Arsenic: Will it take the shine off the red metal?

With environmental regulations becoming increasingly stringent, arsenic looks set to pile ever more pressure on copper producers.

Arsenic is a poisonous element found within minerals at many of the world’s copper mines. As a consequence of sulphide ore processing, arsenic is concentrated along with copper; this becomes more acute as the in-situ grade increases. The largest copper supply region in the world, Latin America, has high arsenic content in many of its ageing copper mines. With many of the upcoming projects also having high arsenic content, the volume that needs to be treated is set to increase, intensifying the environmental and financial risk to producers.

Although different processing methods result in different arsenic by-products, all of them require long term storage or expensive handling. This is set to add more pressure to operating costs and, notably, the reputation of copper miners and processors. With China having set a benchmark maximum of 0.5 percent arsenic in imported concentrate, this could become the new global trading standard – requiring additional processing and raised costs.