Innovation in the Control and Blending of Mineral Concentrates

Codelco Chile, through its Sales Vice-Presidency, is developing the project for the utilization of surplus copper concentrate. With the aim of managing, loading, and sampling its concentrates, the company has requested the implementation of automated systems to facilitate these tasks. The copper concentrates are received via trucks from the filter plant, having been previously characterized, and stored in a designated area consisting of seven warehouses. Some of these concentrates, identified with higher arsenic content and/or lower gold content, will be blended to improve their profitability in sales terms. To accomplish this, pre-defined recipes are used, and the concentrates are loaded into two or three hoppers that dose the materials onto a central conveyor. The product is then discharged to a disintegrator equipped with rollers and hammers to eliminate hard agglomerated concentrates, ensuring the quality of the mixture. It proceeds to the next stage with a high-intensity mixing device. The key features of this mixing equipment, including the length and width of the trough (main box), the number of blades, and the system's RPM, are carefully configured to meet Codelco's required quality standards for product export. The discharge of this product is carried out by a stacking conveyor to form a product that will be transported by front-end loaders. In the event that stored concentrates contain physical impurities and/or have been stored for extended periods, a process involving high torque disintegration will be employed. Subsequently, the material will undergo sieving with a defined opening size to remove oversize particles defined as contaminations. To facilitate handling and prevent pollution, water is introduced into the process, considering a range of 4–5% of the total content. The remaining percentage of water is added once this process is completed.