F Penalties often start at 300 – 500 ppm which is to say 300 ppm in Japan / Korea and perhaps ~ 500 ppm into China.
- Penalty scales of US $1- 2/dmt per 100 ppm.
- Some cases Fluorine (F): US $1.00 per dmt for each 100 ppm over 300 ppm
- Others F: US $2.00 per dmt for each 100 ppm over 300 ppm
Problem is that there is a hard limit of 1,000 ppm into China for Copper concentrate as mandated by the central government.
If quality is not less than say <500 ppm F we will be disadvantaged in the marketplace in terms of placing our material and above <700 ppm F you will really have trouble. This is not to say a market could not found or a way to place it but it might be expensive.
Vale’s Salobo concentrates out of Brazil are >1,000 ppm and may be as high as 1,500 – 2,000 ppm range. The main long term offtake for Salobo is Aurubis in to their Hamburg smelter where they installed a fluorine removal circuit specifically to handle Salobo material long term. They also deliver to KGHM Glogow 1 in Poland, Boliden/Ronnskar in Sweden and Vedanta Sterlite treats some at Tuticorin.
It is very rare to have so much Fluorine in a concentrate.