How to extract copper.

It will be about 15-16 text and photos, please do not break, the end will tell.

Happened to me the other day at work visit the largest quarry in Sweden. It is located in northern Sweden, above the Arctic Circle in a few dozen kilometers from the town of Gällivare. It is called Aitik, which translated from the Sami language, it means "store". How true is this - I do not know, but our guide claimed that he is the biggest copper mining in Europe and at the same time the most productive in the world.
The concentration of minerals in the gangue is very small, only 1%, so for mining was profitable, has to take volumes. For 1 ton of rock there is obtained a 10 kg concentrate, which, on melting leaves about 2 kilos of copper, silver, and 2 g 0, 1 gram of gold. Last year career has been sent for further obrabotu 31 million tonnes of concentrate, which had shoveled more than 300 million tons of rock. For such volumes, of course, requires a suitable technique. The technique, which is used here - the biggest in the world seriynoproizvodimaya.





01.
The process of production is quite simple. First drill a hole in the ground. The depth of each is about 17-18 meters, and the diameter of somewhere in the 10-liter bucket.



02.
Thereafter, holes injected explosive. In each such hole is placed about a ton of explosives. I must say that the explosive is very different from the military. It is based on ammoniac, with the explosion gives very slow compared to the expansion of the military.



03.
And here is the technique that it is observed. It is very difficult to imagine the dimensions of the distances of these machines. Here is a few pictures showing how everything is gigantic.



04.
One of the smaller cherpalok.



05.
But this is more decent size. In this bucket cherpalki placed 80 tons of rock at a time.



06.
They work on electricity. According to the yellow cable, which lies on the ground voltage is applied to 6000 volts.



07.
And this is a view on those same machines, on the other side of the quarry. Quarry depth - 450 meters.



08.
They are the same.



09.
Passenger car next to dump trucks seem quite small ...



10.
On the left side pictures from bottom to top is clearly visible the entire chain of production. First seen shipping, then blasted stones, to which have not yet arrived. Then a rectangular field that is already drilled under buduyuschie explosions.



11.
A little closer. Hard to see, but in the center of the photo you can see a truck that pumps explosives, and immediately behind him burilka that drills out of the hole.



12.
But samosvalchik close. Hefty box between the front and rear wheel - the fuel tank. Devour these things about 170-200 liters of diesel per hour. Not surprisingly, when the engine over 2,500 hp and loads that pull dump uphill reach 300 tons at a time. It is not because of their own weight.



13.
Our bus from the height of the truck cab.



14.
...



15.
Polurazobrannom tractor during repair.



16.
The territory is huge career. The whole working area with infrastructure occupies the same territory such as Stockholm.
On the territory so the same is a plant that removes all waste rock, and all the resulting concentrate is sent by train to the south of Sweden, where smelters are already converted into copper.
Behind this all.



Source: ">