The ISASMELT process is an energy-efficient smelting process that was

jointly developed from the 1970s to the 1990s by Mount Isa Mines Limited (a
subsidiary of MIM Holdings Limited and now part of Glencore Xstrata plc) and
the Australian governments Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial
Research Organization ("CSIRO"). It has relatively low capital and operating
costs for a smelting process.

Smelters based on the copper ISASMELT process are among the lowest-cost
copper smelters in the world.

An ISASMELT furnace is an upright-cylindrical shaped steel vessel that is lined

with refractory bricks . There is a molten bath of slag, matte or metal
(depending on the application) at the bottom of the furnace. A steel lance is
lowered into the bath through a hole in the roof of the furnace, and air or
oxygen-enriched air that is injected through the lance into the bath causes
vigorous agitation of the bath.

Mineral concentrates or materials for recycling are dropped into the bath
through another hole in the furnace roof or, in some cases, injected down the
lance. These feed materials react with the oxygen in the injected gas,
resulting in an intensive reaction in a small volume (relative to other smelting
technologies).

ISASMELT furnaces typically operate in the range of 10001200 C, depending

on the application . The refractory bricks that form the internal lining of the
furnace protect the steel shell from the heat inside the furnace

The products are removed from the furnace through one or more "tap holes"
in a process called "tapping". This can be either continuous removal or in
batches, with the tap holes being blocked with clay at the end of a tap, and
then reopened by drilling or with a thermic lance when it is time for the next
tap.

While smelting sulfide concentrates, most of the energy needed to heat and melt
the feed materials is derived from the reaction of oxygen with the sulfur and iron in
the concentrate. However, a small amount of supplemental energy is required.
ISASMELT furnaces can use a variety of fuels, including coal, coke, petroleum coke,
oil and natural gas. The solid fuel can be added through the top of the furnace with
the other feed materials, or it can be injected down the lance. Liquid and gaseous
fuels are injected down the lance

ADVANTAGES

High productivity with a small footprint: Xstrata's copper smelter in Mount Isa
treats over 1 million t/y of copper concentrate through a single furnace 3.75
m in diameter. The small footprint makes the process well suited to
retrofitting to existing smelters where there are significant space constraints.

Simple operation: the ISASMELT furnace does not require extensive feed
preparation as the feed can be discharged from a belt conveyor directly into
the furnace.

High energy efficiency: installing an ISASMELT furnace in the Mount Isa

copper smelter reduced energy consumption by over 80% (through better
use of the inherent energy contained in the sulfide concentrate) compared
with the roaster and reverberatory furnaces previously used there.

Flexibility in feed types: ISASMELT furnaces have been used to smelt copper,
lead and nickel concentrates with a wide range of compositions, including
high levels of magnetite, and secondary materials, such as copper scrap and
lead-acid battery paste.

Flexibility in fuel types: ISASMELT furnaces can operate with a variety of fuels,
including lump coal of varying ranks, coke (lump or fine), petroleum coke, oil
(including recycled oil), natural gas, and liquid petroleum gas, depending on
which is the most economic at the smelter's location.

High turn-down ratio: the feed rate to a single ISASMELT installation can
easily be scaled up or down, depending on the availability of concentrate and
the needs of the smelter

Low feed carry over: ISASMELT furnaces typically lose about 1% of the feed as
carry-over with the waste gas, meaning that there is less material that needs
to be returned to the furnace for retreatment.

Relatively low operating cost: the energy efficiency of the process, the simple
feed preparation, the relative lack of moving parts, low feed carry-over rates,
low labour requirements and the ease of replacing lances and refractory
linings when they are worn give the ISASMELT process relatively low
operating costs.