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Oil, Gas & Mining vocabulary · Ore Processing

Concentrate

Meaning in oil, gas & mining, with examples

/ˈkɑːnsəntreɪt/nounCore term

In oil, gas & mining, concentrate means: The main product of a processing plant: a powder in which the valuable mineral is much richer than in the original ore, ready to be sold or sent to a smelter.

In Turkish: konsantre, zenginleştirilmiş cevher

How it is used

Used for copper, zinc, lead and other base metals: copper concentrate, concentrate grade, concentrate sales. Sales contracts mention moisture content and penalty elements such as arsenic. As a verb, to concentrate ore means to make the valuable part richer.

Example sentences

  1. The plant produces a copper concentrate grading 25 percent copper.

  2. Concentrate is trucked to the port and shipped to smelters in Asia.

Common collocations

  • copper concentrate
  • zinc concentrate
  • concentrate grade
  • ship concentrate
  • flotationA process that separates valuable minerals from waste: chemicals make the mineral particles stick to air bubbles, which rise to form a froth that is skimmed off.
  • smeltingHeating ore or concentrate to a very high temperature in a furnace to separate the metal from other elements, leaving a waste called slag.
  • gradeThe amount of valuable metal or mineral in a rock, usually given as a percentage (for copper) or in grams per tonne (for gold and silver).
  • recoveryThe percentage of the valuable metal in the ore that a processing plant actually manages to capture in its final product.
  • tailingsThe finely ground rock and water left over after the valuable minerals have been removed from ore in a processing plant.

More terms: Ore Processing

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