Page 447 - A Comprehensive Guide to Solar Energy Systems
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Chapter 23 • Materials: Abundance, Purification, and the Energy Cost 459
FIGURE 23.3 Indexed growth in the global mining sector versus total energy consumption [61]. Mining and quarrying
activities do not include fossil fuel extraction.
materials processing is due to the crushing and grinding process [41,54]. ultimately, ore
grade defines the final energy cost of a mining operation, but given the numerous addi-
tional processes in pyrometallurgical processing, it is estimated that the energy cost can
be up to 325 times higher compared to hydrometallurgical beneficiation [40].
Table 23.3 lists some of the energy costs per phase of Cu mining and refining. As can be
understood from the table, the energy cost is highly variable based upon the process path-
way chosen for production for a given mine. In their study, Koppelaar and Koppelaar [55]
found that ore grades had a significant impact on both diesel and electricity consump-
tion, while depth only influenced electricity use with little impact from variation. They
also found that ore grades and depth impact energy consumption more significantly in
underground than surface mines. mines that use only leaching or in situ recovery showed
no significant impact from ore grade or depth variation.
