About this Manual

The purpose of all Emission Estimation Technique (EET) Manuals in this series is to assist Australian manufacturing, industrial and service facilities to report emissions of listed substances to the National Pollutant Inventory (NPI). This Manual describes the procedures and recommended approaches for estimating emissions from facilities engaged in Copper Concentrating, Smelting and Refining.

The scope of this document is to outline methods that can be used by the copper concentrating, smelting and refining industry to:

- Identify which substances they are required to report as part of the NPI; and
- Estimate emissions of NPI substances to air, water, and land from their facilities.

This handbook covers the concentrating, smelting and refining of copper commencing with the delivery of ore to the processing facilities through to the production of +99% pure copper, using either the concentrating, smelting and electro-refining process, or the heap-leach and electrowinning process, or variants of these.

It also covers operations that produce copper concentrate only, and smelting and refining of copper from imported concentrate. This manual does not include extraction of ore, which is covered by the EET Manual for Mining.

Ancillary activities such as an acid plant, slimes treatment, and tailings storage facilities (TSFs) are covered in this manual. Associated activities such as power generation -combustion engines, and fuel and organic storage facilities are covered briefly in this handbook. These activities are covered comprehensively by separate EET manuals.

The emission of NPI substances from tailings storage facilities (TSFs), waste management sites, and sewerage systems from a processing facility are included in the reporting requirements of the NPI system, and are covered by this manual.

EET MANUAL: Copper Concentrating, Smelting & Refining

HANDBOOK: Copper Concentrating, Smelting & Refining

ANZSIC CODE: 2723

First published in December 1999
National Pollutant Inventory
Environment Australia

Emission Estimation Techniques Used in the Manuals

Estimates of emissions of NPI-listed substances to air, water and land should be reported for each substance that triggers a threshold. The reporting list and detailed information on thresholds are contained in the NPI Guide at the front of this Industry Handbook. In general, there are four types of emission estimation technique (EET) that may be used to estimate emissions from a facility.

The four types described in the NPI Guide are:

• sampling or direct measurement
• mass balance
• fuel analysis or other engineering calculations
• emission factors