Xstrata Kidd Creek Metallurgical Site (City of Timmins) | copper mine, metallurgy, mining, zinc mine/processing, smelter

 copper mine, metallurgy, mining, zinc mine/processing, smelter

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(Formerly Falconbridge) - Kidd Creek Met Site. They melt rocks here!

The Kidd concentrator crushes and grinds the Kidd Mine ore before flotation. The mill produces copper and zinc concentrates. Since 2004 it has also treated nickel ore from the Montcalm mine northwest of Timmins.

Copper Smelter

The copper concentrate produced at the mill, and the copper concentrate shipped from Sudbury and other copper mines, are fed into the smelter. The smelter has a capacity of 150,000 tonnes of copper blister per year.

Copper blister is refined in the 145,000 tonne-per-year refinery, or is sold to outside refineries. In addition to copper, the refinery produces substantial amounts of silver anode slimes that are further toll refined into precious metals.

Zinc Plant

The zinc plant has the capacity to produce 150,000 tonnes per year. The Kidd Mining Division provides most of the feed, and zinc custom feeds from other sources account for the balance.

Zinc concentrates are roasted, and the sulphur oxides and trioxides are passed to the sulphuric acid plant. The zinc calcine is leached, the zinc-rich solution then being processed in a purification stage where cadmium is extracted. The purified zinc-rich solution is sent to the electrolysis plant where zinc is plated onto aluminium cathodes. Indium, zinc and copper are recovered from smelter dusts processed in the indium plant.

In 2006 Falconbridge was taken over by Xstrata plc. Then on December 7, 2009, Xstrata announced it will permanently cease operation of its copper and zinc metallurgical plants at the Kidd Metallurgical Site in Timmins on May 1, 2010, in a rationalization of its Canadian metallurgical operations, due to world smelting overcapacity.