Mining News
Copper producer Aurubis starts construction of state-of-the-art recycling plant in Belgium
(Kitco News) - Today, non-ferrous metals provider Aurubis announced that it broke ground at its Beerse site in Belgium, and officially started construction on its state-of-the-art hydrometallurgical recycling plant ASPA (Advanced Sludge Processing by Aurubis) that is set to be commissioned in fiscal year 2024/25.
The company said that the ASPA facility will process anode sludge, a valuable intermediate product from electrolytic copper refining produced at the Aurubis recycling sites in Beerse and Lünen (Germany).
"The new process will enable faster extraction of more precious metals, such as gold and silver, as well as full recovery of tin from the anode sludge," Aurubis noted in a statement. "With this investment of around € 33 million, the company is committing to developing Aurubis Beerse. ASPA strengthens Aurubis' position as the most efficient and sustainable integrated smelter network worldwide."
The plant in Beerse processes about 250,000 tons of multimetal scrap annually – ranging from complex residues to higher-grade scrap types – from which metals, metal products, and minerals are produced.
"Since the acquisition of the sites in Beerse and Berango in 2020, Aurubis has further expanded its role as one of the world's leading copper recyclers and now processes a total of more than 1 million tons of recycling materials per year," it added.
Aurubis is a global provider of non-ferrous metals and one of the world's largest copper recyclers. The company produces more than 1 million t of copper cathodes with 99.99 % purity in its European smelter network each year. In addition to copper, Aurubis produces gold, silver, platinum group metals, lead, nickel, tin, zinc, and selenium.
Aurubis has about 7,200 employees, production sites in Europe and the USA, and an extensive service and distribution network in Europe, Asia and North America.
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