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Copper Industry in Poland
IFAC Workshop Automation in MMM Industry
20 - 22 September 2006
Cracow, Poland
COPPER INDUSTRY IN POLAND Maksymilian Bylicki KGHM Polska Miedi S.A .
Abstract: This paper presents the state of technology, and the development and achievements of the copper industry in Poland. The basic scope of modernization of the copper industry is discussed. This modernization of technology deals with key problems, such as increasing production and modernizing technology while simultaneously reducing costs, as well as enhancing product quality and expanding the range of products offered to raise the attractiveness of the products. The main environmental projects implemented since the beginning of smelting activities are outlined, together with a general evaluation of the impact of the copper industry on the environment. Also discussed are the future perspectives of the Polish copper industry, together with a description of the primary production process as well as of the development of further processing and the production of end products. The present situation of the copper market and the expected direction of developments in copper metallurgy globally are outlined. Copyright © 2006 IFAC
Copper as a metal was being used by humans by the end of the Stone Age. Archaeological discoveries show that as early as 3000 B.C. jewelry was being made from copper in the area of present-day Poland. For melting and casting the metal a clay mold fired by charcoal was used.
material feed for development of the copper industry in Poland. Today, KGHM Polska Miedz S .A . is an internationaJly known copper and silver producer. The volume of proven copper ore reserves belonging to KGHM Polska Miedz S.A. puts Poland in fifth place globaJly as regards copper reserves, and in first place as regards silver reserves. Currently exploited copper ore occurs at the depth of 600 to 1200m, and is located within Zechstein deposits.
By the second century B.C. the art of casting had reached a point where bronze finery was being produced as well as tools. Copper ore was being extracted and metallurgically processed from deposits located in the Tatra Mountains, Swi~tokrzyskie Mountains, Kaczawskie Mountains and in Lower Silesia.
According to the strategy of KGHM Polska Miedz S.A . of increasing its resources, the development of the G!og6w Gl~boki - Przemys!owy deposit is planned as weJl as search for the copper deposits abroad.
1. INTRODUCTION
3. CHARACTERISTIC OF THE POLISH COPPER CON CENTRA TES .
2. THE COPPER INDUSTRY AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR.
Polish copper concentrates, III companson to chalcopyrite concentrates which are generaJly produced elsewhere, have specific physical, chemical and mineralogical properties. Our concentrates show a lower copper concentration, not exceeding 30 % Cu, and significantly lower sulphur (to 11 %) and iron (to 5%) content. A unique feature of our concentrates is a relatively high organics content (5-10%), as well as high shale minerals (24-30%) content which is important from a slag-forming point of view. There
Smelting was renewed III 1949 through the commissioning of a copper refinery at the Szopienice Zinc Works . Following construction of a tank house, anode furnaces and eventually a shaft furnace were put in place. In 1950 at the Non-Ferrous Metals Refinery in Wroclaw (presently Hutmen S.A .) scrap and copper-waste smelting to blister copper and firerefining was started. The discovery and commencement of exploitation of new copper ore deposits in the Sudeten Monocline assured the raw 264
are also contaminants contained in our concentrate, especially lead, which reaches 3%, and arsenic at 0.3%. The mineralogy and contaminants content influenced the selection of technologies.
•
While designing and commissioning the Legnica Smelter in the 1950s, the best available technique, despite its few inconveniences and deficiencies, was the shaft furnace . The chief criterion for its selection was that it enabled the production of copper matte with required copper content from concentrates having low sulfur and iron content. Additional features of the chosen process were good unit smelting output, the use of organic carbon as a technological fuel, acceptable copper content in discard slag, and the relatively low energy consumption of the process. An undoubted disadvantage of the process was the necessity of charge lumping, which is accomplished by briquetting the concentrate using black liquor for its binding.
product quality comparable with global standards; and modernization of technology and equipment for enlarging the product assortment and increasing the saleability of the Company's products.
Intensification of production was mainly achieved as regards raw materials and covered the following processes: 1. Introduction of new flow-sheets in mining and ore enrichment, as well as new highly efficient machines and equipment (i.e. IF-type flotation machines developed by the Institute of Nonferrous Metals). 2. Modernization of the flash smelting process at the Glog6w II Smelter, which included: • Modernization of the flash and electric furnaces cooling system by application of ceramic-metal cooling elements; • Modernization of flash and electric furnace hearth construction; • Modernization of the settler with a flat hanging roof and construction of a new flat roof in the flash furnace gas shaft; • Modernization of the flash furnace concentrate weighing system; • Implementation of a microprocessor control system in the flash furnace. • Modernization of the system for feeding material to the Electric Furnace; 3. An increase in production output thanks to the application of oxygen enriched air, especially in the shaft smelting, matte converting and copper fire refining processes, as well as lead-bearing materials treatment in the rotary-tilting furnaces . 4. Intensification of copper refining, while maintaining the high quality of electrolytic copper produced. The most important achievements in the field of copper electro-refining are: • Adaptation of the machines for anode preparation and equipment to the production of the cathode pads; • Decreasing of the distance between electrodes in the tanks; • Modernization of the electrolyte cleaning system; • Changes of anode shape achieved by the implementation of appropriate reinforcement which resulted in an anode scrap decrease from 20% to 11-12% of the anode mass.
The specific features of Polish concentrates mentioned above (low sui fur and iron contents) resulted in the selection of the unique, one-stage smelting Outokumpu process, which eliminates the copper matte stage. The other prerequisites influencing the selection of this process were: easy and uncomplicated charge preparation, formation of adequate slag without melting additives, production of technological gases with high and stable S02 concentration, low environmental impact, heat recovery from technological gases and intensive operation of the process.
4. THE BASIC SCOPE OF TECHNICAL MODERNIZATION OF THE COPPER INDUSTRY The economic transformation at the beginning of the nineties resulted in a drop in domestic demand for copper products. This tendency was mainly related to the products of metals processing and in general did not influence the raw material sector of the industry i.e. mining and metallurgy, since the metals were sold on the world market on the London Metal Exchange. This transformation revealed the need to confront global competition, especially in the fields of: • production costs, • quality, • emission of pollutants into the environment. To confront global competition it was necessary to modernize the basic technological systems of the core business.
To assure the high quality of production under conditions of high economic risk, mainly due to hardto-foresee metal prices, a continuous development process has to take place.
This modernization covered the following key elements: • intensification of production to achieve cost reductions; • modernization of technology and production installations necessary to reach a level of
Introduction of the above mentioned modifications as well as other technological improvements resulted in an increase in production output of the flash furnace from around 70 thousand tonnes annually in the initial
265
operational stage up to about 220 000 tonnes annually today .
The principal objective of KGHM's strategy is to increase the value of the company. To achieve this, KGHM will pursue three main strategic pathways: • an increase in the value of the mining, smelting and processing assets already owned by the Company, • the acquisition of additional mining, smelting and processing assets related to copper production, • the development of mining, smelting and processing assets for the production of other metals.
5. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ISSUES IN COPPER SMELTING MODERNIZATION Since the beginning of the nineties, a wide program of environmental protection has been implemented in the copper industry. This program was focused on the following basic lssues: • Sulfur removal from low suI fur content shaft furnace outlet gases by means of waste-free methods - "Solinox" at the Legnica smelter and semidry limestone at the Glogow smelter; • Installation of gas cleaning systems for the anode furnaces; • Modernization of gas cleaning systems and the air-tightness of rotary-tilting furnaces for raw lead production; • Development of methods for economical utilization of solid waste, mainly slags from metallurgical processes for the production of road aggregate and abrasive materials for surface treatment.
The development of the Glog6w Gl~boki Przemyslowy deposit will increase the copper resources owned by KGHM and allow the company to maintain its present mining production level for a prolonged period of time. Also, in order to achieve this goal preliminary steps are being carried out to acquire new copper deposits abroad. Intensive efforts are being carried out in relation to the search for new mining extraction techniques, improvement in the efficiency of flotation processes and the optimizing of smelting processes. One of the recent modernization processes taking place in KGHM is implementation of a new generation of floatation machines. In next few months a decision will be reached regarding the modernization of copper smelting technology consisting of exchanging the shaft furnace technology for the one-stage flash smelting process in one of KGHM's smelters or optimising shaft furnace process. The choice between these two options depends entirely on the outcome of careful economic analysis. To meet the domestic and export requirements covering the new production assortment, a new lead refinery project is currently in progress. The lead refinery will process raw lead produced in KGHM into refined metal and in addition will enable additional silver recovery amounting to ca 22 tonnes per year. A rhenium recovery project has been recently executed. Its planned production will account for 20% of global rhenium salts production.
As a result of the projects mentioned above and other, smaller projects, the level of gaseous pollutants emitted into the atmosphere is comparable with that reached by the leading manufactures of copper worldwide. Some figures on the current levels of emission of gaseous and dust pollutants in copper metallurgy are: • Dust - 0.2 kg/t of blister copper • Copper - 0.01 kg/t of blister copper • Lead - 0.018 kg/t of blister copper • Sui fur compounds -9 kg/t of blister copper After spending a few tens of millions of USD on environmental investments, we may say that currently environmental protection in KGHM presents the highest level of technological solutions. This can be observed in the high degree of the reduction of the pollution emissions during years of production activity.
The UPCAST® process is also a current project. This is a continuous casting process for the production of oxygen-free copper and copper alloy rods. The opportunity exists to further develop our unique one-stage flash smelting process by more than doubling the copper content in chalcopyrite concentrates, which are the usual type used around the globe, by means of treatment of those concentrates with sulphuric acid, in this way removing nearly all iron and half of the total amount of sulphur in the form of iron sulfide. As a result of this treatment, chalcopyrite concentrates would acquire a similar characteristic to Polish mined concentrates, and would contain'40-76% Cu, 5-8% Fe and below 20% S as well as benefit from an approximate halving of their calorific value. Such copper - bearing material would be highly recommended for treatment in our unique one-stage flash smelting process. Application of this innovation
In the field of water conservation the investments were made for closing the water circuits, and currently used technologies for waste water treatment meet BAT requirements. Significant progress has been made with respect to the surface soil protection. Metallurgical slags are utilized in full and development of the road construction has led to the gradual reduction of the stored slag mass.
6. PERSPECTIVES FOR OPERATIONS AND PLANS FOR TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT
266
could lead to the introduction of our unique one-stage flash smelting process into other smelters which presently use Outokumpu flash smelting technology. This may result in giving the competitive edge to those smelters due to a significant increase in their production output and a reduction of their smelting costs to such an extent that it may even eliminate all other types of smelters from the market.
production output exceeding 200 thousand tonnes/year was below 20%, while in 2003 these kinds of smelters exceeded 75 % of total world copper production. Noteworthy also is the share of plants with production output exceeding 300 thousand tonnes/year, which presently constitute 35% of global copper production, while in the year 1988 their participation amounted to just 6%. The growth of production mainly involves smelters using the Outokumpu Flash Smelting Process. Starting from the mid-eighties new techniques for furnace construction were developed, including mainly: • new reaction shaft and settler construction with wide application of cooling elements, and pipe-type heat exchangers guaranteeing several times higher heat exchange compared to previous solutions; • a new generation of single concentrate burner CID.
7 GLOBAL DIRECTIONS IN COPPER METALLURGY DEVELOPMENT Enormous effort has been expended over the years to develop the Polish copper industry and to achieve its status as a leading producer in terms of its production level, quality standards and environment protection standards. The future of the Polish copper industry will depend on the global economy, and especially on the dynamically developing countries, i.e. China, India, and Brazil, which together account for over 30% of the world's population. Since 2003 a significantly higher level of copper consumption in comparison to the level of copper production has been observed. In the years 2003-2005 the shortage of copper production ranged between 360-760 thousands tonnes, resulting in a staggering increase of the LME copper price to the levels of 7-9 thousand USD. Presently, the greatest copper consumer in the world is China. This country has enjoyed very high economic growth of 8-12 % per annum for more than twenty years. This has meant a very high level of raw materials consumption by China, including copper. Forecasts predict that this trend will be maintained at least until the year 2015 . The shrinking copper consumption levels In developed countries have been more than compensated for by the huge increase in consumption of this metal by Asia. It is predicted that in the year 2015 the world copper consumption level will exceed 25 mln tonnes, while 60% of it will be consumed by Asian countries, mainly by China (9 mln tonnes) . This raises the question which world regions and countries will be able to fulfill such a high copper demand, in terms of both copper mining and smelting. One country which in future will be in a position to deliver over 30% of copper concentrate is Chile. Likewise, the deposits of the USA, Peru, Australia, Indonesia, Russia and Zambia will play an important role in copper mining production.
These new techniques have enabled the oxygen enrichment of technological air up to the level of 90%. Air enrichment has allowed for a significant (even tripled) increase in the efficiency of concentrate smelting which could be achieved without enlargement of the furnaces . Another development introduced at the same time was production of richer copper matte, containing 60-70% Cu, instead of about 50% as was common several years ago, which also significantly increased the efficiency of copper smelting. All these improvements have allowed an increase in production output and a significant reduction of smelting costs.
The production of refined copper is distributed more evenly in the world and does not always coincide with the distribution of copper deposits . Copper concentrates are imported mainly by three Asian countries: China, Japan and India. It is worth noting that this year China may assume the dominant role as the main global electrolytic copper producer. One of the most noticeable trends in copper pyrometallurgy is the significant growth in average smelter output. In 1988 the share of plants with 267
20 - 22 September 2006
Cracow, Poland
COPPER INDUSTRY IN POLAND Maksymilian Bylicki KGHM Polska Miedi S.A .
Abstract: This paper presents the state of technology, and the development and achievements of the copper industry in Poland. The basic scope of modernization of the copper industry is discussed. This modernization of technology deals with key problems, such as increasing production and modernizing technology while simultaneously reducing costs, as well as enhancing product quality and expanding the range of products offered to raise the attractiveness of the products. The main environmental projects implemented since the beginning of smelting activities are outlined, together with a general evaluation of the impact of the copper industry on the environment. Also discussed are the future perspectives of the Polish copper industry, together with a description of the primary production process as well as of the development of further processing and the production of end products. The present situation of the copper market and the expected direction of developments in copper metallurgy globally are outlined. Copyright © 2006 IFAC
Copper as a metal was being used by humans by the end of the Stone Age. Archaeological discoveries show that as early as 3000 B.C. jewelry was being made from copper in the area of present-day Poland. For melting and casting the metal a clay mold fired by charcoal was used.
material feed for development of the copper industry in Poland. Today, KGHM Polska Miedz S .A . is an internationaJly known copper and silver producer. The volume of proven copper ore reserves belonging to KGHM Polska Miedz S.A. puts Poland in fifth place globaJly as regards copper reserves, and in first place as regards silver reserves. Currently exploited copper ore occurs at the depth of 600 to 1200m, and is located within Zechstein deposits.
By the second century B.C. the art of casting had reached a point where bronze finery was being produced as well as tools. Copper ore was being extracted and metallurgically processed from deposits located in the Tatra Mountains, Swi~tokrzyskie Mountains, Kaczawskie Mountains and in Lower Silesia.
According to the strategy of KGHM Polska Miedz S.A . of increasing its resources, the development of the G!og6w Gl~boki - Przemys!owy deposit is planned as weJl as search for the copper deposits abroad.
1. INTRODUCTION
3. CHARACTERISTIC OF THE POLISH COPPER CON CENTRA TES .
2. THE COPPER INDUSTRY AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR.
Polish copper concentrates, III companson to chalcopyrite concentrates which are generaJly produced elsewhere, have specific physical, chemical and mineralogical properties. Our concentrates show a lower copper concentration, not exceeding 30 % Cu, and significantly lower sulphur (to 11 %) and iron (to 5%) content. A unique feature of our concentrates is a relatively high organics content (5-10%), as well as high shale minerals (24-30%) content which is important from a slag-forming point of view. There
Smelting was renewed III 1949 through the commissioning of a copper refinery at the Szopienice Zinc Works . Following construction of a tank house, anode furnaces and eventually a shaft furnace were put in place. In 1950 at the Non-Ferrous Metals Refinery in Wroclaw (presently Hutmen S.A .) scrap and copper-waste smelting to blister copper and firerefining was started. The discovery and commencement of exploitation of new copper ore deposits in the Sudeten Monocline assured the raw 264
are also contaminants contained in our concentrate, especially lead, which reaches 3%, and arsenic at 0.3%. The mineralogy and contaminants content influenced the selection of technologies.
•
While designing and commissioning the Legnica Smelter in the 1950s, the best available technique, despite its few inconveniences and deficiencies, was the shaft furnace . The chief criterion for its selection was that it enabled the production of copper matte with required copper content from concentrates having low sulfur and iron content. Additional features of the chosen process were good unit smelting output, the use of organic carbon as a technological fuel, acceptable copper content in discard slag, and the relatively low energy consumption of the process. An undoubted disadvantage of the process was the necessity of charge lumping, which is accomplished by briquetting the concentrate using black liquor for its binding.
product quality comparable with global standards; and modernization of technology and equipment for enlarging the product assortment and increasing the saleability of the Company's products.
Intensification of production was mainly achieved as regards raw materials and covered the following processes: 1. Introduction of new flow-sheets in mining and ore enrichment, as well as new highly efficient machines and equipment (i.e. IF-type flotation machines developed by the Institute of Nonferrous Metals). 2. Modernization of the flash smelting process at the Glog6w II Smelter, which included: • Modernization of the flash and electric furnaces cooling system by application of ceramic-metal cooling elements; • Modernization of flash and electric furnace hearth construction; • Modernization of the settler with a flat hanging roof and construction of a new flat roof in the flash furnace gas shaft; • Modernization of the flash furnace concentrate weighing system; • Implementation of a microprocessor control system in the flash furnace. • Modernization of the system for feeding material to the Electric Furnace; 3. An increase in production output thanks to the application of oxygen enriched air, especially in the shaft smelting, matte converting and copper fire refining processes, as well as lead-bearing materials treatment in the rotary-tilting furnaces . 4. Intensification of copper refining, while maintaining the high quality of electrolytic copper produced. The most important achievements in the field of copper electro-refining are: • Adaptation of the machines for anode preparation and equipment to the production of the cathode pads; • Decreasing of the distance between electrodes in the tanks; • Modernization of the electrolyte cleaning system; • Changes of anode shape achieved by the implementation of appropriate reinforcement which resulted in an anode scrap decrease from 20% to 11-12% of the anode mass.
The specific features of Polish concentrates mentioned above (low sui fur and iron contents) resulted in the selection of the unique, one-stage smelting Outokumpu process, which eliminates the copper matte stage. The other prerequisites influencing the selection of this process were: easy and uncomplicated charge preparation, formation of adequate slag without melting additives, production of technological gases with high and stable S02 concentration, low environmental impact, heat recovery from technological gases and intensive operation of the process.
4. THE BASIC SCOPE OF TECHNICAL MODERNIZATION OF THE COPPER INDUSTRY The economic transformation at the beginning of the nineties resulted in a drop in domestic demand for copper products. This tendency was mainly related to the products of metals processing and in general did not influence the raw material sector of the industry i.e. mining and metallurgy, since the metals were sold on the world market on the London Metal Exchange. This transformation revealed the need to confront global competition, especially in the fields of: • production costs, • quality, • emission of pollutants into the environment. To confront global competition it was necessary to modernize the basic technological systems of the core business.
To assure the high quality of production under conditions of high economic risk, mainly due to hardto-foresee metal prices, a continuous development process has to take place.
This modernization covered the following key elements: • intensification of production to achieve cost reductions; • modernization of technology and production installations necessary to reach a level of
Introduction of the above mentioned modifications as well as other technological improvements resulted in an increase in production output of the flash furnace from around 70 thousand tonnes annually in the initial
265
operational stage up to about 220 000 tonnes annually today .
The principal objective of KGHM's strategy is to increase the value of the company. To achieve this, KGHM will pursue three main strategic pathways: • an increase in the value of the mining, smelting and processing assets already owned by the Company, • the acquisition of additional mining, smelting and processing assets related to copper production, • the development of mining, smelting and processing assets for the production of other metals.
5. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ISSUES IN COPPER SMELTING MODERNIZATION Since the beginning of the nineties, a wide program of environmental protection has been implemented in the copper industry. This program was focused on the following basic lssues: • Sulfur removal from low suI fur content shaft furnace outlet gases by means of waste-free methods - "Solinox" at the Legnica smelter and semidry limestone at the Glogow smelter; • Installation of gas cleaning systems for the anode furnaces; • Modernization of gas cleaning systems and the air-tightness of rotary-tilting furnaces for raw lead production; • Development of methods for economical utilization of solid waste, mainly slags from metallurgical processes for the production of road aggregate and abrasive materials for surface treatment.
The development of the Glog6w Gl~boki Przemyslowy deposit will increase the copper resources owned by KGHM and allow the company to maintain its present mining production level for a prolonged period of time. Also, in order to achieve this goal preliminary steps are being carried out to acquire new copper deposits abroad. Intensive efforts are being carried out in relation to the search for new mining extraction techniques, improvement in the efficiency of flotation processes and the optimizing of smelting processes. One of the recent modernization processes taking place in KGHM is implementation of a new generation of floatation machines. In next few months a decision will be reached regarding the modernization of copper smelting technology consisting of exchanging the shaft furnace technology for the one-stage flash smelting process in one of KGHM's smelters or optimising shaft furnace process. The choice between these two options depends entirely on the outcome of careful economic analysis. To meet the domestic and export requirements covering the new production assortment, a new lead refinery project is currently in progress. The lead refinery will process raw lead produced in KGHM into refined metal and in addition will enable additional silver recovery amounting to ca 22 tonnes per year. A rhenium recovery project has been recently executed. Its planned production will account for 20% of global rhenium salts production.
As a result of the projects mentioned above and other, smaller projects, the level of gaseous pollutants emitted into the atmosphere is comparable with that reached by the leading manufactures of copper worldwide. Some figures on the current levels of emission of gaseous and dust pollutants in copper metallurgy are: • Dust - 0.2 kg/t of blister copper • Copper - 0.01 kg/t of blister copper • Lead - 0.018 kg/t of blister copper • Sui fur compounds -9 kg/t of blister copper After spending a few tens of millions of USD on environmental investments, we may say that currently environmental protection in KGHM presents the highest level of technological solutions. This can be observed in the high degree of the reduction of the pollution emissions during years of production activity.
The UPCAST® process is also a current project. This is a continuous casting process for the production of oxygen-free copper and copper alloy rods. The opportunity exists to further develop our unique one-stage flash smelting process by more than doubling the copper content in chalcopyrite concentrates, which are the usual type used around the globe, by means of treatment of those concentrates with sulphuric acid, in this way removing nearly all iron and half of the total amount of sulphur in the form of iron sulfide. As a result of this treatment, chalcopyrite concentrates would acquire a similar characteristic to Polish mined concentrates, and would contain'40-76% Cu, 5-8% Fe and below 20% S as well as benefit from an approximate halving of their calorific value. Such copper - bearing material would be highly recommended for treatment in our unique one-stage flash smelting process. Application of this innovation
In the field of water conservation the investments were made for closing the water circuits, and currently used technologies for waste water treatment meet BAT requirements. Significant progress has been made with respect to the surface soil protection. Metallurgical slags are utilized in full and development of the road construction has led to the gradual reduction of the stored slag mass.
6. PERSPECTIVES FOR OPERATIONS AND PLANS FOR TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT
266
could lead to the introduction of our unique one-stage flash smelting process into other smelters which presently use Outokumpu flash smelting technology. This may result in giving the competitive edge to those smelters due to a significant increase in their production output and a reduction of their smelting costs to such an extent that it may even eliminate all other types of smelters from the market.
production output exceeding 200 thousand tonnes/year was below 20%, while in 2003 these kinds of smelters exceeded 75 % of total world copper production. Noteworthy also is the share of plants with production output exceeding 300 thousand tonnes/year, which presently constitute 35% of global copper production, while in the year 1988 their participation amounted to just 6%. The growth of production mainly involves smelters using the Outokumpu Flash Smelting Process. Starting from the mid-eighties new techniques for furnace construction were developed, including mainly: • new reaction shaft and settler construction with wide application of cooling elements, and pipe-type heat exchangers guaranteeing several times higher heat exchange compared to previous solutions; • a new generation of single concentrate burner CID.
7 GLOBAL DIRECTIONS IN COPPER METALLURGY DEVELOPMENT Enormous effort has been expended over the years to develop the Polish copper industry and to achieve its status as a leading producer in terms of its production level, quality standards and environment protection standards. The future of the Polish copper industry will depend on the global economy, and especially on the dynamically developing countries, i.e. China, India, and Brazil, which together account for over 30% of the world's population. Since 2003 a significantly higher level of copper consumption in comparison to the level of copper production has been observed. In the years 2003-2005 the shortage of copper production ranged between 360-760 thousands tonnes, resulting in a staggering increase of the LME copper price to the levels of 7-9 thousand USD. Presently, the greatest copper consumer in the world is China. This country has enjoyed very high economic growth of 8-12 % per annum for more than twenty years. This has meant a very high level of raw materials consumption by China, including copper. Forecasts predict that this trend will be maintained at least until the year 2015 . The shrinking copper consumption levels In developed countries have been more than compensated for by the huge increase in consumption of this metal by Asia. It is predicted that in the year 2015 the world copper consumption level will exceed 25 mln tonnes, while 60% of it will be consumed by Asian countries, mainly by China (9 mln tonnes) . This raises the question which world regions and countries will be able to fulfill such a high copper demand, in terms of both copper mining and smelting. One country which in future will be in a position to deliver over 30% of copper concentrate is Chile. Likewise, the deposits of the USA, Peru, Australia, Indonesia, Russia and Zambia will play an important role in copper mining production.
These new techniques have enabled the oxygen enrichment of technological air up to the level of 90%. Air enrichment has allowed for a significant (even tripled) increase in the efficiency of concentrate smelting which could be achieved without enlargement of the furnaces . Another development introduced at the same time was production of richer copper matte, containing 60-70% Cu, instead of about 50% as was common several years ago, which also significantly increased the efficiency of copper smelting. All these improvements have allowed an increase in production output and a significant reduction of smelting costs.
The production of refined copper is distributed more evenly in the world and does not always coincide with the distribution of copper deposits . Copper concentrates are imported mainly by three Asian countries: China, Japan and India. It is worth noting that this year China may assume the dominant role as the main global electrolytic copper producer. One of the most noticeable trends in copper pyrometallurgy is the significant growth in average smelter output. In 1988 the share of plants with 267