text: After Falconbridge’s 1992 decision to market the Kidd technology, the Falconbridge and the then MIM Process Technologies groups competed for the tank house technology market. Between 1992 and 2006, 25 Kidd technology licences were sold, while there were 52 Isa process licences sold in the same period.
  Xstrata plc (now Glencore) took over MIM Holdings in 2003. The Isa Process technology continued to be developed and marketed by Xstrata Technology. Xstrata subsequently took over Falconbridge in 2006. The Kidd Process technology consequently became part of the Xstrata Technology tank house package and together they began to be marketed as IsaKidd, a name that represents the dual heritage of the technology.
  The result has been a technology package that combined what were mutually regarded as the best of both versions. This combination led to the development of new stripping systems and new cathode designs are in development.
  The variation in copper deposits on the cathode plates was one of the difficulties encountered with the earlier stripping machines. Areas of thin copper on the cathode plates, which are caused by short circuits, are difficult to separate from the stainless steel plate due to their lack of rigidity. Plates bearing such areas generally had to be rejected from the stripping machine and stripped manually. Similarly, sticky copper deposits (generally related to poor surface condition on the cathode plate, such as corroded surfaces or improper mechanical treatment), heavily nodulated cathode and laminated copper caused problems for stripping.
  Stripping machine development focussed on developing a device that could be seen as a more accommodating and universal stripping machine that could handle cathode plates with problem copper deposits without rejecting them or slowing the stripping rate.
  The result of this work was a new robotic cathode stripping machine. It incorporated the following features:
  * a stripping wedge that starts removing the copper from the top of the cathode plate and moves down to the bottom
  * guides to support the copper during the downwards motion to ensure that the copper does not strip prematurely
  * rollers designed to reduce the friction between the copper, the cathode plate and the wedge during the downward motion of the wedge
  * grippers that clamp the copper before it is pulled away from the cathode plate.
  The stripping wedges are mounted on two robotic arms, one for each side of the cathode plate. These arms strip the copper from the plate and lay the sheets of cathode copper onto conveyors for them to be taken away for bundling.