Concentrate
Flotation concentrate is thickened, filtered, sampled and moved to a smelter. A mine can sell concentrate without producing metal cathodes on site.
Mine to market · copper
From orebody
to copper.
Follow extraction, crushing, flotation, concentrate handling and the routes to smelting or copper cathode. See the equipment and FIFO jobs at every handover.
Choose a commodity
Five resources. Different operating chains.
Follow how ore changes into a saleable product, and where the equipment and workforce handovers occur.
Why copper changes route
Concentrate is a product. Cathode is another.
A copper mine can sell filtered concentrate for smelting elsewhere, or be part of a network that smelts and refines copper domestically. Oxide ore may take a leach and solvent extraction–electrowinning route. The six stages below describe a representative sulfide ore pathway, with those branches called out where they matter.
Copper is often recovered alongside gold, silver or other metals. One site may contain several processing circuits and product streams.
The operating chain
Six handovers, with people at each stage.
A learning model, not a site flowsheet. Select a role for its full profile and salary context.
01Geology & planning Find and plan the ore
Geologists define copper-bearing zones; mining engineers and surveyors plan safe extraction and grade control. Copper commonly occurs with gold, silver or other metals, so the payable mix and mineralogy affect the route.
Material handoverA mine plan and identified ore to extract.
- Drill rigs
- Sampling and assay
- Survey systems
- Mine design
Jobs at this stage02Extraction Mine and move
Open pits use drills, loading units and haul trucks. Underground mines use development and production drills, ground support, loaders, trucks or ore passes. Olympic Dam is an underground operation; the method changes by orebody.
Material handoverIdentified run-of-mine ore delivered to the crusher or ore-handling system.
- Production drills
- Underground loaders
- Haul trucks
- Ventilation and hoisting
Jobs at this stageUnderground production operator · Mobile plant operator · Mobile plant mechanic or HD fitter
03Comminution Crush and grind
Crushers reduce the top size. Mills and classification circuits grind the ore until copper minerals can be separated from the surrounding rock. Ore hardness, throughput and particle size govern the circuit.
Material handoverA classified slurry ready for concentration.
- Crushers and feeders
- SAG or ball mills
- Cyclones
- Slurry pumps
Jobs at this stageProcess plant operator · Fixed-plant mechanical fitter · Fixed-plant electrician
04Flotation Separate copper minerals
Reagents, air and mixing help copper-bearing sulfide minerals attach to bubbles in flotation cells. The froth becomes concentrate; other material moves to a controlled tailings stream. Testwork and the ore determine the actual circuit.
Material handoverCopper-rich concentrate and managed tailings.
- Flotation cells
- Reagent systems
- Thickeners
- Analyzers and control
Jobs at this stageProcess plant operator · Control-room operator · Electrical & instrumentation technician
05Concentrate logistics Dewater and move product
Thickeners and filters remove water before concentrate is moved in a contained system. Some Australian concentrate is exported to smelters; some is treated at an integrated domestic smelter such as Olympic Dam. Transport arrangements vary by mine.
Material handoverMeasured concentrate accepted by a transport or smelting route.
- Concentrate thickeners
- Pressure filters
- Covered storage
- Sampling and weighing
Jobs at this stageProcess plant operator · Fixed-plant mechanical fitter · Maintenance planner
06Metal production Smelt and refine
Where smelting is part of the route, heat and oxygen separate copper-bearing melt from slag. Converting and electrolytic refining can produce copper cathode. Oxide ores at some operations follow a separate leach, solvent extraction and electrowinning route instead of sulfide flotation and smelting.
Material handoverCopper cathode or another saleable copper product meeting specification.
- Smelter and converters
- Gas and acid systems
- Electrorefining cells
- SX–EW on suitable routes
Jobs at this stageProcess plant operator · Fixed-plant electrician · Mechanical or plant engineer
Choose the product route
Where does the copper go next?
Smelted and refined copper
A smelter and refinery can turn concentrate into copper cathode, with separate systems for gases, slag, electrolyte and other recovered metals.
Oxide ore: SX–EW
Suitable oxide ores may be leached, purified by solvent extraction and recovered as cathode by electrowinning. It is an alternative flowsheet, not an extra step in every sulfide mine.
Australian worked example
Olympic Dam, South Australia.
Near Roxby Downs in the far north of SA, Olympic Dam brings underground mining and several processing steps together. The map locates the deposit; it does not show access roads or operating areas.
What makes the site different?
BHP describes grinding, flotation and leach circuits, copper and uranium solvent extraction, a copper smelter and refinery, and precious metals recovery. Copper SA also includes Prominent Hill and Carrapateena, whose concentrates feed the centralised Olympic Dam smelter and refinery.
Jobs can be FIFO from Adelaide, drive-in drive-out from regional SA or residential in Roxby Downs depending on the vacancy and roster. Check each advertisement; a mine location does not guarantee FIFO for every job.
FIFO roles and rates
2026 Australian mining salary bands.
These roles appear across copper operations. The figures are broad national market references from The FIFO Hub salary dataset; they are not Olympic Dam offers or copper-specific guarantees.
| Role | Typical copper stage | Indicative annual gross cash |
|---|---|---|
| Underground production operator → | Extraction | $140k–$230k |
| Mobile plant operator → | Extraction | $105k–$160k |
| Process plant operator → | Concentrator / refinery | $100k–$155k |
| Control-room operator → | Concentrator | $120k–$175k |
| Fixed-plant electrician → | Plant maintenance | $125k–$175k |
| Electrical & instrumentation technician → | Plant controls | $135k–$190k |
| Fixed-plant mechanical fitter → | Plant maintenance | $125k–$175k |
| Boilermaker or fabricator → | Structural maintenance | $115k–$175k |
| Geologist → | Resource / grade control | $115k–$185k |
| Mining engineer → | Mine planning | $145k–$190k |
| Maintenance planner → | Shutdowns / reliability | $120k–$165k |
| Supervisor → | Operations / maintenance | $150k–$210k |
Indicative 2026 Australian mining band · updated 27 September 2026. AUD annual gross, generally before super. These are broad editorial market bands, not promised rates or a valuation of one person. They combine advertised salary evidence with mining-market role, roster and seniority context. Separate hourly market profiles are labelled as such. Super, bonuses, allowances, overtime and travel treatment vary by employer and may sit inside or outside an advertised figure. Compare the roster, ordinary hours, shift penalties and allowances in the actual offer. Open the salary and roster calculator →
Sources and further reading
Check the route against the operation.
Process and location sources checked 28 September 2026. Salary bands are an editorial reference.
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Geoscience Australia — copper
Ore types, flotation, smelting and Olympic Dam processing.
BHP — Olympic Dam
The underground mine and integrated concentrator, hydrometallurgical plant, smelter and refinery.
SA Department for Energy and Mining — Olympic Dam
Official mine location, underground ore handling and concentrate production.
BHP — Copper South Australia
Olympic Dam, Prominent Hill and Carrapateena in the South Australian copper network.
Metso — concentrator equipment
Examples of grinding, flotation, thickening, filtering and sampling equipment.
SARIG — Olympic Dam deposit
South Australian government deposit coordinates used for the map marker.
The FIFO Hub — salary guide
The site's 2026 editorial market bands and methodology; verify the relevant offer and industrial instrument.
Technical boundary: Ore type, metallurgy, transport and product specifications vary by site. This educational guide does not replace approved mine plans, site procedures, chemical controls, engineering drawings or isolation requirements.