ORAL

SESSION: Non-ferrousMonPM-R1	Barrios International Symposium on Sustainable Non-ferrous Smelting and Hydro/Electrochemical Processing (5th Intl. Symp. on Sustainable Non-ferrous Smelting and Hydro/Electrochemical Processing)
Mon Oct, 23 2017	Room: Condesa II
Session Chairs: Miguel Angel Munoz; Dimo Kirilov; Session Monitor: TBA

14:30: [Non-ferrousMonPM05] Plenary
Pirdop Copper Plant: An Overview of its Sustainable Growth and Progress
Dimo Kirilov¹ ; ¹Aurubis Bulgaria AD, Pirdop, Bulgaria;
Paper Id: 326 [Abstract]

Pirdop copper smelter and refinery is the biggest facility for smelting and refining of copper in South-Eastern Europe. The plant was commissioned in 1958 and had an initial annual capacity of 160,000 tons of anode copper. Today the plant has reached a capacity of 350,000 tons of anode coper, 230 000 tons of cathode copper and 1,220, 000 tons of sulfuric acid. Besides copper it produces also other quantities of silver, gold and selenium. This presentation will first give an overview of the overall growth history of the copper production of Pirdop copper smelter and refinery since its commissioning in 1958 followed by an analysis of the progress achieved in the last 10 to 15 years. Major investments during this period are described along with their significant results in achieving the company sustainable development in terms of the modernization of the process and production, protecting the environment and developing the society.