Alfa Laval turns the heat way up at Zaldivar
At 3,300 meters above sea level in northern Chile, Barrick Zaldivar overlooks 1,240-hectares of copper openpit, heap-leach mines. Alfa Laval plate heat exchangers have been contributing to their operations with smooth, stable and efficient heat recovery for many years.
DATE 2025-12-17Durante más de una década, Zaldivar ha estado utilizando intercambiadores de calor de placas Alfa Laval para recuperar calor en la etapa de electrodeposición del proceso de extracción de cobre. La instalación fue sencilla y relativamente simple, y desde entonces, los intercambiadores de calor han sido estables, eficientes y fáciles de mantener.
Las unidades eran fáciles de instalar porque, a diferencia de los intercambiadores de calor de carcasa y tubos, no era necesario construir una base especial. Incluían un marco y pies.
Fast facts about Barrick Zaldivar
Zaldívar is an open-pit, heap-leach copper mine in northern Chile owned by the Barrick mining company.
- In 2007, Zaldívar produced 315 million pounds of copper at total cash costs of US$ 0.70 per pound.
- Pure cathode copper is produced by three stages of crushing and stacking of ore, followed by heap leaching and bacterial activity to remove the copper from the ore into the solution.
- The electrowinning plant has been modified to produce 331 million pounds (150,000 tonnes) of cathode copper per year. That’s 20% more than the original design capacity.
Customer's voice
The units are very reliable. They have been operating without any major problems since 1994.
Roberto Villalobos
Maintenance manager
Fast facts about the solution
Sixteen Alfa Laval Plate heat exchangers are used in four production lines at Barrick Zaldivar.
- The counter-current flow and corrugated design of the plates create strong turbulence that allows for 48 megawatts of heat recovery.
- Higher turbulence means that there is less fouling and scaling, and thus less need for cleaning.
- The plates hang on a carrying bar and are supported by a guiding bar, making the unit easy to open for maintenance.
Product
Alfa Laval provides a comprehensive range of plate heat exchangers of the traditional type, featuring gaskets between the plates.