Ivanhoe’s Kipushi zinc mine in the DRC officially reopens
The restart marked exactly a century since the mine first went into production.
Chile’s Mining Minister Baldo Prokurica ordered that the building that houses his office be disinfected using quaternary ammonium enhanced with copper nanoparticles. This, in an effort to avoid the spread of covid-19.
Both on his Twitter channel and on local TV, Prokurica said that the solution being used was developed by Chilean company Aintech.
“For a long time we have been proposing the use of copper, a Chilean product that is a powerful antimicrobial agent, to back efforts to stop the spread of bacteria, viruses, and fungi in places like hospitals,” Prokurica said.
According to the minister, the copper-enhanced product that was spread in his headquarters prevents wood, fabric, and glass surfaces from becoming hosts for pathogens.
Given the properties of the substance, Prokurica said that he is proposing for it to be used in airports, bus stations and hospitals. In the case of healthcare centres, the government official said the solution can even be sprayed on protective personal equipment, such as surgical masks, to enhance their ability to avoid viruses and other elements from penetrating the fabric.
The minister also said that the masks coated with the copper product were developed a while ago and were actually presented at the PDAC conference in Toronto earlier this year.
Furthermore, Baldo Prokurica said that he has a meeting scheduled with the Chilean Mint to propose the idea of adding copper to pesos bills so that they carry fewer disease vectors, especially taking into consideration that cash is mostly used by senior citizens.
