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Proceso Productivo
Minera Centinela cuenta con dos lneas de produccin para la obtencin de cobre, las que se
describen a continuacin.
Productive process
Sentinel mining has two production lines for producing copper, which are
described below.
Copper cathode production process
The production process used in the oxide line is the dynamic leach piles of
crushed ore and agglomerate, which then enters the phase of solvent
extraction and electrowinning as an end product that provides cathodic copper.
Each cathode has a dimension of approximately 1 meter long and 1 meter wide
and 4 mm thick.
Cathodes packages are transported by truck to the transfer station Railway Los
Arrieros Antofagasta - Bolivia, they are then transferred to the port of
Antofagasta for shipment by rail and fate in major world markets.
Copper concentrate production process
The process of this line begins with the extraction of ore from the deposit and
proceeds to the steps of crushing, grinding, flotation and concentrate.
The product obtained from this process, which uses seawater without desalting,
the concentrate is copper, which is a thick pulp comprised 63% solids.
Said concentrate is transported by gravity through a pipe having a diameter of
14 centimeters and runs 145 kilometers from the sector of the sulfur plant to
the dock located in the town Michilla. There the concentrate is washed through
a process called filtering, which uses desalinated water, finally embarcarle
directly to the holds of ships through a conveyor belt encapsulated.
In the following graphics you can meet production areas of Minera Sentinel.
Planta Termosolar
En noviembre de 2012 entr en operacin la planta de energa termosolar que sustituy los dos
calentadores que se utilizaban para aumentar la temperatura del agua que requieren los electrolitos
(solucin de cobre de alta pureza) y el lavado de ctodos en la planta de electro-obtencin.
Dicha planta aumenta la temperatura del agua y de las soluciones de electro-obtencin (SX-EW),
gracias al intercambio de calor entre ellas, lo que entrega energa renovable en el corazn del
negocio, reduciendo adems las emisiones de CO2 en 8.000 toneladas al ao, lo que equivale a un
4% del total de las emisiones de la lnea xidos de Centinela.
A travs de la operacin de la planta, la temperatura del agua se eleva entre 80 y 85 grados
Celsius, para transferir calor a la solucin de cobre y as elevarla en unos 5 grados, requerimiento
trmico equivalente a un consumo de cerca de 3.700 metros cbicos de petrleo diesel al ao en el
circuito de calor.
La planta solar sustituye el 55% del diesel utilizado en los calentadores que forman parte del
proceso extractivo de la compaa.