Luita - 100,000t of copper cathode and
12,000t of cobalt cathode
CAMEC's flagship operation is the 50,000m² Luita copper and cobalt processing facility, located on the Kakanda/Disele Road in the C19 concession area in the Katanga Province. It is the biggest under-roof facility of its kind in Africa. Production at the plant is targeted at 40,000 tonnes of copper and 6,000 tonnes of cobalt as metal and concentrate by end March 2008. The plant has a targeted template capacity of 100,000 tonnes of copper cathode and 12,000 tonnes of cobalt cathode by the end of 2008, which will make CAMEC one of the biggest producers of cobalt concentrate in the world.
The facility has a DMS (dense medium separation) plant with a 150 tonne per hour feed capacity and a heap leach process unit for cobalt production. In a world first, the heap leach process is being used for cobalt production, based on its cost-effectiveness, suitability for African conditions and high recovery rates. Heap leaching of both cobalt and copper involves heaping the crushed ore and irrigating it with a dilute sulphuric acid leach solution. The solution percolates through the heap, leaching out the metals and holding them in solution. The leach solution is then collected in HDPE lined pans.
For the first time in the country's copper producing history, the SX/EW (solvent extraction/electrowinning) process is being harnessed for integrated copper/cobalt extraction, resulting in the highest value product of its kind in the DRC, at 99% purity. The plant comprises a 100 tonne per hour milling section concentrator and 11,000 m2 of warehousing and is the first private copper plating operation in the DRC. To ensure stable electricity supply a private overhead 26 km 110KV power line has been constructed.
Ancillaries installed as part of the US$150 million DRC investment programme include an upgraded electrical substation, a new expatriate and staff village, leisure facilities and administration buildings and a water treatment plant to produce, process and potable water as well as a number of road construction projects improving local infrastructure.
Rapid installation of the metallurgical plant is being achieved through the deployment of modular plant sections which means that circuits can be added easily whilst production is maintained. This approach also accommodates the uncomplicated deployment of additional plant phases.
The plant will be fully automated with PLC control, right down to the operation of the ball mill and access to the site will be controlled by the latest fingerprint security technology. The operation has provided work for 3,000 employees and contractors and is expected to galvanise community and economic development in the area.
