Problem:
The Al Khali Corporation's copper mines contain 63 percent of the 23.2 million tons of copper in Saudi Arabia. The owners of the mining operation are willing to invest millions of dollars in the latest pyrometallurgical copper-extraction process. Production managers are currently examining both batch and continuous versions of the new process. The method they choose will replace the hydrometallurgical process that is now in use. What impact will the method that the production managers select have on the design of the product costing system? What impact would changing from hydrometallurgical to pyrometallurgical processing have on the design of the product costing system if both processes use continuous methods of extraction?