Demonstration scale autoclave

Demonstration Scale

The CESL Demonstration Plant consists of a fully integrated copper plant, from concentrate re-grind through to production of commercial size LME grade A copper cathode as well as residue treatment for the recovery of gold and silver. The Demonstration Plant utilizes small-scale commercial equipment which allows for the collection of engineering data for accurate scale-up of process equipment. Key equipment and installed unit operations includes:

• 1,000 litre titanium autoclave vessel
• 500 litre stainless autoclave vessel
• Thickening and filtration equipment
• Atmospheric leach vessels
• Solvent extraction and electrowinning
• Neutralization and purification circuits
• Cyanide regeneration and destruction
• Gold and silver recovery (carbon, electrowinning)

Since 1997, 5 Demonstration Plant campaigns for copper projects have been undertaken at the CESL facility with over 5,000 hours of continuous plant operation and treatment of over 1,000 tonnes of copper concentrate. A sample of several hundred tonnes of concentrate is required to complete a demonstration plant campaign.