PALABORA COPPER ( PTY ) LTD
Refinery : Anodes are placed in the refinery tank house in large cells containing acidified copper sulphate solution
Upgrading facilities It has already built and is in the process of commissioning a new R156million Belt Filter Plant which will enable the company to force-dry six million tonnes of magnetite a year to meet export needs .
The Board has also approved a further R170million spend on upgrading the Magnetite Booster and Separation Plant . This plant will process and upgrade the magnetite from 58 percent iron oxide grade to 65 percent magnetite grade .
Further works have also been undertaken to assess future business and technical operations regarding the copper processing operations including upgrading the Smelter to maintain
ABOUT PALABORA COPPER ( PTY ) LTD
Palabora has been in operation since it was incorporated in 1956 and is South Africa ’ s only producer of refined copper . During the 1960s , 1970s and 1980s , the company ’ s open-pit copper mine and associated processing plants produced over 2.7 million tons of copper . Palabora is listed in the JSE . Producing about 60,000 tonnes of refined copper per year , the company supplies most of South Africa ’ s copper needs and exports the balance .
The company owes its origin to the unique formation known as the Palabora Igneous Complex . Nowhere else is copper known to occur in carbonitites as is the case at Palabora , and a host of other minerals such as phosphates , vermiculite , phlogopite , magnetite , nickel , gold , silver , platinum and palladium also occur .
88 July 2014