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refining. Milling is the process of separating waste rock from
ore, generally through chemical treatment, to produce “concen-
trate”. Copper concentrate, for example, is approximately 20-25
percent copper. A mill or concentrator is built at or near
virtually every mine in Ontario.
Smelting is the process of converting concentrate into a
relatively pure product. A copper smelter, for example, produces
about 99 percent pure copper.
Refining is the process of producing pure metal from smelted
product by heat-induced chemical reactions, electrolytic methods,
solvent extraction, hydro metallurgical methods, or
vapometallurigical methods.
It is rare for a mining company to buy mineral property
outright in Ontario. For this reason, Ontario mining companies
typically do not incur high costs to acquire reserves and,
consequently, do not have high cost depletion.
Small entities called junior exploration companies do much
of the exploring for new mining properties in Ontario.
Typically, junior exploration companies do not have enough
financial resources to produce the ore they find. The junior
company, once it has identified a body of ore, usually enters
into an agreement with an established producer under which the
producer does additional work on the property in exchange for an
ownership interest in it. If the additional work by the senior
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Last modified: May 25, 2011