The Land of Eternal Castings at the Głogów Copper Smelter and Refinery celebrates the production of 11 million tonnes

The Anode Furnace Unit of the Głogów II Copper Smelter and Refinery produces anode copper almost three times more efficiently than at the start of its operations - by September this year, the unit, dubbed the ‘Land of Eternal Castings’, produced the eleven millionth tonne of this metal.

“11 million tonnes of anode copper is a result that confirms that KGHM continues to set standards in the metallurgical industry. The achievement of the staff of the Głogów Copper Smelter and Refinery proves that we are able to combine tradition with modernity, thus ensuring the company's stability and competitiveness in demanding markets around the world,” said Andrzej Szydło, President of the Management Board of KGHM Polska Miedź S.A.

“Congratulations on the impressive result to the entire team of the unit. Thanks to you, your knowledge, experience and commitment, as well as the work of many generations of metallurgists, we achieve such production results. The smelter, despite being 46 years old, definitely is a world-class facility. It is constantly being modernised and new investments are still being implemented here,” said Jarosław Siedlecki, Executive Manager of the Głogów Copper Smelter and Refinery.

A UNIQUE STORY

The origins of the P-24 Anode Furnace Unit date back to 1976. On 31 August, after a three-week heating of the first stationary anode furnace at Smelter II, trial copper smelting took place, in the form of anodes from a 7-tonne charge. ‘The Land of Eternal Castings’ is the colloquial name of the unit due to the number of castings it performs. More than a thousand of these are performed here each year. Sometimes up to four are performed per day.

The first million tonnes of anode copper was produced after 10 years, and now it takes less than four years to produce one million! These figures speak for themselves - they testify both to the high level of technical progress, influenced by the investments made and the ongoing modernisation, and to the knowledge and experience of the metallurgists working here.

The Anode Furnace Unit is not just furnaces, but also casting machines (commonly known as carousels) and a process gas dedusting plant. In 2021, the technological commissioning of the new process gas dedusting and desulphurisation plant began, and a year later the new casting machine for the stationary anode furnace unit was commissioned. Another investment task at the unit will be a complete modernisation of the casting machine of the rotary anode furnaces.

THE LAND OF ETERNAL CASTING IN NUMBERS:

• 100 employees
• 4 furnaces: two stationary furnaces for the melting of solid charges, two rotary furnaces for the processing of liquid charges
• 2 casting machines
• 375 kg is the weight of an anode produced at Smelter II
• 10 - after so many years the first million tonnes of cast anode copper was produced
• 4 years (a little less) - this is how long it took to produce 11 million tonnes of anode copper