One of the largest single producers of sulphuric acid from sulphide ores is
the Palabora Mining Company in South Africa. The sulphide ores are contained
in a vertical carbonatite complex, which was mined as an open pit from 1965
until 2000, when it attained a depth of 800m and was converted into an
underground operation. The sulphur oxides captured from the smelter fumes
supply, I believe, a bit more than half of South Africa's industrial needs
for sulphuric acid.
While on this question, there is an interesting transition going on in
Arizona's copper mining industry, in that smelting has largely been replaced
by heap leaching and electrowinning (largely for reasons of air quality).
Heap leaching requires huge amounts of acid, and I have been wondering where
it comes from now that sulphide smelting is very much out of fashion.
David Killick
Associate Professor
Department of Anthropology
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85705-0030
office (520)621-8685
lab (520)621-7986
fax (520)621-2088
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