, BC V6C 1G8

ABSTRACT

Maintenance of quality electrowon copper requires an electrolyte which has suitable chemical and
physical characteristics. The proper design and operation of the solvent extraction plant is essential to the
quality of the electrolyte sent to electrowinning. An aspect that is not well appreciated is that the return
electrolyte can have negative effects on the operation of the solvent extraction plant. Poor SX plant
operation creates below optimum electrolyte conditions. High Eh in the return spent electrolyte can
degrade the SX reagent with large decreases in copper transfer capacity and increases in internal
entrainment. The synergistic interaction of the SX and EW plants needs a single-source design approach to
address the interactions. The design elements in the SX and EW plants required to manage the electrolyte
conditions are discussed.

KEYWORDS

Copper, Solvent Extraction, Electrowinning, Integrated Design, Electrolyte, Electrowon Quality,

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INTRODUCTION

Maintenance of high quality electrowon copper requires an electrolyte of suitable chemical and
physical characteristics. The proper design and operation of the solvent extraction (SX) plant is essential
to the quality of the electrolyte for electrowinning (EW). One aspect that is not well appreciated is that the
return electrolyte can have significant effects on the operation of the SX plant; which creates adverse
electrolyte conditions returning to the EW.

The EW plant operation inherently changes the electrochemical potential (Eh) of the electrolyte.
The final Eh in the spent electrolyte is influenced by specific ions in solution, particularly, iron,
manganese, chloride and nitrate. If the Eh rises sufficiently the spent electrolyte will degrade the SX
organic leading to poor SX operation and lowering of the advance electrolyte quality.

Not all EW operating conditions that can affect the product quality are considered. The emphasis
is on those that influence the SX plant. By highlighting the effects of interactions between the two process
plants it becomes evident that, rather than two separate process design packages, what is required is an
integrated ‘single source’ process and mechanical design, which can fully consider and address the
interactions, and optimise the plant hardware (Karkas, Laitala, Palmu & Tuupa, 2007).

ELECTROLYTE QUALITY REQUIREMENTS

Electrolyte chemical purity issues focus on copper, acid and iron as they affect conditions for
product crystallography and electrical power use: cell voltage and current efficiency. A minimum copper
concentration is required to ensure that the correct crystal growth orientation is started by the first copper
deposited on the stainless steel cathodes; and to continue the same crystal orientation throughout the entire
growth life of the copper. This minimum concentration has in the past been 30 g/L copper in the spent
electrolyte. More recent plant operations have used 35 g/L in order to ensure appropriate deposit
crystallography at high current density operation (Riles & Lancaster, 2000).

Acid concentration is essential to increase the electrolyte conductivity and reduce cell voltage. There is a
minimum acid concentration that is needed to strip the copper in the SX plant. The target acid
concentration has also increased in recent times from 150 g/L in advance electrolyte to up to 200 g/L in
spent electrolyte. The acid concentration is a controlled parameter by the plant operator and can be varied
readily.

Iron concentration needs to be kept low in order to increase current efficiency but a minimum
concentration of around 1.0 g/l is required to manage and control the spent electrolyte Eh. Below this
concentration the ferrous/ferric reaction couple does not have sufficient electrochemical ‘inertia’ to limit
the Eh to around 600 mV. Iron is also a grain modifier and helps create flat, dense copper deposits.

The manganese concentration also needs to be kept low enough that the ferrous/ferric couple can
suppress oxidation of manganese; by maintaining the electrolyte Fe: Mn mass ratio above 8:1 but
preferably above 10:1 (Miller, 2011a). As discussed in a later section high cobalt concentration can have a
significant effect on the electrolyte Eh; allowing much lower Fe: Mn ratios.

Both chloride and nitrate in the electrolyte can have adverse effects on the EW product quality
and the spent electrolyte Eh. Chloride is needed at round 30 ppm to assist with correct crystal growth
orientation and minimising dendrite formation. High chloride levels above 50 ppm can lead to pitting of
the stainless steel cathode plates. Extreme levels of chloride promote the evolution of chlorine gas (Miller,
2011b). Nitrate can cause high Eh in the spent electrolyte, degrading the SX organic via various nitrogen
reactions (Virnig, Eyzaguirre, Jo & Calderon, 2003).

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The advance electrolyte also needs to be suitably prepared in terms of its physical parameters:
temperature, low solids and SX organic concentrations of a few ppm. Too low a temperature will result in
the incorrect crystal growth orientation, while the presence of any solids will result in nodular growth from
the multiple nuclei that are available to initiate new sites. Entrained organic will result in ‘organic burn’, a
black spongy deposit at the cell liquid level that has high electrolyte entrainment and is brittle and poor
quality. Nodules, brittle copper and organics are all proscribed by both ASTM B115 and EN:1978 which
are the standards to be met for the copper to be considered as Grade One.

There are some interactive effects of electrolyte quality that are not generally appreciated. The
combination of low chloride and low iron in electrolyte can have a major effect on the cathode
crystallography. As shown in Figure 1 large single crystal dendrites can be formed, causing shorts after
only a few days growth. These conditions are common during commissioning and have been associated
with high Eh in electrolyte (Sole, Vilipoe, Ferreria, Soderstrom, Tinkler & Hoffman, 2007).

Figure 1 - Large single crystal dendrites from a combination of low chloride and low iron in electrolyte

ELECTROLYTE QUALITY CONTROL IN THE SX PLANT

Silica

The most severe upsets in the SX plant are a consequence of silica in the PLS (Miller, 2011b).
Although silica can be at saturation and not cause problems, if it is present as a long chain hydro-silicic
acid; then it is polymerisable under certain operating conditions. Silica polymerisation causes large
amounts of ‘fluffy’ crud, which floats in the organic and is circulated around the SX plant. The crud, a
mixture of nearly equal quantities of organic and PLS (stabilised by the polymerised silica solids) is an
uncontrolled transfer of PLS into the electrolyte. The electrolyte chemistry is compromised by the transfer
of deleterious species from the PLS: iron, suspended solids, chloride, manganese and nitrate. A similar
situation was the prime reason for the Kansanshi oxide ores being left untreated in the Konkola Tailings
Leach Plant (Anonymous, 2011). The SX plant could just not cope with the silica crud that was produced.

Management of the PLS silica requires specific operating conditions to be used in the SX plant to
prevent the polymerisation occurring, resulting in secondary physical upsets in the plant that must be
addressed. Methods of managing the secondary and tertiary ‘symptoms’ are well detailed in previous work
(Miller, Readett & Dudley, 2002). The operating condition required for silica management is that all
stages (every mixer settler) need to have their mixers in organic continuity, minimising the production of

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 342 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 7TH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM

floating silica crud and generating smaller amounts of compacting interfacial crud, from the smaller
amount of silica precipitate now produced.

The downside of operating in organic continuity is that the aqueous entrainment in the organic
leaving every stage is very high to extreme. Average concentrations of 5 000 ppm are common; while
peaks can reach over 25 000 ppm (Miller, 2011a). These levels of PLS entrainment in organic cannot
readily be tolerated in the loaded organic that would be sent to the strip stage. It would be similar to the
quantity of PLS transferred by the floating crud. However the entrainment is readily reduced by a
combination of one or more of the following measures:

• Use of a loaded organic tank for allowing extra separation time after discharge from the extraction
settler.
• Loaded organic coalescing
• In-settler coalescing
• A further mixer-settler between extraction and stripping for washing (dilution) of the PLS from the
loaded organic.
• Continuous clay treatment of the organic to ensure the best possible phase separation kinetics

One other important aspect of silica management is the selection of an appropriate reagent to
minimise adverse interactions with silica in the PLS. Use of an ester modified extractant results in
significantly increased crud production from the interaction of the silica and the modifier (Nisbett, Bender
& Kordosky, 2011). Alternate reagent formulations that do not use a modifier have a much lower crud
production rate and lower usage rate.

Irrespective of the methods adopted for coping with silica, a large amount of crud will still be
produced. A crud handling and treatment system of a sufficient size and capacity will be required.

Iron and Manganese

Control of iron can be an issue if the leach chemistry changes, or the SX operating circuit is
altered to one that can transfer more iron chemically (Dudley, Moroney, Braaksma & Readett, 1999).
Series-parallel circuits transfer more iron chemically due to the lower proportion of maximum loading that
is used for copper extraction. Physical transfer of both iron and manganese is related to the same
mechanisms as for silica; with both crud and true entrainment contributing to the transfer. Excess iron in
the electrolyte can lower current efficiency by up to five to ten percent. However insufficient iron (less
than 0.5 g/L) can be the cause of nodular copper growth. Iron at concentration below 1.0 g/L can be
insufficient to manage the electrolyte Eh from the ferrous:ferric couple buffer.

Where manganese is an issue, control of the electrolyte iron:manganese ratio can be managed by a
combination of processes that minimise the physical transfer of both species, but retain (or even enhance)
the chemical transfer of iron. The physical transfer limitation is similar to that for silica with the use of
enhanced coalescing systems and potentially a wash stage. The chemical transfer of iron can be
maintained, or enhanced by:

• Increasing the reagent concentration to provide more unused (by copper) active sites
• Increasing the organic:PLS flow ratio with the effect of lowering the copper loading
• Selection of a reagent with a lower nominal copper:iron selectivity
• Ensuring that any wash stage utilises the lowest possible acid concentration, which still has acceptable
phase separation rates. This will limit iron stripping in the wash process.
• Use of series-parallel extraction arrangement that will transfer more iron from the unused extractant
active sites.

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Chloride and Nitrate

Nitrate is an issue for projects in the Atacama Desert region of Chile. High nitrate can incre
increase
ase
the spent electrolyte Eh which leads
lead to severe degradation
degradation of the organic and reduced EW product quality
(Virnig, Eyzaguirre, Jo & Calderon, 2003). Remediation
Remediation measures are related to both electrolyte Eh
management (described later in this paper) and selection of an extractant that is less susceptible to
nitration.

Chloride control in the

the EW is a combination of:

• Limiting chloride physical transfer from the PLS (via the same entrainment control methods as
discussed previously)
• Monitoring and limiting
limiting the amount of chloride added in the EW make up water and / or the wash
stage (if used) make
make up water.

The overall chloride balance must take into account that there is a chloride loss in EW. The loss
mechanism is an n oxidation of chloride to chlorine gas which is released at the anode. The quantum of the
reduction is a function of both chloride concentration
concentration and electrolyte Eh. Figure 2 is taken from Menacho
Gutierrez & Zivkovi (2003) and provides the relationship between these parameters.

Figure 2 - Chlorine gas evolution

e W as a functionn of chloride cooncentration annd Eh
in EW
Chlorine gas volution in EEW as a function
functio of chloride cconcentration a d Eh
ncentration and
In operationns with low ch hloride in the PLS and the EW W make up wat ater, it is often nnecessary to addd
o theInelectrolyte
salt to operations
operatio estowith low chloride
maintainc the
tloride in the
target P
PLS
LS and thebetw
centration
conce EW
Eween make up water
20 ppm wtooer30itppm
is often
chlornecessary
ecessary
ride. The to aect
add
effect d
salt to
t
of low the electrolyte
electrolyt
w chloride on EW to maintain the
he target
E product can be significan con
concentration
ntration bet
betweeneen 20 ppm t
to 30 ppm chlo ide.
chloride. The
cant with large inndividual coppper crystals whhich grow in thhe eff
of low
lo referred
non-pr chlorideorient
on EW W as show
tation, ct can
wn be signifi
in Figure 3.. tInwith
significant thislarge
case itthe
dividual cop crystals
individual er s w uup
were ichtogrow in t iine
10 mm
preferred
p eferred
diameeter orien ation,
orientation, as shown
sho n in Figure 3
3. In this case the
he individual crystals were upp to 10 mm inn
diam ter

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 344 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 7TH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM

Figure 3 - Large Copper Crystals from an electrolyte with less than 10 ppm chloride

Chloride can be transferred chemically if there is contamination of the copper SX reagent by a

reagent that can transfer chloride (from another SX plant). One such situation has arisen in a project in
Australia (Dudley, Lawson & Wilson, 2003). The copper SX plant was contaminated by the tertiary amine
extractant from the uranium SX plant. Severe chloride transfer resulted, leading to major issues with
chlorine gas evolution, pitting corrosion of the stainless steel cathodes and poor product quality. Excessive
chloride can promote dendritic growth reversing the effect seen at lower concentrations.

Cobalt

Recent experiences, in the DRC, in electrolyte quality changes have been related to the influence
of the cobalt concentration. Copper-cobalt plants can have over 10 g/L cobalt in the PLS. Entrainment of
PLS into the electrolyte has been the result of silica issues; which have not been fully addressed. High
electrolyte cobalt levels significantly decrease cell voltage as shown in Figure 4 (Gupta & Mukherjee,
1900. M. Nichol, personal communication, 2008). The lower cell voltage has lower anode corrosion rates
reducing the amount of lead in the cathode, due to the reduction in the oxygen over-potential at the anode.
The voltage reduction is such that the spent electrolyte Eh is limited to an extent that the electrolyte
iron:manganese ratio is no longer material to the Eh management. Extremely low Fe:Mn ratios have been
experienced without generating oxidized manganese species or high Eh (Miller, 2011a).

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Copper EW Cell Volts with [Co] @ 300A/m2

Nicol Gupta model

2.15

2.1
V= 2.15 - 0.35/(6.4[Co]^-0.21
2.05
Cell Volts

1.95

1.9

1.85

1.8
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500
[Co] ppm

Figure 4 - EW cell volts as affected by cobalt concentration

Organic

Entrainment of organic in the electrolyte can be upset by excessive or floating crud production
due to changes in the leach silica chemistry or suspended solids. The ability of the SX plant to cope with
silica is a function of the plant design as well as other factors such as reagent selection and internal
entrainment management systems. Organic removal from the electrolyte needs to be a multi-layered
system that can deal with both organic and suspended solids generated from crud which breaks down in the
stripping stage. Recent systems have included:

• Large advance electrolyte tanks with organic decant systems

• After-settlers on advance electrolyte with organic decant systems
• Specific advanced electrolyte coalescing
• Coalescing systems integral with the multimedia filters

Conventional organic removal usually has dual anthracite and garnet-sand filters, which are
normally adequate for organic and solids control if silica is not an issue (Green & Rubio, 2010). If silica is
an issue then the above multilayered approach is an absolute necessity.

ELECTROLYTE QUALITY CONTROL IN THE EW PLANT

Control of electrolyte quality in the EW plant consists of a final organic capture step, temperature
management and addition of reagents to manage the copper crystallography and minimise anode corrosion.
The main process steps include:

• Separate dedicated polishing cells in the EW as the final process to capture any organic that will be
released by the combined action of DC electric field coalescing and flotation by the anode oxygen
bubbles.
• Addition of salt and guar (or other smoothing agents) for crystallography management
• Addition of cobalt sulphate to lower anode oxygen over-potential and reduce lead anode corrosion
rates

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• Addition of acid to make up for any electrolyte bleed

• Temperature control to < 500C for prevention of pre-stripping (wet backs) and accelerated corrosion
with higher chloride concentrations.
• Addition of iron into the electrolyte to manage both the growth morphology and the spent electrolyte
Eh. Both scrap iron and ferrous sulphate have been used for this purpose (Miller, 2011a).

SPENT ELECTROLYTE EFFECTS IN THE SX PLANT

Electrolyte Eh

Large scale transfer of manganese to the electrolyte (by internal SX entrainment) can result in
manganese oxidation in EW. The high resulting Eh oxidizes the SX reagent; which in turn can reduce the
SX transfer capacity by up to 75% (Miller, 2011b). The upset SX plant will provide poor quality
electrolyte to the EW, resulting in poor quality copper deposits. The main contaminants from the SX will
be organic and chloride. The synergistic recycle of electrolyte between the SX and EW plants has led to
catastrophic reduction in EW product quality and SX plant capability; as well as reduced cathode and
anode lifetimes (Dudley, Lawson & Wilson, 2003; O’Callaghan, 2003). A similar situation exists with the
effect of small concentrations of nitrate (less than 200 ppm in electrolyte) causing high spent electrolyte
Eh. High Eh with nitrate in electrolyte cause nitration of the SX oxime extractant. Even with a normal 30
ppm chloride the presence of nitrates generates extremely dendritic copper deposits (Virnig, Eyzaguirre, Jo
& Calderon, 2003)

Temperature

The temperature of the spent electrolyte can have a significant effect on the SX plant overall
performance. The stripping performance is better with lower temperatures. With a lower stripped organic
concentration, the extraction performance is enhanced (Kordosky, Virnig & Boley, 2003). In some cases
up to five percent extraction improvement can be generated with a cooler spent electrolyte. However there
is little point in cooling the electrolyte below the PLS temperature as this is the limiting minimum
operating temperature of the SX plant.

In hot climates, the question is where to dump the excess heat from the EW, as it is often not
needed to heat the incoming strong electrolyte. Heap leaching is a natural evaporative cooler, where
substantial heat can be transferred from the electrolyte directly into the raffinate as it goes back to the heap.
The heat bypasses the SX plant which can then operate close to the PLS temperature. Agitation leach
plants with closed water circuits can get quite hot for both electrolyte (+500C) and PLS (+300C to 400C).
The PLS temperature will be increased by energy from milling and any other heat added from higher
temperature processes. A method of reducing the spent electrolyte temperature to that of the PLS is needed.
Cooling towers have been used, generally with indirect methods via intermediate heat exchange, to limit
the emission of acidic mists (Riles & Lancaster, 2000).

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Acid Concentration

The acid concentration needs to be kept between relatively close limits of 150 g/L to 180 g/L in
the spent electrolyte. Too low a concentration will impair the SX organic stripping process and limit the
copper transfer capability. Too high a concentration can lead to partial oxidation of the extractant with
resultant reduced transfer capacity and poor phase disengagement.

DESIGN ELEMENTS REQUIRED FOR ELECTROLYTE QUALITY CONTROL

The design elements required in both the SX and EW plants to manage the two way electrolyte
interactions are discussed in relation to the overall copper product quality management programme. The
interactive effect of SX and EW plants is illustrated in Figure 5.

Figure 5 – Interactions between the SX and EW plants

Solvent Extraction Plant

The SX plant is the prime control point for the advance electrolyte chemical quality. The main
chemical control is the management of iron transfer via the copper extractant. The remainder of the SX
plant control elements are targeted at limiting the physical transfer of PLS constituents and organic into the
electrolyte stream.

Chemical iron management may be either to increase or decrease the iron transfer. In a given SX
plant configuration increasing iron transfer is accomplished with an increase in reagent concentration. In a
situation requiring lower iron chemical transfer little can be accomplished in the short term other than to
reduce the organic flow rate and crowd the iron off the extractant with higher copper loading. There will
be a decrease in the copper extraction from the PLS as a result. In the longer term consideration needs to
be given to options such as:

• Incorporation of a scrub stage where the iron is removed with a dilute acid scrub
• A change of reagent to one that has a higher copper:iron selectivity

The control of the physical transfer of PLS is particularly an issue with silica affected PLS. A
multi-layered approach is required to remove the bulk of the entrainment with further polishing activities to
achieve a desired minimum transfer of PLS. In terms of the sequence of possible steps that can be used

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through the organic flow path; the following strategies have been used in a number of operations (Miller,
2006; Miller, 2011a; Miller, 2011c; Polsi, 2006; Poulter, Robles, Panau & Gottliebsen, 2011; Schwarz,
2007; Yang, Simic, Rajasingham, Chovar & Schwarz 2011).

• Ensuring that the plant design incorporates a loaded organic tank.

• Use of modern settlers with design enhanced by CFD modelling and new feed distribution and picket
fence designs.
• In-settler coalescing media, in the extraction stage producing the loaded organic, to limit the PLS
entrainment to less than 5 000 ppm.
• Water sprays over the settler to promote coalescing of the PLS and displacement with water having
lower concentrations of adverse ions.
• Operation of the extraction stage in organic continuity to eliminate production of floating crud.
• Inclusion of a specifically designed loaded organic coalescer to manage entrainment to less than 500
ppm.
• If required inclusion of a wash stage (which can be a dual duty as an iron scrub stage).

Crud removal and treatment needs to be made as simple and as robust as possible in order to
minimise its accumulation and uncontrolled transfer through the SX plant. The use of continuous three
phase decanter centrifuges has meant that crud can be extracted and separated 24 hours per day if
necessary. New methods of locating and extracting the crud on a continuous basis are needed that require
minimal manual intervention (Miller 2011c). Continuous crud extraction and treatment are almost
mandatory when extracting copper from a PLS containing active silica species.

Organic entrainment control in advance electrolyte parallels closely that of PLS in loaded organic
with the potential use of:

• Coalescing system in the advance electrolyte tank and/or integration within an after-settler.
Conventional after-settlers without enhanced coalescing elements are merely trying to do the same
activity on a stream that has not reacted well in the first settler.
• Conservative sizing of dual media filters to cope with surges in both solids and organic (from the crud
runs that silica can cause).

Electrowinning Plant

The EW plant is the prime control point for the quality of the spent electrolyte returning to the SX
plant. The design elements that are required in the EW plant to manage interactive effects to and from the
SX plant are relatively straight forward on most plants. However the range of options required to cover the
more unusual situations needs to be extended. In many cases these have not been appropriately selected
for the particular situation. Within the EW the main drivers for advance electrolyte and resultant copper
product quality are:

• Organic - A decant from the polishing EW cells and spent electrolyte tank is needed to handle the
collected organic. The organic decant design can include: an extra flange in the cell wall below the
operating level, plus an organic decant weir that flows to the cell overflow. Organic is collected in the
spent and circulating electrolyte tanks; and further decanted to the floor sump and/or pumped to crud
plant.
• Eh –The Eh in spent electrolyte can be managed by a number of methods that depend on the particular
chemical situation:
o An increase in cobalt concentration,
o An increase in the Fe:Mn ratio,
o Positive Eh reduction via addition of SO2 gas or SMBS (Miller 2011b),
o Trickling the spent electrolyte over a copper scrap tower (Farias & Alvares 1993; Shaw,
Dreisinger, Kusinski & Richmond 2003) or

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o Addition of ferrous to the electrolyte. For those plants that run close to the limit of
iron:manganese ratio; the introduction of new anodes can cause an immediate rise is spent
electrolyte Eh from the cells where they have been added (A. Sigmund, personal communication,
2002). An anode pre-treatment in electrolyte to establish a corrosion layer may be necessary to
prevent this occurring.
• Temperature – Temperature control on the spent electrolyte needs a place to dump the heat. Heat
exchange with heap leach raffinate is ideal, or use of indirect cooling towers has been practiced (Riles
& Lancaster, 2000).

DISCUSSION

Process design and plant operations need to take account of the complex interactive effects
between the SX and EW plants This is particularly important when assessing the presence of active silica
in the PLS. An aged PLS sample may show no signs of any issues, once the silica has had a chance to
polymerise. A number of plants have suffered catastrophic production losses from unrecognized silica
issues (Miller, 2011b).

Many SX plant design criteria incorporate unrealistically low estimates of entrainment of PLS in
loaded organic, and electrolyte in the stripped organic. In plant operation the electrolyte chemistry is
compromised early in the project life with low copper quality and reduced production. Even if these
criteria are estimated appropriately they are seldom included in the project mass balance. The omission
may be because they are considered ‘trivial’ in comparison to the estimation of the PLS chemistry from the
leaching activity. It is common to find operations where the PLS has been tracked accurately, but the
electrolyte chemistry bears little correlation to that modelled at the design stage.

It is uncommon for a proper heat balance to be prepared around the SX-EW circuit that is directly
related to the PLS temperature (Burkhardt, 2003). As a result some operations have suffered high
temperature excursions in the electrolyte and poor SX efficiency, due to an inability to dump the heat to an
external sink (Riles & Lancaster, 2000).

The control of the advance electrolyte quality determines the quality of the deposited copper.
Advanced electrolyte quality is primarily determined by the operation of the SX plant. The SX plant
operation is either enhanced or compromised by the qualities of the returning spent electrolyte. Synergistic
interactions occur that can reduce the combined plant capacity to quite low levels and create poor quality
copper product.

The key monitoring and control variables for sustained high quality EW production include:

• SX Plant
o PLS entrainment into the loaded organic stream
o Iron and manganese transfer to the electrolyte
o Chloride and nitrate transfer to the electrolyte
o Organic content of filtered electrolyte
• EW Plant
o Spent electrolyte Eh and its management or reduction
o Spent electrolyte temperature

By highlighting the effects of interactions between the two process plants it becomes evident that
an integrated process approach is required. Implementation of a single source integrated process and
mechanical design would address the interactions and optimise the plant hardware. Generally no extra
process hardware is needed, but rather a different arrangement of the process equipment. Integration into
the process of one or two extra pieces of process equipment may be all that is needed. For instance to cool
hot electrolyte returning to SX, the advance electrolyte trim heat exchanger can have an alternate piping
configuration to allow it to be used as the spent electrolyte cooling heat exchanger.

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It is important that the process design has actually considered not only the steady state mass
balance but all the potential deviations that can occur over the project life. The appropriate systems and
equipment can be selected to design a robust plant that will meet the copper quality and capacity
expectations of the owner and operator

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to acknowledge all the input over many years from both clients and colleagues alike
who have contributed to a deeper understand of the interactive nature of the copper SX-EW process. These
contributions have all advanced the technology to a stage where we think we actually understand it
reasonably well.

REFERENCES

Anonymous. (2011). Great Mines – Zambia, Kansanshi. International Mining, August: pp 8-20.

Burkhardt, D.J. (2003). Heat Balances in copper SX/EW operations. In C.A. Yung, A.M. Alfantazi, C.G.
Anderson, D.B. Dreisinger, B. Harris & A. James (Eds). Hydrometallurgy 2003 – 5th
International Conference in honour of Professor Ian Richie, Volume 1, pp 821-827. Warrendale,
PA: The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society.

Dudley, K., Lawson, B. & Wilson, D. (2003). Hydrometallurgical Operations at Olympic Dam. ALTA 2003
Copper Hydrometallurgy Conference. Perth, Australia: ALTA Metallurgical Services.

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