In conjunction with global EPC partner, China Nerin Engineering Co. Ltd. (NERIN), the new acid plant will be part of a new 500 000 tpy direct-to-blister flash copper smelter that is under construction at Kamoa-Kakula, as part of its Phase 3 expansion. Upon completion of the Phase 3 expansion, Kamoa-Kakula is projected to be the fourth largest copper operation globally.
“At Kamoa-Kakula we aim to set a new industry standard by being the greenest major copper mine in the world. It helps that DRC not only has an incredible mineral endowment, but also has an abundance of clean hydroelectricity to power its mining industry. However, we also need the right technology to extract the copper in a sustainable way. By using the MECS® acid plant design and its incorporated technologies, our new plant helps achieve our path to net zero,” said David Mitchell, Kamoa-Kakula’s Senior Project Manager for the smelter project.
The MECS sulfuric acid process incorporates technologies, such as the MECS pre-conversion technology and the MECS DynaWave® gas cleaning technology. DynaWave scrubbers clean and condition the upstream off gas of the smelting furnace at the sulfuric acid plant. The MECS pre-conversion technology is a novel approach for processing off-gas streams with elevated sulfur-dioxide concentrations while consuming significantly less power.
“Kamoa-Kakula is one of the world’s fastest-growing major copper operations. Partnering with NERIN on the mine’s greenfield smelter complex is very exciting. It is a great honour to work with the owners of what is anticipated to be one of the greenest major copper operations on the planet,” said Eli Ben-Shoshan, CEO, Elessent Clean Technologies.