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Antamina’s Concentrator Plant has a complex structure due to
the different types of minerals it receives for processing in
mining campaigns or periods. The production process of our concentrates
is as follows:
| a) |
The mineral sent by the primary
crusher is received and stockpiled using a stacker outside
the plant. |
| b) |
The mineral enters the SAG mill
and three ball mills reduce it to a minimum size. |
| c) |
The mineral is then filtered in
three cyclone nests. |
| d) |
The pulp (water and minerals) then
pass to flotation cells where the copper and/or zinc are
recovered, depending on the campaign. |
| e) |
Bi-products such as molybdenum
are produced and recovered. |
| f) |
Frothers are introduced to ensure
that the pulp does not sink to the bottom of the flotation
cells. |
| g) |
The concentrates are placed in
storage tanks outside the concentrate plant. |
| h) |
They are then pumped to Huarmey
through the 302-kilometer pipeline in a process that takes
approximately 50 hours. |
| i) |
Four valve stations control the
pressure and the speed of the concentrates as they go
through the pipeline, due to the automatic fiber optic
monitoring system. |
| j) |
The concentrates are received in
storage tanks in the port and go through the filter plant. |
| k) |
The clarifying tanks recover any
concentrate that was not properly filtered and the water
is separated for use in irrigation after a rigorous treatment. |
| l) |
The dry concentrates go through
the storage building, maintaining between 8.5 and 9 percent
of their humidity. |
| m) |
Finally, the concentrates are sent
along the dock to a ship loader through a closed conveyer
where they are loaded onto ships that reach Punta Lobitos. |
To better understand this process, see the illustration “This
is how the mine works.”
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