Series: Mining & Materials • Post 6
Aluminum, Copper & Rare Metals — Veins of Power
Steel is our bones; aluminum is our wings; copper is our nerves; and the battery metals are the ions that keep everything alive. In this part we wire the planet — with clean power, clean furnaces, and factories that behave like neighbors.
Today’s mission
Show how we make aluminum, copper, and battery metals with no smoke
Publish pre‑calculated loads, footprints, and product flows.
Design the world’s “veins” to run on solar from our seed factory (Part 3).
Why these metals (the nervous system of civilization)
Aluminum makes structures light, corrosion‑proof, and fast to ship. Copper moves electrons with grace: motors, transformers, busbars. Nickel, cobalt, manganese & lithium tune the chemistry of batteries. In our build, they’re all electric from mine to product — no diesel, no coal.
- Electric heat (induction, resistance) replaces burners.
- Closed loops capture off‑gases and recycle water.
- Solar seed factory (Part 3) prints the megawatts to run everything.
Aluminum — light, fast, infinitely recyclable
Process at a glance
- Bauxite → Bayer (dig, wash, digest, precipitate) → Alumina
- Alumina → Smelter (Hall‑Héroult) with clean electricity (prefer inert anodes)
- Casthouse: billets, slabs, foundry alloys; Rolling/Extrusion next door
Per‑ton cheat sheet (indicative)
| Step | Electricity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Alumina refining | ~0.4–1.0 MWh/t Al | Digestion pumps, calciners electrified |
| Smelting (cells) | ~14–16 MWh/t Al | Lower with inert anodes & heat recovery |
| Cast/finish | ~1–3 MWh/t Al | Induction furnaces, filters |
Scrap recycle: ~1–1.5 MWh/t (melt & cast) — why we love closed loops.
Why inert anodes?
They avoid carbon anode consumption and perfluorocarbon spikes, cut process CO₂, and simplify fumes. We still run full capture and filtration; the air around us is for sunsets, not stacks.
Copper — wires, windings, and warmth
Process at a glance
- Sulfide concentrate → flash smelt & convert → anodes
- Electro‑refining (ER) → cathode 99.99%
- Downstream: rod mill, enamel wire, busbar, foil
Per‑ton cheat sheet (indicative)
| Step | Electricity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Smelt/convert (electric auxiliaries) | ~0.4–0.8 MWh/t Cu | Furnace exothermic; we capture heat |
| Electro‑refining | ~2.0–3.0 MWh/t Cu | Steady DC load = microgrid’s best friend |
| Rod/foil mills | ~0.1–0.3 MWh/t Cu | Motors & anneals, all electric |
We route off‑gas to an acid plant; no flares, only products.
Why not solvent extraction/electrowinning (SX/EW) here?
SX/EW shines for oxides and leachates; sulfides love smelting + ER. We still run green leach lines for tailings and low‑grade streams to make every atom count.
Battery metals quickboard — Ni, Co, Mn, Li
Battery chemistry is a buffet. We design plants as Lego blocks: leach/HPAL or calcine → MHP or solution → electrowinning/crystallization → sulfates/hydroxides. All electric. Water loops closed. Reagents chosen for sanity.
Per‑ton electricity (indicative, including electrified heat)
| Product | kWh per ton product | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Nickel sulfate (from laterite via HPAL + EW) | ~3,800–10,200 | EW + e‑steam for HPAL; site & ore dependent |
| Cobalt sulfate | ~1,600–4,400 | EW + crystallization |
| Manganese sulfate | ~780–2,330 | Roast/leach electrified; polishing |
| Lithium hydroxide (from spodumene) | ~3,700–8,300 | E‑calciners + crystallizers |
Ranges reflect ore/brine grade, recycle rates, and how aggressively we electrify process heat.
“Steady DC heaven” loads
- Electrowinning stacks offer constant DC → easy to buffer with storage.
- Crystallizers & pumps hum politely; we time‑shift with thermal storage.
- Everything sits on the same solar microgrid as steel, copper, and glass (Parts 3–5).
But reagents?
We standardize on benign or recyclable reagents (e.g., ammonia loops, sulfate systems), capture vapors, and keep water in closed circuits. “Waste” becomes inputs for neighbors (e.g., acid to leach shops, base to neutralize).
Pre‑calculated plant scenarios
Aluminum smelter campuses
| Capacity | Avg load | PV min | 12 h storage | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 kt/yr | ~0.8–1.1 GW | ~4.1–5.6 GWp | ~9.6–13.2 GWh | Matches Part 4 figures |
| 1.0 Mt/yr | ~1.6–2.2 GW | ~8.2–11.3 GWp | ~19–26 GWh | Inert anodes push low end |
PV “min” by Avg(MW)×5.14 (5.5 PSH, 85% yield). We oversize to power rolling & neighbors.
Copper cathode campuses
| Capacity | Avg load | PV min | 12 h storage | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 Mt/yr | ~280–450 MW | ~1.44–2.31 GWp | ~3.4–5.4 GWh | ER dominates, very steady |
| 2.0 Mt/yr | ~560–900 MW | ~2.9–4.6 GWp | ~6.8–10.8 GWh | Add acid plant, foil line |
Smelting heat is exothermic — we route it to steam networks and neighbors.
Battery metals — quick campus sizing
| Product | Plant scale | Avg elec load | PV min | 12 h storage | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickel sulfate | 100 kt/yr | ~50–130 MW | ~260–670 MWp | ~0.6–1.6 GWh | HPAL + EW, electrified heat |
| Cobalt sulfate | 50 kt/yr | ~9–25 MW | ~46–129 MWp | ~0.1–0.3 GWh | Often paired with Ni |
| Manganese sulfate | 300 kt/yr | ~30–80 MW | ~154–411 MWp | ~0.36–0.96 GWh | LMFP/NMC precursor feed |
| Lithium hydroxide | 100 kt/yr | ~50–100 MW | ~257–514 MWp | ~0.6–1.2 GWh | Spodumene route electrified |
We treat heat as an electrical tenant (E‑boilers, heat pumps). Numbers include electrified heat equivalents.
Footprints, water & neighbors
Typical footprints
- Aluminum 1 Mt/yr: smelter + casthouse ~60–100 ha; PV field 8–11 km² nearby
- Copper 1 Mt/yr: smelt/convert/ER ~30–60 ha; PV field 1.4–2.3 km²
- Battery campus: 20–60 ha blocks per product; shared utilities & labs
Water & air
- Closed‑loop cooling; rain from PV meadows feeds make‑up water.
- Acid plants & scrubbers box SO₂ and HF into products, not skywriting.
- Noise <85 dBA at fence; conveyors covered; pretty boring on purpose.
Our mines leave lakes (Part 1). Our smelters leave sunlight. The only plume is steam on a cold morning, and we’ll probably pipe that to the laundry.
Tap‑to‑open Q&A
“Aluminum seems energy‑hungry — is that a problem?”
It’s a feature. Aluminum is a battery in metal form: front‑loaded electricity becomes a century of light, rust‑proof structure that recycles at ~10% of the energy. With our solar seed factory, we print the megawatts first, then cast wings.
“How do we keep copper clean if the smelter is ‘hot’?”
Sulfide smelting is exothermic — we capture heat, strip SO₂ to make sulfuric acid (a valuable product), and run all auxiliaries electrically. The ER hall is a steady DC load that loves solar + storage.
“Are battery metal reagents nasty?”
We pick chemistries for sanity (sulfate, ammonia loops), enclose vapor paths, and recycle water. Solid waste is inert and engineered for reuse where possible. If a reagent doesn’t behave, it doesn’t get invited.
“Can these campuses live near towns?”
Yes — that’s the point. Electric drives, enclosed lines, and closed loops turn “heavy industry” into a quiet neighbor. The lake from Part 1 is a park by year five.
Up next: Mega Vans & Flywheels — Trucks as Rolling Batteries (Part 7). We’ll turn logistics into energy storage and make the site feel like a ballet.