The advantages of the ISASMELT process include:
* High productivity with a small footprint: Glencore's copper smelter in Mount Isa treats over 1 million t/y of copper concentrate through a single furnace 3.75 m in diameter. The small footprint makes the process well suited to retrofitting to existing smelters where there are significant space constraints
* Simple operation: the ISASMELT furnace does not require extensive feed preparation as the feed can be discharged from a belt conveyor directly into the furnace
* high energy efficiency: installing an ISASMELT furnace in the Mount Isa copper smelter reduced energy consumption by over 80% (through better use of the inherent energy contained in the sulfide concentrate) compared with the roaster and reverberatory furnaces previously used there
* Flexibility in feed types: ISASMELT furnaces have been used to smelt copper, lead and nickel concentrates with a wide range of compositions, including high levels of magnetite, and secondary materials, such as copper scrap and lead-acid battery paste
* Flexibility in fuel types: ISASMELT furnaces can operate with a variety of fuels, including lump coal of varying ranks, coke (lump or fine), petroleum coke, oil (including recycled oil), natural gas, and liquid petroleum gas, depending on which is the most economic at the smelter's location
* High turn-down ratio: the feed rate to a single ISASMELT installation can easily be scaled up or down, depending on the availability of concentrate and the needs of the smelter
* Low feed carry over: ISASMELT furnaces typically lose about 1% of the feed as carry-over with the waste gas, meaning that there is less material that needs to be returned to the furnace for retreatment
* Effective containment of fugitive emissions: because the furnace has only two openings at the top, any fugitive emissions can easily be captured
* High elimination of deleterious minor elements: due to the flushing action of the gases injected into the ISASMELT furnace slags, copper ISASMELT furnaces have a high elimination of minor elements, such as bismuth and arsenic, that can have deleterious effects on the properties of the product copper
* High sulfur dioxide concentration in the waste gas: the use of oxygen enrichment gives the ISASMELT plants high sulfur dioxide concentrations in the waste gas stream, making acid plants cheaper to build and operate
* Relatively low operating cost: the energy efficiency of the process, the simple feed preparation, the relative lack of moving parts, low feed carry-over rates, low labour requirements and the ease of replacing lances and refractory linings when they are worn give the ISASMELT process relatively low operating costs
* Relatively low capital cost: the simplicity of the construction of the ISASMELT furnaces and the ability to treat concentrate without drying make it cheaper than other smelting processes.