Historical Metallurgy Luncheon

Being held: Tuesday, August 28, 2007 - 12:10 - 13:40 (First-come-first-serve basis - Box Lunches) at the Fairmont Hotel

The historical metallurgy luncheon with W. Joseph Schlitt, Hydrometal L.L.C. on the history of Copper Hydrometalurgy will take place Tuesday August 28, 2007.

Dr. Schlitt has 40 years of experience in the minerals industry, much of it focused on the hydrometallurgy of copper. He graduated in Metallurgical Engineering from Carnegie Institute of Technology then obtained a Ph.D. in Metallurgy from The Pennsylvania State University. He began his career with Kennecott Copper Corporation, working mainly in the Salt Lake City R&D Center, but also supporting the copper leaching operations at all four of the company’s copper mining divisions. After 14 years he spent the next 22 years with engineering companies doing work in the minerals industry. In 2004 he began working as a consultant. Today he is president of the consulting firm, Hydrometal LLC. Dr. Schlitt has authored or co-authored more than 50 technical papers, edited six proceedings volumes or handbooks, and has been awarded several patents. He was elected as a Distinguished Member of SME in 2001 and also received that society’s Taggart Award in 1998. He is currently one of SME’s Henry Krumb Distinguished Lecturers, a member of CIM and TMS and is a Qualified Professional member of the Mining & Metallurgical Society of America and a registered professional engineer.

PAPER TITLE: THE HISTORY OF COPPER HYDROMETALLURGY: ITS TWISTS AND TURNS
by W. Joseph Schlitt

ABSTRACT

Copper has been recovered by hydrometallurgical techniques for more than 1,000 years. A large number of processes have been developed during this time. Some have been notable successes, while others have been anything but. The failures fall into two categories. Some were technically viable, but economically non-competitive. Others were not even technical successes. Metallurgically significant examples of both the successes and the failures are discussed using descriptions, flowsheets, relevant reactions, etc. The examples cover the entire period from ancient times to today’s operations. Interestingly, most of the successes have involved the processing of whole ore, while most of the failures have involved treatment of concentrates. The paper concludes with a discussion of the reasons for this distinction.