Indura oxygen plant enables start-up of environmentally sustainable copper production in Chile
Indura, one of Latin America's leading suppliers of industrial gases, has constructed Chile's first on-site oxygen plant dedicated to clean, environmentally sustainable copper production. The high-purity oxygen is a vital part of Alliance Copper Ltd.'s (ACL) landmark copper bioleaching prototype production facility in Calama, Chile.
ACL is a joint venture between global resources group BHP Billiton and Chile's state copper corporation, Codelco. Indura, based in Santiago, Chile, is 40-percent owned by BOC, part of The BOC Group, the worldwide industrial gases, vacuum technologies and distribution services company. Invesa, the Chilean holding company with interests in the cement, salmon, sanitary products and other industries and led by Hernan Briones, owns another 40-percent of Indura.
The ACL project, situated alongside Codelco North Division's low-grade sulphides plant, can process 77,000 tons of copper concentrates and produce 20,000 tons of fine "A" grade copper cathodes a year. The project runs until 2008 and calls for a total investment of USD 60 million, of which the Indura oxygen plant represents more than USD 10 million.
"Indura's oxygen technology is key to the success of the ACL project. We're pleased we were able to identify and deliver a solution to meet ACL's needs," said Marcelo Torres, vice president, business development, Indura.
Indura's on-site plant produces 205 tons a day of high-purity oxygen, which is fundamental for the bioleaching of copper, a natural process in which special microorganisms oxidize the arsenic and sulphur in the copper concentrate, liberating the copper in an enriched solution without generating any pollution.
The ACL prototype will ultimately enable ACL to build an industrial bioleaching plant, which will consume some 1,200 tons of oxygen a day.
Indura was founded in 1948 and is one of Latin America's main producers and suppliers of gases, welding consumables and medical supplies. Indura employs more than 870 direct employees in its operations in Chile, Peru, Argentina and Ecuador. It is the leader in the domestic Chilean market and exports to more than a dozen other countries around the world.
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