“…These properties are related to the cost of energy required to bring seawater to mining operations, usually farther than 120 km (Hernández et al, 2012). Copper sulfate pentahydrate (Blue vitriol) is a copper salt with a wide range of commercial applications: in agriculture as a pesticide, fungicide, feed, and soil additive (Milligan and Moyer, 1975); in mining, it is used as a floatation reagent in recovery of zinc and lead (De Juan et al, 1999); as a blue and green pigment in dyes, as a print toner in photography, in the production of other copper compounds, and in leather tanning (Richardson, 1997).…”