Abandoned but not Forgotten - The Recent History of Copper Hydrometallurgy

In the period 1970-1995, a number of hydro metallurgical processes to treat copper concentrates to overcome the pollution problem due to S02 emission in smelters were developed. Pilot and commercial scale plants were built and operated for some time, but eventually all were abandoned a few years later. It is constructive to examine why these processes were abandoned after so much expenditure of funds and effort, so that errors should not be repeated in the future and lessons from the past are learned.