Tag Archives: Ausenco

Deep Yellow names Ausenco as Tumas project EPCM contractor

Deep Yellow Limited says Ausenco Services Pty Ltd has been selected as the preferred contractor to deliver the detailed engineering and the engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services for the company’s flagship Tumas project in Namibia.

It is intended that an EPCM contract will be executed following the final investment decision. In the meantime, the parties will execute a detailed engineering agreement to advance key workstreams ahead of FID and finalising a full EPCM contract.

Deep Yellow said it looked forward to working with Ausenco to deliver the Tumas project as the company’s first mining operation and flagship development. Following the FID, Deep Yellow will work toward commencing operations in 2026 and establish Tumas as the fourth uranium mine in Namibia.

Deep Yellow Managing Director and CEO, John Borshoff, stated: “The selection of Ausenco as the preferred EPCM contractor for the Tumas project is a significant project milestone. Ausenco is a market-leading engineering firm, highly regarded within the industry for their technical ability and track record of project delivery. Having Ausenco on board will complement the project delivery team to add significant value to the exciting Tumas Project, in a period of extended positive outlook in the uranium supply sector.”

Ausenco President, Reuben Joseph, added: “Ausenco is proud to be selected as the preferred EPCM contractor for the Tumas project. From our involvement in the project since 2019, and in particular, the work we completed on the DFS and subsequent December 2023 Re-Costing Addendum for Tumas, we fully understand the project’s exciting potential and Tier-1 status. We look forward to working with Deep Yellow and providing our extensive skill set and market-leading engineering and project delivery experience.”

Ausenco

Canada Nickel instructs Ausenco to kick off FEED stage at Crawford nickel project

Canada Nickel Company announced today that it has commenced Front End Engineering Design (FEED) at its Crawford Nickel Sulphide project, in Ontario, led by its long-term engineering partner Ausenco Engineering Canada ULC and supported by a number of engineering firms from the project’s feasibility study.

Mark Selby, CEO of Canada Nickel, said: “As we continue to successfully advance Crawford financing and permitting activities, we are confidently moving into this next phase of project development which maintains our targets of a mid-2025 construction decision and first production by year-end 2027 by sufficiently advancing engineering on a number of fronts.”

The FEED step in this next phase of project development is expected to be completed by August 2024. FEED activities will be supported by data collected during the 2024 winter geotechnical program, which is currently nearing completion. This program was focused on continuing to de-risk the project and acquiring sufficient data to allow a construction start once a decision has been made. This year’s activities were focused in the process plant, primary crushing, mine stockpile and tailings management areas.

These activities also included the driving of 24 test bearing-piles in the process plant and primary crusher areas which will be used for refining structural foundation designs.

The bankable feasibility study on Crawford outlined conventional open-pit mining techniques to mine 1,715 Mt ore and 3,992 Mt waste over a 33.5 year life, including 2.5 years of pre-stripping. Open-pit mining operations at Crawford will be performed by a mixed fleet of mining equipment. Areas where the footwall is in clay will be mined with 120-t-class backhoe excavators loading 40 t articulated trucks. Areas where the footwall is in sand and till will be mined with 300 t electric face shovels loading 90 t trucks. This will include clay contained in mixed clay/sand and till benches.

A bench height of 7.5 m will be employed to RL180 (approximately 90 m below the mean surface elevation), which is below the lowest horizon where overburden will be encountered. The 1,037 Mt of rock contained within these benches (63% of all 7.5 m bench material) will be mined predominantly with 700 t face shovels (Cat 6060 and Komatsu PC7000 cited). A lesser tonnage of rock will be loaded by 50 t payload wheel loaders (Komatsu WE1850) and 100 t payload rope shovels (Cat 7495 and Komatsu P&H 4100 cited). All three loading units will load 290 t trucks (the report cites the Caterpillar 794 or Komatsu 930E as examples) equipped with AHS and trolley assist.

The 4,047 Mt rock that will be mined below RL180 will be predominantly loaded by the rope shovels, supported by face shovels and front-end loaders. Over the life of mine, 2% of total rock will be loaded by wheel loaders, 30% by face shovels and the remaining 68% by rope shovels.

Peak production will be in year 11 when the 290 t fleet will total 56, loaded by three large rope shovels. Interestingly, to take full advantage of AHS haul trucks, which will not be delayed for operator delays, the 700 t face shovels and rope shovels will be operated tele-remotely. Additionally, an additional operator will be provided for each fleet per shift, to facilitate operator breaks. For example, at peak production there will be two 700 t face shovels and three rope shovels operational. These will be operated by a team of three face shovel operators and four shovel operators on each shift.

No drilling and blasting of overburden will be required. For pioneer operations on the initial bench of rock mining, small diesel powered and conventionally operated drills will be used to drill 127 mm blast holes. Below this initial bench, larger electrically powered units equipped with an autonomous drilling system (ADS) will be used for drilling 229 mm blast holes on 7.5 m benches and 271 mm blast holes on 15 m benches. Final walls will be pre-split. Pre-split holes will be drilled using the same machine as for pioneering.

Production equipment will be supported by various units of support equipment, including tracked dozers, wheel dozers, wheel loaders, graders, water tankers and utility excavators. A mining contractor will be used to expedite the start-up, with particular focus on sourcing aggregate from off-site and establishing the initial benches in clay. Thereafter, all mining fleet will be owner-operated.

Surface haul roads for the 290-t-class trucks will be 35 m wide. Where trolley assist is used on in-pit ramps, the width will be 50 m, which allows for trolley infrastructure and an extra lane to pass any vehicle (including service vehicles) that may be stopped under the trolley line. Other roads will measure 15 m wide.

Electrical demand in the pit will peak at 70 MW (operating load) in year 13 and average 30 MW over the life of mine. The main customer will be the trolley assist system, consuming 62% of the total kilowatt-hours. The in-pit dewatering system will consume a further 9%, while workshops and the blasting plant require 1%. The remaining 28% will be consumed by mobile electric equipment, including blast hole drills, face shovels and rope shovels. Extending power to the various units of electric equipment will require a network of overhead lines that progressively extends, with a total of 68.7 km installed over the life of mine. This total includes 19 km of lines that will have been previously removed and reinstalled. Mobile electrical equipment (shovels and drills) and pumps will be supplied from mobile substations that are mounted on skids or wheels and can be towed by a wheel dozer.

Canada Nickel retained the technology consultant Peck Tech to assist with the design and implementation of ADS and AHS. It also retained the global technology company ABB to assist with the design and implementation of trolley-assisted truck haulage. It says, collectively, these technologies will achieve a reduction in the unit mining operating cost of 26%, with attendant impact on the economic limits of open-pit mining; plus a reduction in the open-pit labour component of 33%. The jobs being eliminated are lower skilled equipment operator positions that peer operations are having difficulty filling. These positions will be partially replaced by higher skilled positions associated with the implementation and maintenance of technology.

At Crawford, ADS machines would be supervised remotely in an office control room, or locally (ie in the pit) via a tablet. The nominal span of control will be one supervisor for every three operating ADS units. The report estimates that there are approximately 100 ADS equipped machines operating globally, with 80% supplied by Epiroc. Epiroc’s PV271 is cited as a blasthole drill option along with the Sandvik DR412i.

As at other autonomous haulage mines, at Crawford, AHS machines would be supervised by a team of engineers, technicians, coders, ‘runners’ (who monitor the status of equipment in the pit), and dispatchers. As some positions require a fixed number of personnel, irrespective of the number of operational units, and other positions require additional personnel if the total fleet exceeds a certain number, the overall span of control varies. For Crawford’s mine plan, the life of mine average is seven trucks per person, per shift.

With the energy prices that have been forecast for Crawford, the energy savings through use of trolley is estimated at C$31/km travelled. Productivity savings result from the increased speed of haul trucks traveling uphill on trolley. For the class of truck planned at Crawford, a doubling of speed on trolley is possible. This would lead to an overall reduction in average cycle time over the life of mine of 14%. This allows the mine plan to be achieved with fewer trucks, with the additional benefit of reducing congestion associated with ‘bunching’ of units. Maintenance wise, with the lower diesel consumption rate for a truck travelling on trolley, the interval between overhauls and replacements can be extended.

In addition to the cost benefits listed above, trolley assist also has significantly environmental benefits, resulting from the reduction in particulate matter and greenhouse gases associated with generating energy from hydrocarbons. In the event trolley assist were not used at Crawford, diesel consumption by the fleet of 290 t trucks would approximately double leading to a 53% increase in CO2 emissions.

Eight of the 10 mining stages would include trolley-assist infrastructure, with just the small East Zone starter phases EZ1 and EZ2 not having sufficient travel on the ramps to justify the technology. Trolley assist will also be provided to each of the stockpiles and to the waste rock impoundment.

The report adds: “A key assumption in the design, based on operating experience at Palabora and Sishen, is that steady-state utilization of each trolley equipped ramp (measured in percentage of potential tonnes x equipped kilometres) would be 90%. It was also assumed each new in-pit segment would take 18 months to reach this utilisation, with a key constraint being the time required to open a bench sufficiently that fly rock from blasting would not damage the system. For the dump, where no blasting would take place, the time required to reach steady-state was assumed to be 12 months. Over the life of mine, 73% of total uphill tonnes x kilometres travelled by the 290 t trucks would be on trolley-assist. The smaller 90 t and articulated trucks will not be equipped for trolley assist.”

Eldridge, Brightstar Capital Partners, Claure Group to acquire majority stake in Ausenco

Eldridge, Brightstar Capital Partners and Claure Group have signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in Ausenco, a global integrated engineering and consulting services provider to the minerals and metals industries, and energy transition market, from Resource Capital Fund VI L.P. and other co-investors.

The company’s co-founder, Zimi Meka, will remain CEO, board member and investor in Ausenco.

Founded in 1991, Ausenco’s 3,000 employees are focused on the world’s most challenging engineering and consulting projects, drawing on deep technical expertise with a commitment to sustainably delivering end-to-end solutions for its clients and their communities. The team of scientists, engineers and professionals design and build efficient mine and metal extraction facilities; deliver sustainable mine waste and water management, and mine closure and remediation solutions; and engage with local and Indigenous communities to create lasting benefit, the company says.

Meka said: “We’ve always been about challenging what’s possible and delivering services sustainably and with integrity. From permitting to closure, our people are finding better ways to plan projects, efficiently use resources, protect the environment, and deliver value to clients and communities. In Eldridge, Brightstar and Claure Group we have partners that understand this ambition and our culture.”

Ausenco has been an integral part of the RCF VI portfolio since the original investment in December 2014, and subsequent privatisation from the ASX in 2016 in a deal that valued Ausenco at A$150 million ($97 million), RCF said.

“During RCF VI’s ownership, Ausenco has constructed four major copper concentrators: Carrapateena (pictured, photo courtesy of OZ Minerals), one of the largest copper reserves in Australia, Constancia and Mina Justa in Peru and Mantoverde in Chile, for a combined annual copper capacity of more than 400,000 t,” RCF added. In addition to copper, Ausenco has grown capabilities in sustainability, lithium and operational performance.

Todd Boehly, Tony Minella and Duncan Bagshaw, co-founders of Eldridge, said: “We invest in what people need and what people want – both qualities expressed in Ausenco’s activity the past three decades. Ausenco has worked around the world to deliver minerals critical to nearly every aspect of our lives and to the ongoing energy transition. We are excited to partner with a world-class management team to further enhance and diversify their service offerings.”

Andrew Weinberg, Founder and CEO of Brightstar Capital Partners, said: “Ausenco plays a vital role in facilitating the global transition to electrification and electric vehicles. Brightstar is confident that Ausenco is strategically positioned for future growth due to its impressive track record of performance, and the anticipated increased demand for metals and minerals that are essential to sustainable solutions.”

Marcelo Claure, Founder and CEO of Claure Group, who will join Ausenco’s Board of Directors and has focused investments in Latin America and the energy transition, added: “With the shift to more sustainable energy gaining momentum, Latin America will have a key role to play as the main producing region for essential minerals, such as copper and lithium. Given Ausenco’s strong presence and pipeline of projects in the region, we believe the company will be at the forefront of this transition, actively contributing to the electrification of the world.”

Arizona Sonoran Copper hires Ausenco for Cactus and Parks/Salyer project PFS

Arizona Sonoran Copper Company says it has engaged Ausenco as lead engineer to deliver an integrated prefeasibility study (PFS) at the Cactus and Parks/Salyer project, in Arizona, USA, by early 2024.

The project, on private land, is a brownfields site with in-place infrastructure and is accessible via highway.

Additionally, the company is pleased to announce the appointment of Victor Moraila as Chief Engineer, joining as the company transitions into a US-based copper developer.

Ausenco will initially review the Cactus draft PFS and incorporate into the new re-scoped PFS, which includes Parks/Salyer. The study will explore a simple heap leach operation, targeting a potential of 50,000 tons (45,359 t) per annum of LME Grade A Copper Cathode from an on-site solvent extraction/electrowinning (SX/EW) plant.

Mineralised material will be sourced from four deposits initially, including Stockpile, Cactus East, Parks/Salyer and Cactus West.

Pending a successful metallurgical program with Rio Tinto’s Nuton Technologies, and a subsequent commercial agreement, the company and Ausenco will layer in the primary sulphides as a fifth source of mineralised material for the SX-EW plant.

Back in July, Arizona Sonoran announced it had entered into a one-year exclusivity period with Nuton™, a Rio Tinto Venture that, at its core, is a portfolio of proprietary copper leach related technologies and capability. The sulphide potential is not included in the 2021 Cactus preliminary economic assessment, which contemplated a simple heap leach and SX-EW operation over an 18-year mine life, producing an average of 28,000 t/y of LME Grade A copper cathode.

In addition to its own technical staff, Ausenco will lead a technical consultant team comprised of Samuel Engineering, AGP Mining Consultants, Stantec, MineFill Services, Clear Creek Associates and Call & Nicholas Inc.

As part of the PFS work for the project, the company and Ausenco have agreed to complete trade-off and optimisation studies and detailed mine production scenario analysis, in conjunction with AGP Mining, around the following areas:

  • Mineralised material sources from an open-pit expansion (Cactus West), underground development (Cactus East and Parks/Salyer), and the existing stockpile;
  • Ore handling, storage, and agglomeration;
  • Leach pad design and operation;
  • Acid storage, consumption and handling;
  • Solvent extraction and electro-winning;
  • Existing and new infrastructure (as required);
  • Preliminary design of access roads in coordination with mine access roads;
  • Preliminary design and location of mine support facilities; and
  • Mine and geotechnical design.

A PFS detailing the oxide and enriched mineralised material is projected to take approximately 10 months to complete, with results currently expected in the December quarter of 2023. Based on the results of current metallurgical testing with Nuton, layering in the primary sulphide material into the mine plan would extend delivery into early 2024.

George Ogilvie, ASCU President and CEO, said: “As Arizona Sonoran Copper Company emerges as a mid-tier copper developer, we are thrilled to welcome the depth of experiences of both Victor and Ausenco; each rooted in quality and value-driven projects. Looking forward, Arizona Sonoran Copper Company is bolstering the technical services team, necessary team to deliver domestically produced copper into the US copper supply chain, from the third largest independent copper deposit in the US.”

Caravel Minerals takes HPGR use forward to DFS

Caravel Minerals has issued a prefeasibility study update on its namesake project in Western Australia, which, among other things, outlines opportunities to incorporate high pressure grinding rolls (HPGRs) and coarse particle flotation (CPF).

The company only issued the original prefeasibility study in July of this year. This outlined a dual train plant and infrastructure build costing some A$1.2 billion ($806 million), with parallel development of two 13.9 Mt/y capacity trains for a total throughput capacity of 27.8 Mt/y.

Over an initial 28-year mine life, annual production was expected to come in around 62,000 t of copper in concentrate in this study.

The company said at this point that optimisation studies by Ausenco were already in progress for a single train circa-27 Mt/y design, with the pending results expected to show substantial reductions in capital expenditure and operating costs.

That study has now come out, with the company saying the single train design and the adoption of HGPR and CPF are forecast to reduce processing cash unit costs by up to A$1.23/t of ore and reduce capital costs by around A$100 million.

What’s more, the company is also anticipating reductions in both power demand and water consumption with the use of these new technologies.

After seeing such results, Caravel says it will take forward HPGR use over SAG mills in its definitive feasibility study.

It also said the inclusion of CPF in the process flowsheet had the potential to reduce capital and operating costs when compared with the original prefeasibility study flowsheet.

The original Caravel PFS mentioned the potential use of diesel-electric autonomous haulage trucks with electric trolley assist and electric power for drills and face shovels. Mining operation opportunities also included the use of shovel-grade sensors, with the company saying XRF-based bucket sampling was under consideration.

Komatsu 830Es arrive at Capstone Copper’s Mantoverde Development Project

Capstone Copper’s Mantoverde copper operation in Chile received 13 Komatsu 830E haul trucks in the March quarter in a sign of construction progress on its Mantoverde Development Project (MVDP).

The company said the MVDP at the existing Mantoverde (oxide) operation in Chile continued to progress, having, as of April 30, 2022, achieved overall progress of 49% and construction progress of 14% with the schedule remaining intact and construction completion targeted for late 2023.

Komatsu’s latest 830E, the 830E-5, comes with a 230-t capacity and is powered by a Cummins QSK60 diesel engine rated at a standard 2,500 hp (gross).

A 2021 technical report on the MVDP said the haulage fleet would mainly consist of Komatsu 830E trucks and a fleet of Cat 785s to re-handle oxide material. It said the peak required trucks will be between 2026 and 2029 with a requirement of 50 units.

The MVDP is expected to enable the company to process 235 Mt of copper sulphide reserves over a 20-year expected mine life, in addition to the operation’s existing oxide reserves. It involves the addition of a sulphide concentrator (12.3 Mt/y) and tailings storage facility, and the expansion of the existing desalination plant. This is expected to see production at Mantoverde increase from around 49,000 t of copper (cathodes only) in 2021 to approximately 120,000 t of copper (copper concentrate and cathodes) post project completion in 2024. The mine will also benefit from the production of approximately 31,000 oz/y of gold.

Work completed in the March quarter included the bulk earthworks for the primary crusher and grinding area platforms; bypass water pipeline with the internal lining, trench excavation and pipeline installation in the trench; drilling for all pumping and monitoring wells at the tailings storage facility (TSF) allowing for the commencement of the major TSF construction activities; and and the construction camp.

The MVDP is being progressed under a lump-sum turn-key engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) arrangement with Ausenco. The execution plan includes a Capstone Copper owner’s team working with the contractors during the execution phase.

FLSmidth has been selected by Ausenco to supply most of the key mineral processing technologies for the MVDP. The range of equipment and technologies includes the primary gyratory crusher, SAG mill, ball mill, traditional flotation cells, column cells, thickeners, cyclones and pumps.

The total project capital budget is now estimated to be $825 million and spend to date totals $338 million. The EPC contract total budget is approximately $525 million of which $220 million has been spent to date. The total project costs have increased slightly from $787 million to $825 million due to diesel price impact on pre-stripping costs of $23 million plus additional contingency of $15 million. The majority of the capital costs are fixed due to the nature of the lump sum turn-key contract with Ausenco of $525 million, or 67% of the original capital. Major mining equipment was price fixed prior to the current inflationary environment for approximately $140 million or 18% of the total original capital.

In the March quarter, Capstone Copper merged with Mantos Copper, a transaction that brought the MVDP into the Capstone asset base.

Ausenco receives engineering gig with Bemisa Holding at Água Azul

Bemisa Holding SA has awarded Ausenco the Conceptual and Basic Engineering for the second phase of the Água Azul gold project in Pará, Brazil, the mine engineering and consultancy company says.

Applying its cost-effective design approach and extensive gold project experience in the country, Ausenco says it will design a 1.5 Mt/y gold processing facility.

Água Azul is in the southeast of Pará, close to the polymetallic district of Carajás, according to Bemisa, which said drilling surveys to define resources and reserves are in progress, together with bench tests and pilot scale tests.

Canada Nickel’s Crawford mine could be low carbon nickel leader, Skarn says

Canada Nickel Company, following an assessment from metals and mining ESG research company, Skarn Associates, claims its Crawford project in Ontario, Canada, could have an industry leading low carbon footprint, lower than 99.7% of existing global nickel production.

When in operation, Crawford is expected to produce 2.05 t of carbon dioxide (CO2) per tonne of nickel-equivalent production over the life of mine, which is 93% lower than the industry average of 29 tonnes of CO2, it said.

These results are based on a study by Skarn Associates, applying data from Canada Nickel’s preliminary economic assessment (PEA), the results of which were released on May 25, 2021. This study from Ausenco estimated annual average nickel production of 34,000 t over a 25-year life of mine, use of autonomous trolley trucks and electric shovels to reduce diesel use by 40%, and optimisation of the carbon sequestration potential of the tailings and waste rock. A feasibility study on the project is expected to be completed by mid-2022.

On the Skarn study, Canada Nickel said: “Importantly, this CO2 footprint estimate does not include the carbon offset expected to be provided from the process of spontaneous mineral carbonation from the tailings and waste rock comprised largely of serpentine rock which naturally absorbs CO2 when exposed to air.”

Mark Selby, Chair & CEO of the company, said: “This study demonstrates that Canada Nickel’s Crawford project can be a world-leading large scale, low cost nickel supplier while possessing an extremely low carbon footprint. I am particularly excited that we can achieve this result even before we include the carbon offset potential from our waste rock and tailings which we expect to allow us to produce NetZero NickelTM, NetZero CobaltTM, and NetZero IronTM.

“These results reflect the mine’s low strip ratio and our ability to utilise the low carbon hydroelectricity in the region and by using trolley trucks and electric shovels to reduce the consumption of diesel fuel.”

Skarn Associates’ proprietary E0 GHG intensity metric relates to Scope 1 and 2 mine site emissions from mining and processing of ore, plus fugitive emissions. It includes emissions from integrated smelting and refining facilities, but excludes emissions from third-party smelting and refining, Canada Nickel explained.

Emission intensities are stated on a recovered nickel-equivalent basis, calculated using average 2020 metal prices. Emissions are pro-rated across all commodities produced by the mine, based on contribution to gross revenue.

Artemis Gold locks in Blackwater EPC processing plant price with Ausenco

After a competitive bidding process, Artemis Gold has executed a binding memorandum of understanding with Ausenco Engineering Canada Inc providing for a guaranteed maximum price (GMP) for a fixed-price engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to construct a 5.5 Mt/y processing facility and associated infrastructure at the Blackwater gold project in British Columbia, Canada.

The selection of Ausenco as the successful bidder was based on a proposal to engineer and construct the facilities for a GMP of $236 million ($188 million), subject to any technical or commercial changes requested by Artemis.

The MoU outlines the terms under which Ausenco will undertake further detailed engineering, which will form the basis of a final fixed EPC price that will not exceed the GMP. This Ausenco GMP is consistent with capital estimates in the company’s 2020 prefeasibility study on Blackwater.

A fixed price EPC contract on the processing facility and associated infrastructure represents by far the largest single component of the capital cost of Blackwater at approximately 40% of the PFS estimate of C$592 million ($470 million), Artemis says.

Ausenco has already undertaken a significant amount of detailed engineering work on the plant and will be working towards a final fixed-price EPC contract for the facilities scheduled for completion in the September quarter.

Artemis is also conducting a competitive bidding process for a GMP proposal in connection with a fixed price EPC contract for the construction of the electricity transmission line and associated offsite infrastructure, with an expected GMP award in the June quarter, it said.

Steven Dean, Chairman and CEO, said: “The execution of this MoU represents a significant investment of time and effort from management and multiple GMP bidders over the past several months. The Ausenco GMP bid serves as further validation of the initial capital costs estimated in the 2020 PFS with respect to the process plant and associated facilities, further de-risking the development of the project.

“Following a rigorous adjudication process of a number of competitive proposals, we are very pleased to be working with a world-class engineering firm such as Ausenco. Ausenco was also involved in the successful development at Atlantic Gold and the award of the GMP should give investors and potential project debt lenders greater confidence in the proposed schedule and initial capital cost to develop Blackwater on time and on budget.”

The 2020 prefeasibility study on Blackwater envisaged a three-stage development starting at 5.5 Mt/y from years 1-5, shifting to 12 Mt/y in years 6-10 and rising to 20 Mt/y in years 11-23. This would see gold production go from 248,000 oz/y to 420,000 oz/y, to 316,000 oz/y, respectively.

Hochschild’s Inmaculada set for ore sorting pilot plant

Hochschild says it has approved a $7 million budget to construct an ore sorting pilot plant at its Inmaculada gold mine in Peru in 2021.

The investment follows previous test work carried out with both TOMRA and Steinert. This saw the company conduct initial bulk testing in Germany with both companies and a 20-t pilot scale test with Steinert in Brazil.

The company also enlisted the help of Ausenco to carry out a prefeasibility study on applying ore sorting at Inmaculada.

In the company’s 2019 preliminary results presentation back in February, Ramón Barúa, Hochschild Mining Chief Financial Officer, said ore sorting could prove particularly useful at the Millet and Divina veins at Inmaculada.

He said, in addition to consulting with TOMRA, Steinert and Ausenco, the company had been working in-house to improve the sensors and the algorithm that separates the ore from the waste in these sorters, with the technology showing a clean separation between the quartz-based mineralisation and the andesite holding the rock at Inmaculada.

In its latest financial year results released today, Hochschild said of the ore sorting investment: “We believe this project may eventually deliver significant improvements in recoveries at the mine and potentially help to optimise other key projects in Hochschild’s portfolio.”

For 2020, the company recorded overall production of 289,293 oz of gold-equivalent at an all-in sustaining cost of $1,098/oz of gold equivalent. Inmaculada remained the cornerstone of the company, producing 176,086 oz of gold-equivalent.