Copper is one of the basic metals in many industries, including construction, power generation, the car industry, machinery, microprocessor production, and electronics.
In the last 20 years, the world’s copper consumption has doubled and the demand for copper is predicted to continue to grow.
Copper production is carried out in four stages: ore mining, ore processing and production of copper concentrate, copper concentrate processing, and production of refined copper.
RCC extracts copper in both open and underground mines, as well as using underground leaching technology. In each case, the company applies modern technologies and state-of-the-art equipment to ensure a balance between business interests and environmental safety.
The ore is then processed at processing plants to produce copper concentrate. RCC uses the most advanced technologies to reach maximum copper extraction even from low-grade ore.
At metallurgical plants, copper concentrate is processed in special furnaces to obtain blister copper melt. Blister copper is an intermediate product in the market-grade copper production cycle. It has a copper content of up to 98%, with 2% of admixtures — often other metals.
Blister copper is melted in furnaces to obtain anode copper with a copper content of up to 99.6%. To produce pure copper, anode copper goes through a process of electrolysis. When exposed to electric current, anode copper is dissolved and then restored in special matrixes in the form of copper cathodes, with a copper content of up to 99.9%. Copper cathodes are used as raw material for copper end products.