Evaluation of the Construction effects of Copper Cathode Production Plant on Flash Furnace Method in Sungun Copper Complex

Abstract

In order to reduce environmental hazards, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a legal requirement for the construction of metal processing and production factories. The purpose of this study was to assess the environmental impacts of the establishment of Sungun cathode copper factory using flash furnace method and also its compatibility with the environment was studied in this research. Civil part of the factory is under construction in the north of East Azarbaijan Province and is adjacent to Sungun copper mine. The location of the project site is in the vicinity of the Arasbaran Protected Area and is therefore important in terms of environmental impact in the area. In this study, at first library studies were carried out and then, data and information on environmental impact assessment were collected by relevant experts, and eventually the Iranian version of the Leopold Matrix (modified Leopold( was selected as the evaluation method. Next, activities during the construction phase and environmental parameters in each of the physical, biological, and socio-economic and cultural aspects of the project were determined. Then, project activities and environmental parameters were placed in columns and rows of the matrix, respectively. This matrix was bearing cells containing two values of amplitude and magnitude of the impact. The numeric value for amplitude was 1-5 and for magnitud was 5+ to 5. With the production of two amplitude and magnitude, the final score was obtained for each cell with positive or negative scores. The mean scores for each row and column of the matrix were calculated, based on which conclusions were made for the matrix. In this study, at first library studies were carried out and then, data and information on environmental impact assessment were collected by relevant experts, and eventually the Iranian version of the Leopold Matrix (modified Leopold) was selected as the evaluation method. Next, activities during the construction phase and environmental parameters in each of the physical, biological, and socio-economic and cultural aspects of the project were determined. Then, project activities and environmental parameters were placed in columns and rows of the matrix, respectively. This matrix was bearing cells containing two values of amplitude and magnitude of the impact. The numeric value for amplitude was 1-5 and for magnitud was 5+ to 5. With the production of two amplitude and magnitude, the final score was obtained for each cell with positive or negative scores. The mean scores for each row and column of the matrix were calculated, based on which conclusions were made for the matrix. Environmental assessment of the construction of a cathode copper processing plant using Flash Furnace was rejected because of the large volume of contamination even after two environmental reforms. Therefore we propose that, the athouriteis of the factory examin the possibility of other methods to produce cathode copper including hydromeatalurogic methods and a new introduced technology named SKS.