MILPILLAS MINE BY NIGHT AND BY DAY
These photographs capture groundbreaking moments at the Milpillas Solvent-Extraction and ElectroWinning plant, presenting both night and day perspectives. Prominently featured in the upper right section of the images are the crushed Copper ore leach pads and the associated ponds, which are notably rich in acid-leached Copper solution. The building at the top, the one closest to the heap leach pads is the electrowinning plant.
Commissioned in 2005, this advanced facility was the outcome of a significant partnership between Outokumpu Technology, a leader in metallurgical solutions, and Industrias Peñoles. Outokumpu’s extensive involvement ensured the plant, initially designed for 45,000 tons of high-purity Copper cathodes annually (with an expansion to 65,000 tons by 2008), would be a success for Compañía Minera La Parreña. Like its counterpart in Laos, Milpillas didn’t just become part of Mexican mining history; it also perfectly illustrated the significant technological shifts in Copper production at the turn of the millennium.
Unlike many mines that produce Copper concentrate, Milpillas produced high-purity Copper cathodes through a sophisticated process of underground mining, heap leaching, solvent extraction (SX), and electrowinning (EW). This integrated approach bypassed the need for smelting and refining elsewhere, streamlining the journey of Copper from its ore state to a commercially valuable product.
Original photos courtesy of Alanís Ortega (Author: silvia)
Dimensions: | 1323 x 1600 |
File size: | 649.77 kbytes |
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