6–10 Jul 2026
University of the Western Cape
Africa/Johannesburg timezone
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Investigating the Use of Complex Mechanics in Copper-Cobalt extraction and enviromental sustainability

7 Jul 2026, 09:30
20m
Lecture Hall GH1 (University of the Western Cape)

Lecture Hall GH1

University of the Western Cape

Oral Presentation Track A - Physics of Condensed Matter and Materials Physics of Condensed Matter and Materials

Speaker

Dr Alain Daniel Shekomba (Mineral Processing and Technology Research Centre, Department of Metallurgy, School of Mining, Metallurgy and Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South África)

Description

Abstract

Copper and the associated cobalt minerals found in the oxidised seam of the african copper belt precede their massif sulfphide reefs. The transition zone between the oxidised and the sulphide layers, still rich in Cu about 5 % and Co some times running more than 3 % is made of a mixed complex making a metallurgical operational challenge to optimally acid or alkaline dissolve Cu and Co in their aqueous solutions. On the other hand, the Complex Mechanics approach based on fractal geometry has demonstrated the ability to describe accurately the internal dynamics over time of multiple entangled constituents of complex systems. This paper will discuss the Cu and Co dissolution mechanisms in sulfuric acid as dynamics of a complex system, where the acid activities, the solution potential, pH and breaking bond energy change over time. The associated and related possible environmental damages will be forecasted, costed and evaluated.

Keywords: Complex mechanics, complex system, fractal geometry, Cooper-Cobalt ore complex, environmental damage, breaking bond energy.

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Author

Dr Alain Daniel Shekomba (Mineral Processing and Technology Research Centre, Department of Metallurgy, School of Mining, Metallurgy and Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South África)

Co-author

Prof. Antoine F. Mulaba Bafubiandi (Mineral Processing and Technology Research Centre, Department of Metallurgy, School of Mining, Metallurgy and Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South África)

Presentation materials