Environmental excellence as the basis for our development
Raw Materials
Atlantic Copper’s fundamental raw material is concentrated copper ore, which is shipped to Huelva from mines on several continents.
The copper concentrate processed at the metallurgical complex comes from mines all over the world. It is granular and practically black in color.
Copper Concentrate
Copper concentrate is the fundamental raw material used to make copper. In nature copper can be found in a great many minerals, at a percentage ranging between approximately 0.5% and 10%. Once these minerals have been mined, various processes are applied to increase the copper concentration to 20 to 35%.
Copper concentrate arrives by ship at Huelva’s outer harbor, where there are mooring facilities for ships of up to 50,000 tons. After it is unloaded, the copper concentrate is carried to the plant in lorries, where it is stored.
Recycled Copper
Copper is a metal that can be recycled an infinite number of times without losing a single one of its great properties. At Atlantic Copper up to 30,000 tons of used copper are melted down each year. This copper comes from various sources, such as copper tubes and wire, granulated copper, shavings from industry and coins.
This material reaches Atlantic Copper by lorry and by container ship.
