MINERAL PROCESSING: Outotec to supply copper plant for Pueblo Viejo mine

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC — Finnish supplier Outotec will supply a copper recovery plant based on its sulphide precipitation process to Pueblo Viejo Domenica, a joint venture of Toronto's Barrick Gold and Vancouver-based Goldcorp. The contract is worth approximately C$25 million.

Outotec's undertaking includes engineering, proprietary and process equipment, instrumentation and automation, as well as supervisory services and spare parts. The plant is supplied as prefabricated skid-mounted units, minimizing the amount of site work and ensuring fast track implementation. The units will be pre-tested at the workshops to ensure safety of the operations. The new plant is scheduled to be commissioned at the end of 2011.

The ore treated in the gold leaching process contains copper, which is removed as copper sulphide. Outotec developed the copper sulphide precipitation process for the Pueblo Viejo project in collaboration with Barrick. This process uses Outotec's proprietary OKTOP® reactor technology and Paques THIOTEQ® bioprocess as hydrogen sulphide source.

Learn more about what Outotec can do for your mineral processing operations at www.Outotec.com.