CHALLENGE & OPPORTUNITY
The global copper supply is struggling to keep up with the current and increasing demand at the time required.
Declining ore grades, inefficient processes, deposits becoming increasingly expensive to develop, among others; are some of the reasons why today’s cooper production is far from meeting upcoming copper demand.
To produce enough cooper in the timeframes demanded by the energy transition is not conceivable through traditional mining methods.
Even if there are investments into new projects, it still takes an average lead time of 15 to 20 years from discovery to production.
Analyzing the limitations of leaching (1970) and flotation (1905); we can say no oxides can be frothed and no sulfides can be leached in commercial terms and no real new or different processes have been shown up.
Besides, non-renewable resources universe is much bigger than oxides and sulfides.
Mixed ores are abundant and they don’t have good response neither to leaching or concentration which are processes designed around two centuries ago.
At Koan we envisioned a solution from the depths of the problem.
LIXIVIACIÓN: 1970
FLOTACIÓN: 1905
