Fortescue has completed the commercial sale of more than 40t of copper concentrate that underwent arsenic removal using the company’s Toowong Process technology at its demonstration plant in Brisbane, Australia.
The sale marks a significant development for the company as it seeks to provide an alternative method for addressing elevated arsenic levels in global copper deposits.
The Toowong Process, a hydrometallurgical method operating at low temperature and pressure, is designed to separate arsenic from copper concentrates.
Fortescue acquired the underlying technology in 2022 and has conducted development and testing over the past four years, with more than 3,000 hours logged across seven campaigns.
Results from the demonstration site indicate that the process can reduce arsenic levels in concentrates to below 0.3% while retaining more than 99.9% of the original copper content.
The 40t of copper concentrate sold contained less than 0.25% arsenic, having been processed from feedstocks with concentrations as high as 7%.
Conventional removal of arsenic from copper ores commonly involves roasting, a highly energy-intensive process that produces significant emissions and requires complex controls for toxic by-products.
Fortescue states that the Toowong Process offers comparable capital and operating costs while reducing energy consumption and emissions, with arsenic captured in a stable, solid form.
Arsenic contamination has historically limited the marketability of some copper concentrates, with smelters often unwilling to accept or imposing penalties on material with high impurity levels.
Fortescue growth and energy CEO Gus Pichot said: “Technology and innovation are central to Fortescue’s future growth. We look for problems others see as barriers and work out how to solve them.
“In the early days of iron ore, Fortescue challenged the assumption that lower-grade deposits could not be developed competitively. The Toowong Process brings that same mindset to copper.”
Industry forecasts suggest demand for copper could rise by more than 50% by 2050, driving the need to exploit more complex ore bodies that frequently contain higher levels of arsenic.
The technology is also being evaluated on concentrate from Fortescue’s Cañariaco Copper Project in Peru.
Fortescue is undertaking further optimisation and engineering work to reduce costs associated with the process.
Last month, Fortescue produced the first hot metal at its Christmas Creek Green Metal Project in Western Australia.
