Mopani Copper Mine is an integrated copper and cobalt producer located in the Copperbelt of Zambia. Mopani's operations consist of four underground mines, a concentrator and a cobalt plant in the town of Kitwe and an underground mine, concentrator, smelter and refinery in the town of Mufulira. The capacity of the Mufulira Copper Smelter is being expanded in a phased approach to 870,000 tons of concentrate by the end of 2010. The current capacity with the new Isa smelt furnace is 650,000 tons of concentrate.
Also, the company has four SXEW plants (Solvent Extraction and Electrowinning), two at Mufulira and two at Nkana. The feed is sourced from both in-situ leaching, vat leaching and heap leaching. Glencore's initial interest was acquired through a subsidiary in 2000.
73%
Production capacity
2,400 MT Cobalt
Process
Underground mining
Ore concentrators
Cobalt plant
Copper smelter
Copper refinery
In-situ leaching operations
Heap leaching operations
VAT leaching operations
Solvent Extraction and Electrowinning plants
Number of employees
Primary market use
Copper: Wire rod producers,
cable and wire producers,
brass, semi products
Cobalt: Super alloys, batteries,
hard metal, catalysts
Primary market destination
Middle East, Asia
Cobalt: Europe, USA, Asia