Exciting future for Avecia

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acorganotes
I S S U E 1 V O L U M E 1 O C T O B E R 1 9 9 9

Modern clay treatment practices

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Radomiro Tomic commissioning

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Mount Gordon commissioning

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Dr. Ray Dalton Terry Conniffe

page 7

Split organic stream configuration increases throughput

page 8

Environmental Achievement and Safety Awards

page 10

Meet Metal Extraction Products Chile

page 11

Metal Extraction Products

Exciting future for Avecia

Warren Scott, President, Avecia Inc., Wilmington, DE, USA The former Specialty Chemicals Division of AstraZeneca is poised for an exciting future as an independent company, following the June 1999 management-led buyout to form the new Avecia company. This deal represents Europes largest buyout ever in the chemicals sector.
According to Jeremy Scudamore (now CEO of Avecia and former CEO of Specialty Chemicals Division of AstraZeneca): Specialties has been performing particularly well in recent years and we are in a strong position to continue this trend. Cinvens and Investcorps financial backing to this buyout will provide the financial platform from which we can continue the rapid development of the business by organic growth and bolt-on acquisitions. Under the buyout terms, all of Specialties worldwide businesses and staff transfer to Avecia. Cinven and Investcorp are major investment groups, with a track record of numerous corporate acquisitions. The divestiture of Specialties Division was inevitable due to business strategy. With the recent Zeneca and Astra amalgamation into AstraZeneca, there is a clear direction of focus in pharmaceuticals. While Specialties Division of Zeneca has performed very well, investment in Specialties growth would have increasingly been at odds with AstraZenecas area of focus. Hence, Specialties became available for purchase and, of numerous offers submitted, the buyout and conversion into Avecia was clearly deemed the best option for continuing the growth of Specialties businesses. Avecia is comprised of several major specialty chemicals businesses, all of which share a common thread of strong organic chemistry skills, as well as user-focused applications expertise: Performance & Intermediate Chemicals Biocides Ink Jet Printing Materials Electrophotography Pigments & Additives NeoResins LifeScience Molecules (Ag and Pharmaceuticals Intermediates) Stahl (leather and synthetic finishes)

Metal Extraction Products is organized within Performance & Intermediate Chemicals and continues to be headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, USA.

Commissioning and Optimization of Radomiro Tomic:

Codelco successfully starts a giant in the desert

Osvaldo Castro, Regional Manager, Metal Extraction Products, Santiago On May 1,1998, Codelco officially inaugurated Radomiro Tomic, located in the north of Chile, the most important copper mining center of the world. Radomiro Tomic is 3,000 meters above sea level and 40 kilometers from Calama, embedded in the heart of the dry desert of Atacama.
Numerous officials and dignitaries participated in the inauguration, including Mr. Eduardo Frei, the President of Chile. Codelco produces over 1,500,000 mt per annum of copper in Chile and the new operation at Radomiro Tomic contributes 180,000 mt per annum. Recent announcements already speak of an expanded capacity of 256,000 mt p.a. by 2001 a strong vote of confidence for the newest division. Codelco invested $683 million in this new operation, which includes large-scale open pit mining, crushing, leaching, solvent extraction and electro-winning. With such a large investment, substantial preconstruction testing and engineering was completed to ensure a successful startup of the operation. One of the many considerations was the selection of the solvent extraction reagent. Low pH proved an overall benefit in increasing leaching efficiency and, consequently, copper production. As extensive testing and pilot studies verified that Acorga M-5640 offered excellent performance at low pHs, this reagent was ultimately selected for the operation. The scale of the modern operations in Chile is mind-boggling. For example, the reagent inventory fill which MEP provided to Radomiro Tomic in 1998 was an industry record and significantly in excess of 1000 mts all received on schedule for commissioning. Radomiro Tomic is also unique in that this was the first time that Codelco has developed a new mine 100 percent by the state-owned company. All other Codelco mines were opened before the corporation was established in 1976.
Radomiro Tomic typical operational conditions are as follows: Plant configuration: 3 trains VSF Outokumpu technology 2E+1S+1W PLS flow: 1,500 m3/h per train Specific flow: 3.4 m3/hr/m2 Cu content in PLS: 6 gpl Reagent: M5640 at 25% Circuits in EW: 4 with 130 cell each Current density in EW: 270 A/m2 Current efficiency: 92% Production: 180,000 MT Cu/year

Since commissioning, some challenging technical issues have arisen. In addition to analyzing and solving problems, the experienced staff at Radomiro Tomic works very closely with MEP on issues regarding the solvent extraction circuit. One of the unique facets of this areas mineralization is the presence of atypically high levels of nitrates and chlorides which can potentially cause major problems in solvent extraction and electrowinning. The chloride must be kept at controlled levels in the tankhouse, for example, to avoid pitting of the stainless steel anodes at high concentrations. On the other hand, nitrates which is a rather new topic in SX may produce nitration of the organic, affecting the Cu transfer capacity. Radomiro Tomic has succeeded in controlling both the chloride and nitrate levels in their operation to acceptable levels.

Figure 1: Generalized Continuous Clay Treatment Circuit Plant / Recovered Organic 1. Precoat (Diatomaceous Earth) 2. Clay Addition Precoat Recycle Line

Plate Filter

Agitated Clay Treatment Tank

Aqueous to Drain Collection / Storage Tank Organic Returned to Plant

Modern Clay Treatment Practices

Kendall Oliphant, Metallurgist, Asarco Ray Complex Owen Tinkler, Technical Specialist, Metal Extraction Products, Phoenix
Theory Over time, trace levels of impurities build up in the organic circuit and eventually begin to negatively effect both the physical and metallurgical performance of the plant. In addition, raffinate pond organic normally undergoes some degree of UV/ thermal degradation and its direct introduction into the plant would cause severe phase disengagement problems. One of the ways to improve properties of both the plant and reclaimed organic has been to contact the organic phase with certain types of acid activated clay (e.g. montmorillanite). Over the years, a number of these clays have been examined by Avecias Metal Extraction Products Business and have been found to have wide variation in their effectiveness. The principal of clay treatment is for impurities with surface active characteristics to adsorb onto clay, which is then separated by filtration. Though not effective in all instances, clay treatment is recognized as a practical and inexpensive way of controlling the build-up of contaminants in the organic phase. Practices & Considerations Both batch and continuous processing procedures have been developed to clay treat organic. In both instances to optimize the effectiveness of the treatment, there are several important considerations. 1. All (or as much as possible) aqueous and crud should be removed prior to the addition of clay to minimize aqueous wetting of the clay which would render it ineffective for removing impurities from the organic. 2. Intimate contact of organic and clay is essential. 3. Filtering of organic must be carried out carefully to prevent carry over of clay into the plant. 4. Effective separation of clay and organic is important to minimize organic loss. Batch Processing The most direct method of clay treatment, requiring little capital expenditure, has been to batch treat. This is carried out by mixing a quantity of clay into a stirred tank of organic. The dosages used vary widely depending on the condition of the organic in question. Provided mixing is efficient enough to effect intimate contact, a mixing time of no more than about ten minutes is required. Following a period of settling time of at least several hours, but preferably 24 hours, the organic is removed and filtered through bag filters before being returned to the plant. In some operations, the organic is filtered directly after mixing, either through a drum or belt filter. Continuous Processing In the early part of the decade a continuous procedure was developed which made use of the finding that the rate of adsorption of impurities onto the

clay was very fast, a matter of seconds rather than minutes. The continuous process uses either a filter press or a plate filter to clay treat the organic. A general procedure is as follows: 1. The filter cloth is pre-coated with diatomaceous earth (DE). This is effected by mixing the diatomaceous earth with a small volume of organic and then pumping the mixture through the filter. The pre-coat is necessary to prevent blinding of the filter membrane as the particle size distribution of some of the finer clays indicates a sub micron fraction of around 1% of the total mass. 2. The required mass of clay is mixed with a small volume of organic and pumped through the filter to produce a clay cake of approximately an inch thick. This organic will generally be recycled back to the mixing tank to ensure that all clay is removed prior to the organic being returned to the plant. 3. The bulk organic is passed through the filter bed, thereby effecting clay treatment. 4. The clay treated and filtered organic is returned to the circuit. Despite the capital costs, the use of filter presses and plate filters has gradually found favor as the most effective way to clay treat. The primary advantage is the very low organic loss associated with the process, though the potential of the filter to treat crud is also a significant advantage over other processes. A generalized circuit is presented in Figure 1. Clay Dosage and Measurement of Effectiveness Depending on the degree of contamination, the level of clay treatment required may vary widely from just a few grams per liter to as high as a hundred grams per liter. The most common method used to test the effectiveness of clay treatment has been to measure the static organic continuous phase break time against

plant PLS before and after clay treatment. While this procedure can be effective, careful filtering is necessary to remove fine particles which would otherwise cause the phase disengagement time to speed up and cause phase instability. Filtration of organic through glass microfibre filter paper or a bed of diatomaceous earth is recommended. Recently, Acorga developed a procedure for the plant operator to easily determine the volume of organic treatable per unit mass of clay. An example is given in Figure 2. This procedure is particularly applicable to continuous processes to determine when the clay is spent. The technique is based on a laboratory procedure which generates a curve of interfacial tension vs. volume of organic treatable per unit mass of clay. A curve is generated for each plant (one for recovered organic and another for plant organic) from which a simple calculation is made to determine the volume of organic treatable per cycle (Example 1).

Clay Treatment at Asarco Ray Mine The Asarco Ray operation recently commissioned a continuous filter circuit. The primary element of the circuit is a vertical plate Sparkler filter which is used both for clay treatment and filtration of crud and plant organic, described below. Filtration of crud One of the primary justifications for the installation of a filter circuit was to treat crud more effectively. The new circuit has proved extremely efficient in effecting complete removal of crud as well as minimizing associated organic losses. In addition, the decommissioning of the crusher circuit last August (located next to the SX plant) as well as the implementation of several other process improvements, has reduced crud build-up in the plant significantly. Consequently, crud removal is required on a weekly (and even monthly) basis rather than a daily basis. Crud generally collects in the strip settlers and is pumped out at the weir, into a holding tank. After a period of settling, the aqueous portion is drained off and, after being mixed with a small quantity of DE, the remainder is pumped through the filter and the organic returned to the circuit. Prior to filtration, the filter is pre-coated with diatomaceous earth to prevent blinding by small crud particles. Filtering of plant organic The purpose of filtering the plant organic through DE has been to remove fine crud particle moving around the circuit causing high aqueous entrainment. Although difficult to quantify, the procedure appears to work effectively and is important when the plant is upset (e.g. following severe rain events). Once again the filter is pre-coated with diatomaceous earth before use. For further information and advice on Clay Treatment, please contact your regional Acorga Office.

Figure 2: Clay Treatment Measurement & Control

30.0 29.0 Interfacial Tension 28.0 27.0 26.0 25.0 24.0 23.0 6.7 16.7 23.3 33.3 80.0 140.0 200.0 260.0 320.0 380.0

liters / kg

Example 1. To increase the interfacial tension from 23.5 to 28mN/n, with a filter press of 450 kg clay capacity: Volume Treatable per cycle = 32 l. kg-1 (from Fig. 2) x 450 kg = 14,500 l

The commissioning and operation of a copper sulfide pressure oxidation leach process at Mount Gordon:

A successful implementation of new technology

The Mount Gordon Copper sulfide pressure oxidation leach process was fully designed, constructed, and commissioned in an incredibly short period of time. Now only 2 1/2 years from conception, this unique operation, which uses new technology for processing chalcocite ore, is achieving design production at design costs. Geoff Richmond, Chief Metallurgist-Technical Services, Western Metals Brian Townson, Regional Manager Australasia, MEP, Manchester, UK
Located 120 kilometers north of Mount Isa in North West Queensland, Australia, copper sulfide ores have been mined at the copper district on an irregular basis since 1929. The mining area was known as Gunpowder until the present owners, Western Metals Ltd, changed its name to Mount Gordon in 1998. The previous small-scale operation produced less than 8000 tpa of copper. Western Metals intention was to increase reserves and significantly increase production, requiring fasttrack development to ensure the earliest possible copper production. Drilling confirmed the unmined Esperanza deposit had a resource of 4.5mt at 8.5% copper and 0.1% cobalt, and this became the focus of future operational expansions. The Esperanza ore was tested to determine a process route capable of producing a substantial increase in copper output to a design level of 45,000 tpa copper. Heap leaching was not feasible due to the lack of flat areas, a high sulfide content, and low recoveries by conventional leaching. Flotation upgrading proved unsuccessful. Investigations moved to agitation tank leaching, using acidified ferric sulfate. Low conversion rates of ferrous to ferric sulfate in open tanks eventually dictated the evaluation of pressure oxidation. Extensive test work was conducted at Western Metals Burnie Metallurgical laboratory; the West Australian Department of Mines mineral processing laboratory; and Placer Domes continuous autoclave facility in Vancouver Canada. In addition, an extensive, fully-integrated, continuous pilot plant was run on-site at Mount Gordon. A flowsheet was successfully developed using pressure oxidation, solvent extraction and electrowinning. Fast-track development meant many areas, especially electrical, instruments, and control systems, were not fully complete at the start of the July 1998 commissioning. In mid-April 1999, most of the commissioning problems were overcome and production moved to near-design levels. A period of consolidation followed, with attention paid to maintaining high availabilities and raising production.

The newly commissioned Mount Gordon operation.

REMEMBERING...

Terry Conniffe and Ray Dalton

Terry Conniffe, Laboratory Supervisor with MEP, passed away in early 1998. Terry was the senior field technical service person based on his extensive practical in-plant experience from nearly 20 years in the field. Terry assisted in numerous SX plant commissionings around the world and spent an extensive amount of time troubleshooting and assisting operations. He was known for both his theoretical and practical knowledge of solvent extraction as well as his genuine enthusiasm and work ethic. Terry completed over 40 years service with the company, 19 years of which were spent with MEP.

Commissioning was completed in May 1999. The circuit is now working at design capacity and at design costs. A period of only 2 1/2 years elapsed between the discovery of additional reserves at Esperanza and the successful operation of a novel hydrometallurgical process for on-site copper production from a copper sulfide ore. The cost and structure is such that the Mount Gordon operation will be highly profitable, and MEP is

proud to be associated with this unique and successful process with Acorga M-5640. Acknowledgments: Avecia MEP wishes to thank Western Metals Ltd for their permission to produce this article. A special thanks to Geoff Richmond, Chief Metallurgist Technical Services, Western Metals, for all his help and support.

Typical operational figures post-commissioning are: Grinding tph = 90 Head grade = 8.5% Copper Utilisation = 85% Leaching Temperature = 90-95% Autoclave discharge Pressure = 7 Bar total Solution Iron = 25-35 gpl PLS = 25-30 gpl Copper PLS suspended solids = 10-30 ppm SX/EW SX Reagent Acorga M5640 SX recovery = 85% (design) SX Cu:Fe selectivity = 4000:1 EW current efficiency = 87-90% Recoveries Leach = 90-93% Wash = 98-99.5% Overall = 87-90% Copper Quality All copper produced has been LME grade A cathode or better. Pb levels have averaged 1.8 ppm. Plant availability 90-97%. Cost of production The forecast cash cost of production is about US$ 0.35 /Ib copper.

Ray Dalton, a major contributor to the evolution of hydrometallurgy, passed away in early 1999 after a long and courageous battle against illness. Ray started his long association with the Mining Chemicals Business (now called Metal Extraction Products Business) in the early 1970s and has been involved with many of the major technical developments in solvent extraction. His contributions include: discovery of nonyl-salycylaldoxime, which is the basis for the current generation of copper solvent extraction reagents and discovery of modified reagent formulations, including ester modifiers (e.g. used in Acorga M-5640, one of the most widely-used reagents in the world). Ray also made significant inventions in the areas of the Cuprex process for the extraction of copper from chloride streams; an analogous system for the extraction of zinc also from chloride streams; and the invention of novel reagents for the extraction of zinc, cobalt and nickel from sulfate streams. In 1990 Ray was awarded the prestigious Beilby Medal for his contributions to the general field of hydrometallurgy and, in particular, for his work on solvent extraction of copper from low-grade ores. 7

Split organic stream configuration increases throughput

John Spence, Technical Supervisor, MEP, Phoenix
In order to process increasing volumes of low copper PLS, the copper SX industry often splits the PLS stream and modifies the plant configuration into series/parallel configurations. In these configurations, additional PLS feedstreams are processed in parallel in different extractors. In most configurations, regardless of the number of PLS streams, the organic stream proceeds in series from one extractor to the next. A split organic stream configuration also splits the organic stream in parallel and increases the total organic flow to the strip settler, so that the original organic flow per each extract settler is maintained. This allows processing of more than two streams of PLS at very high total flowrate. While limited to relatively low copper tenors, a split organic stream configuration with the organic in parallel allows the processing of higher copper tenors than may be feasibly processed in a series organic configuration. Currently, to increase PLS flowrates, a second PLS stream is piped to existing staging and the intra-stage piping converted to a series/parallel configuration. For processing two PLS streams, the series/parallel configuration essentially doubles copper production with little capital cost or downtime required. The primary disadvantage is that since the organic flows in series from one PLS stream to the next, and must be capable of transferring the copper from both, the required concentration of extractant may also double. To further increase production and process even higher PLS flowrates, a third PLS stream can be added to produce a parallel aqueous configuration (PAC). The series organic stream increases stepwise in copper concentration as the organic proceeds through the extractors, and requires a concentration of extractant sufficient to transfer the sum of the copper from each PLS stream. However, the

addition of a third stream requires greater extractant concentration due to the third successive single stage of extraction. Extract O/A ratio averages ~ 1.0 overall but typically can be adjusted to equalize the recoveries in the three extractors, i.e. less than 1.0 in E3 and more than 1.0 in E1. This configuration is very sensitive to factors which influence extraction.
Example conditions Required Extractant Configuration ~15 v/o PAC Series Organic PLS pH PLS [Cu] Recovery 2.0 1.0 gpl 90% ~25 v/o PAC Series Organic 1.5 1.0 gpl 90%

The parallel aqueous configuration is PLS pH sensitive due to the single stage extraction from the aqueous phase. This occurs as a function of the configuration despite the relative pH insensitivity of modified aldoximes. Ketoximes are less suitable due to their characteristic extraction depression at low pH. Typically, recovery in this configuration is also unresponsive to changes

Parallel Aqueous Configuration (Series Organic) Lean PLS PLS PLS

S1

E3

E2

E1

LO

Rich

Raffinate

Raffinate

Raffinate

Organic Loop

Split Organic Stream Configuration (Parallel Organic)

Loaded Organic

Lean

PLS

PLS

PLS

S1

E1A

E1B

E1C

LO

Rich

Raffinate

Raffinate

Raffinate

Barren Organic Loaded Organic

in extractant concentration since the extractant concentration is already in excess relative to the copper tenor. The above configuration has three parallel organic streams from the stripper extracting copper from three parallel PLS feedstreams. Its primary advantage lies in a reduced extractant concentration, at equivalent recoveries, to a PAC series organic configuration.
Example conditions Required Extractant Configuration ~25 v/o PAC Series Organic PLS pH PLS [Cu] Recovery 1.5 1.0 gpl 90% ~12 v/o Split Organic Stream 1.5 1.0 gpl 90%

Independent control of O/A in each stage is possible. Potential for processing of different or varying concentration PLS feeds without disruption of subsequent extract staging due to the cascading flow. Recovery is more responsive to changes in extractant concentration than a series organic configuration. Limitations Organic pumping and storage capacity must be increased. Strip mixer/settler capacity must be increased due to the multiplied organic flowrate. Recovery versus extractant concentration response is similar to conventional configurations operated at O/A ratio greater than 1. Recovery is sensitive to fluctuation in extract stage efficiency and requires high extract stage efficiency. Modified aldoxime extractant is required to maintain acceptable Cu/Fe selectivity. Ketoxime use limited due to slow kinetics at lower temperatures. The primary disadvantages to split organic stream configurations are the required processing in the stripper of the entire aggregate organic flow and the additional organic pumping capacity. Construction of a single strip supersettler and the multiplied organic flow capacity are two of the primary costs involved in a retrofit,

which would still be less expensive than construction of a new plant. However, since strip kinetics are more rapid than extract kinetics, the required strip mixer volume would be less than the multiplied organic flow and extract mixer retention time would indicate. Since both the loaded organic and lean electrolyte are pumped to the S1, the pumper/mixer tip speed does not define the pumping capacity. This allows for lower mixer tip speed and reduced entrainments.
Example conditions Required Extractant Configuration above 30 v/o PAC Series Organic PLS pH PLS [Cu] Recovery 1.5 1.5 gpl 90% ~15 v/o Split Organic Stream 1.5 1.5 gpl 90%

Advantages Increased production capacity due to high PLS throughput. Lower required extractant concentration than the PAC series organic configuration. Lower organic make up than PAC series organic due to lower concentration. Configuration is less pH sensitive than the PAC series organic configuration. No changes in design/operation of extract staging required.

At typical operating temperatures, 30 to 35 v/o extractant is, generally, the maximum extractant concentration. Physical parameters of the organic phase above 30 v/o involve increased density and viscosity, and can lead to slow phase disengagement and high entrainment. Metallurgical comparison of the two types of configuration, at a PLS tenor of 1.5 gpl, indicates the required v/o for the parallel aqueous configuration is in excess of 30 v/o. Operation at this concentration is at increased risk from the physical factors surrounding the high v/o. Using a split organic configuration with the organic in parallel, the extractant concentration is within the industry norm. The staff of Acorga would be happy to assist with any inquiries regarding circuit configuration modeling and optimization.

Prestigious awards recognize unique environmental achievement and an exemplary safety record
William Smith, Production Superintendent, Avecia Mount Pleasant site Chris Ferguson, International Business Manager, Metal Extraction Products, Wilmington, Delaware, USA In April 1999, MEP Business of Avecia was granted the prestigious Queens Award for Environmental Achievement for the development of a unique patented chemical process for producing Acorga metal extraction reagents. The award recognizes MEPs environmental improvements over older reagent manufacturing processes. This unique process, developed by MEPs Research and Process Development staff in Manchester, UK, has enabled MEP to reduce effluent components by up to 85 percent. It is also significant that the composition of the effluent from the new process is essentially benign inorganic salts. Development of the new process was key to justifying investment in MEPs world-scale production facility at Mount Pleasant, Tennessee, USA, where the process technology has been in commercial practice since commissioning of the Acorga plant in late 1994. The efficient and environmentally superior process reduces production costs (which we have passed along to our customers) and ensures our long-term viability, as our environmental compliance is fully assured.

Mount Pleasant, Tennessee Sites STARR Committee.

Queens Award for Environmental Achievement

In December 1998, the Mount Pleasant site celebrated four consecutive years without a lost time accident, earning it the 1998 CEOs SHE Award. The site achieved over two and one-half million work hours without a lost time accident and that performance continues today. Mount Pleasant produces a number of products for Avecia, including all Acorga reagents for solvent extraction of copper. The winning entry was chosen from almost 190 nominations from across the international Avecia Organization. The exemplary safety record at Mount Pleasant has been led by the sites STARR (Safety Through At Risk Reduction) committee, which is comprised of volunteer representatives from functions across the manufacturing site. While Mount Pleasant is a chemical manufacturing site, it shares similar challenges on safety, health, and the environment with the mining industry. Please contact us for more information on the STARR program.

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Meet Metal Extraction Products

CHILE

Obviously, the growth in copper production in South America, particularly Chile, in the 1990s has been dramatic. To align with the growing requirements and demands, MEP has put in place significant expansion of infrastructure. The Santiago staff are responsible for all MEP activities in Latin and South America.
Meet our staff in Santiago: OSVALDO CASTRO (Regional Manager South America) came to Avecia, Metal Extraction Products Business in 1996 with more than twenty years experience with the mining industry (Maria Elena, Chuquicamata, Indepro and Outokumpu). Osvaldo, a chemical engineer by education, is in charge of our Santiago office and has regional responsibility for all MEP activities in South America. GONZALO ALVAREZ (Regional Technical Manager - South America) has responsibility for all MEP technical service and technical programs in South America. Gonzalo, a chemical engineer, has extensive operational and management experience from his 25 year career in places like Pudahuel, Sagasca, Chuquicamata and Quebrada Blanca. Part of his extensive experience around SX operations includes particularly strong leaching expertise. JORGE MEJIAS (Technical Specialist) joined our company in 1996. His background and education are in the field of chemistry, including teaching. His experience in solvent extraction includes extensive participation in SX plant commissioning; on-site piloting work; and customer technical assistance. VICTOR RAMIREZ (Technical Specialist) has more than 10 years practical experience working in solvent extraction. Victor has extensive experience in the industry in South America and, in fact, has provided technical service to virtually every SX plant in Chile and Peru over the past several years. BEATRIZ VALENZUELA is our secretary and administrative assist in Santiago. She takes care of many of our daily activities, including general administration, logistics, and many of our computer applications. Beatriz is often the first point of contact with our customers.

Our office laboratory is located at 147 Andres de Fuenzalida in the Providencia section of Santiago. The facility is shared with Oxiquim, S.A., our agent in Chile. The laboratory has been expanded and additional equipment installed to enable rapid turnaround on typical analyses. Through Oxiquim, local warehousing of Acorga products is maintained in the duty-free zone in Iquique. Most significantly, however, MEP have deployed a strong, experienced team of technical staff to provide service to the SX operations in Chile and throughout the region.

From left to right: Beatriz, Jorge, Gonzalo, Osvaldo and Victor.

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Upcoming Industry Events

October 9 - 13: Copper 99/Cobre 99 Phoenix, AZ, USA (MEP presentations and participation in Short Courses, Randol Copper Hydromet Roundtable 99, and Copper 99/ Cobre 99 Technical Program) December 2 - 3: MEP Sponsored Seminar Kunming, China (MEP organized event, by invitation) February 28 - March 1: SME Annual Meeting & Exhibit Salt Lake City, Utah, USA (MEP Exhibit)

Business Headquarters Avecia Inc. Metal Extraction Products 1405 Foulk Road P.O. Box 15457 Wilmington, DE 19850-5457 USA Tel: (302) 477-8243 Fax: (302) 477-8150 North American Regional Office Avecia Inc. Metal Extraction Products 3259 E. Harbour Dr., Suite 100 Phoenix, AZ 85034 USA Tel: (602) 470-1446 Fax: (602) 470-5030 South American Regional Office Avecia Inc. Metal Extraction Products Andres de Fuenzalida 147 Providencia, Santiago CHILE Tel: 56-2-3365300 Fax: 56-2-3365310

Regional Office for Europe, Africa and the Middle East Avecia Ltd. Metal Extraction Products P.O. Box 42 Blackley Manchester M9 8ZS ENGLAND Tel: 44-161-740-1460 Fax: 44-161-721-4794 Australia Stahl Australia Pty Ltd. 15 Sammut Street P.O. Box 6187 Wetherill Park NSW 2164 Australia Tel: 61-29-604-6666 Fax: 61-29-604-6467

Acorga Notes will be published approximately twice per year for the international mining industry. Editorial content will include: industry news; information on progress particularly in hydromet technology; relevant scientific articles; and news on the Metal Extraction Products Business (MEP) of Avecia Inc. Editor: Coordinator: Design/Layout: Chris Ferguson Valerie Calvarese Charles Haldeman, Inc.

Please direct any questions, comments, or requests for corrections or changes to the distribution list to Valerie Calvarese: Phone (U.S.) 1-800-435-8679 - Ext. 8113 Phone (Direct): 1-302-477-8113 email: valerie.calvarese@avecia.com

1999 Avecia Inc. Printed in U.S.A. All rights reserved. Acorga is a trademark, the property of Avecia Ltd., an Avecia Group Company.

Metal Extraction Products