As a core raw material underpinning strategic emerging industries such as new energy and electronics, the efficient extraction of copper remains a key focus for the industry. Extraction tank technology, a critical component in hydrometallurgy, utilizes liquid–liquid extraction principles to precisely separate and concentrate copper ions. With its advantages in efficiency, environmental performance, and cost reduction, it is reshaping the copper extraction landscape.

Innovative extraction tanks have achieved three major technological breakthroughs. First, mass transfer efficiency has been significantly enhanced. Centrifugal extraction tanks generate a high-gravity field that breaks droplets into sizes of 50–200 μm, achieving a single-stage extraction rate of 92%, and exceeding 99.5% after seven-stage counter-current operation. Second, selective separation has been greatly improved. With specialized extractants, copper can be effectively separated from impurities such as iron, zinc, and arsenic, producing cathode copper with a purity of up to 99.99%. Third, both environmental performance and cost efficiency have been optimized. Extractant recycling rates reach 98%, wastewater discharge is reduced by over 60%, and processing costs per ton of copper are lowered by 40%.

This technology has already been widely applied across various scenarios, including low-grade copper ores, metallurgical waste, and electronic scrap. In a low-grade copper-cobalt project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, copper recovery increased from below 80% to over 95%, generating significant economic returns. In Shandong, a company processing copper-bearing ash leachate improved recovery rates from 78% to 99.2%, reducing annual SO₂ emissions by more than 15,000 tons. In an electroplating sludge project, copper extraction rose from 75% to 93.32%, while organic phase losses dropped by 90%. In a large oxide copper project, compared with traditional extraction columns, extractant consumption decreased by 0.3 kg per ton of copper, saving approximately RMB 800,000 annually.

China’s refined copper output reached 13.64 million tons in 2024, yet the industry faces challenges such as shortages of high-quality ore and low recycling efficiency of complex waste materials. The adoption of extraction tank technology not only improves the utilization of low-grade resources and secondary materials, but also accelerates the transition of the copper industry toward a greener, low-carbon, and more efficient circular model.

Looking ahead, with the development of new environmentally friendly extractants and the integration of intelligent control systems, extraction tank technology is expected to achieve further advancements, providing strong support for high-quality industry growth and strategic resource security.

Source：CBC Metals Network