Arsenic pathways in copper mining – sustainability issues and potential solutions

There is an increasing trend in the extraction and development of copper resources from complex deposits. These deposits pose mineral processing challenges, as they often contain low grade disseminated copper ore with high levels of impurities particularly arsenic. Although arsenic is a naturally occurring element, the concentrations of arsenic can be magnified by mining and mineral processing activities. Therefore, while arsenic has no significant market value, its presence in the ore deposit will have production, environmental and human health implications. The mining industry’s approach to life-of-mine planning has improved significantly in recent decades and managing arsenic is not an exception.CITATION:Tayebi-Khorami, M, Edraki, M, Manlapig, E, Forbes, E and Bradshaw, D, 2018. Arsenic pathways in copper mining – sustainability issues and potential solutions, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2018, pp 60–63 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).