Helping the copper industry capture the value hidden in its process waters

We at Weeefiner are mapping the global total addressable market for selective copper recovery systems, focusing on mining, heap leaching operations, concentrators, refineries and smelters. Our goal is to determine how widespread copper-rich process waters are – and how much additional copper the global industry could unlock by adopting selective recovery technologies.

Why copper?

Global copper demand is accelerating – with a potential ~10 Mt annual supply gap by 2040, according to recent report by S&P. Meanwhile mining, concentration, refining and smelting operations generate enormous volumes of acidic, metal-rich waters. Within those streams lies a significant, untapped opportunity for additional copper production.

What we have learned so far:

Our pilot reference cases indicate potential to annually recover thousands of tons of additional copper per operation site by incorporating selective recovery technologies to the process streams.

These streams typically involve:

• Low pH
• Moderate to high concentration of dissolved copper (up to 1 g/L)
• High concentrations of matrix elements (such as Fe, Al, Mg)
• Large water volumes (200-1500 m³/h)

With selective recovery technologies, the dissolved copper can be separated from the matrix elements, increasing the extracted copper quality and improving the efficiency of the overall process.

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