The essential raw material that we process in our Huelva metallurgical complex is concentrated copper ore, which arrives mainly by boat from mines on several continents, and overland from mines in the province of Huelva.
Raw Materials
Copper concentrated
In nature, copper is present in numerous minerals, in a percentage that ranges from approximately 0.3% to 10%. Once extracted from the deposits, various techniques are applied in the mining facilities that increase the copper concentration until reaching 20-35%.
In addition to copper, the concentrate contains other valuable metals such as gold, silver, platinum, palladium, nickel, selenium, iron and tellurium, as well as other elements such as sulfur.
The raw material is received by boat at the Port of Huelva, where the facilities can accommodate vessels of up to 50,000 tons. After being offloaded, it is transported to the smelter in trucks
Recycled copper
At Atlantic Copper we process up to 35,000 tons/year of used copper, which arrives in various forms, such as copper pipes and wires, granules, in shavings and coins, among others. Like the concentrate, this material arrives at our facilities in trucks as well as in containers on ships.
Metals from WEEE
WEEE processed by authorized managers will provide us with metals such as copper, gold, silver, platinum, palladium or tin or zinc, which will be the raw materials for the CirCular project. These materials will be returned to the industry and given them a second life. Our innovative plant will have the capacity to process up to 60,000 tons of these metals a year.
