Tag Archives: British Columbia

Weir to install ‘largest mill circuit pump in North America’ at Teck’s HVC mine

Base metals, Comminution of minerals, Mine operation news, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services, Water management, , , , , , , , , ,

The Weir Group PLC has been awarded contracts to supply its WARMAN® slurry pumps and CAVEX® hydrocyclones to Teck’s Highland Valley Copper (HVC) Mine Life Extension (MLE) project in British Columbia, Canada.

Teck’s Highland Valley Copper Mine Life Extension Project aims to extend the mine’s operational life by enhancing existing site infrastructure, addressing the growing demand for copper driven by the transition to a low-carbon future. The project is expected to yield approximately 1.95 Mt of additional copper over its lifespan.

A cornerstone of this project is the WARMAN MCR® 760 pump, which will be the largest mill circuit pump in North America when installed. This addition complements Weir’s existing and planned installations of equivalent-sized pumps in South America and Australia.

The WARMAN MCR 760 pump was developed to meet the demand for mill circuit pumps that can handle unprecedentedly high flow rates, minimising the number of operating lines in a plant, and addressing the global trend of declining ore grades that require increased throughput for economical mineral recovery. The WARMAN MCR 760 pump is designed to maximise wear life in arduous mill duties and facilitate easy and safe maintenance, regardless of an operator’s maintenance schedule or approach.

In addition, Weir will supply CAVEX 800CVX and 650CVX hydrocyclones for the MLE Project. HVC, with its experience operating CAVEX hydrocyclones, has chosen this solution for its consistently high classification efficiency, capacity and low maintenance requirements, according to Weir.

The MLE project will be fully supported by the local Weir service centre in Kamloops, British Columbia, ensuring mission-critical equipment at the HVC mine operates efficiently, it says. The proximity of this service centre means any maintenance or support needs can be addressed promptly, minimising downtime and helping the mine maintain its targets. This local presence is crucial for the mine’s operations, providing reliable access to necessary parts and expert service.

Quinton Sutherland, Weir, Divisional Senior Product Manager, Pumps said: “Weir has a proven track record of supplying and supporting the largest, highest capacity mill pumps on the market. Designing, manufacturing and supporting pumps of this scale presents unique technical and engineering challenges, which is why Weir’s team of experts, drawing on decades of experience supporting customers across the globe, are the best choice when deciding who to trust with the most critical mill circuit operations.

“It’s an engineering and manufacturing feat that’s not easily replicable, which is why it’s important that we can demonstrate to our customers that we’ve done this before, and they know that they can have absolute confidence in us.”

Phil Blondin, Weir, Director, Capital Sales North America, added: “Weir prioritises being close to our customers wherever they are in the world. We have a service centre in Kamloops – a close drive to HVC – and a local team that can provide service and maintenance support, as
well as an inventory program that encompasses the lifecycle of the products we supply.

“This is the first mill pump this large in North America and, while Weir has manufactured and installed pumps this size in other parts of the world, we recognise that having a service network to support customers at every stage of the project is an essential part of what we’re offering.”

Metso strengthens Canada footprint, proximity to customers with Prince George service centre

Mining equipment, Mining services, ,

Metso says it continues to strengthen its footprint and proximity to customers by investing in a new service centre in Prince George, British Columbia.

British Columbia is one of the emerging mining regions in Canada and the new facility will support the growing needs of customers, primarily operating in copper and gold segments, according to the company.

Justin Ayotte, Vice President, Sales and Service, Canada, Metso, says: “The new service centre enhances our ability to deliver OEM-certified on-site inspections, turnkey service solutions and off-site repairs. Strategically located near a key mining region, it enables faster repair times, shorter turnaround and sustainability benefits by reducing transportation distances. We will also offer comprehensive field service support to better serve our customers.”

The centre will service a wide range of mining equipment from pit to port, including filters, flotation cells, grinding mills, crushers, screens, pumps and apron feeders.

With approximately €6 million ($6.68 million) invested, Metso plans to begin construction after the land acquisition is finalized, with completion expected in the second half of 2025. The new center will create jobs to skilled personnel, including service engineers and technical experts.

In late 2023, Metso announced plans to enhance customer service capabilities in North America by expanding the Mesa Service center in Arizona. This expansion will increase the repair shop area by nearly 60%. Additionally, a state-of-the-art and fully equipped training centre will be built on the same property to bridge the knowledge gap between people, equipment and operational goals in the region. Both the service centre expansion and the training centre are expected to be completed during the December quarter of 2025.

Beyond North America, Metso continued to invest in its service footprint. In March 2024, Metso inaugurated its largest Service centre globally in Karratha, Australia. The company also announced plans to expand its service center in Chile and construct a new service centre in Peru.

Metso has an extensive service center network with over 3,000 field services professionals, technical support and more than 40 service centres on six continents. The company has a service certification program and has been consistently investing in its people and service center network to enhance its customer service capabilities.

SMS Equipment brings Komatsu PC8000-11 mining shovel to Hudbay Copper Mountain mine

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A new Komatsu PC8000-11 surface mining excavator has arrived at Hudbay Minerals’ Copper Mountain mine in Princeton, British Columbia, Canada, as part of the company’s plans to reduce emissions and up productivity at the operation.

Officials from SMS Equipment, Komatsu Germany and Hudbay Minerals Inc gathered at the mine recently to celebrate the arrival of the machine, which, at 9.7-m tall, 10-m-wide and weighing nearly 800 t, is the largest surface mining excavator on the market, according to Komatsu. The PC8000-11 operates solely on electricity, contributing to the operation’s emissions-reduction strategy.

“Embracing a sustainable future through electrification is an important step in our collective journey to decarbonisation,” Dennis Chmielewski, Executive Vice President, Mining at SMS Equipment, says. “We are a proud equipment, service and technology solutions partner to Hudbay and a long-time supporter of the Copper Mountain mine trolley-assist project. The addition of a large-capacity excavator to the mine’s electric infrastructure marks exciting progress on its path to net-zero.”

The Copper Mountain mine is one of the only open-pit mines in North America to operate an electric trolley-assist haulage system. The 1-km haul ramp and seven pantograph-equipped electric haul trucks that comprise the project were commissioned in the spring of 2022, in partnership with SMS Equipment, Komatsu, ABB, Clean BC and B.C. Hydro. The latest PC8000 joins two other electric excavators operating at the site that complement the mine’s overall electric fleet.

Walt Halipchuk, Director of Sustainability and Assets, Hudbay, said: “Electric equipment and infrastructure significantly reduce our reliance on diesel, the largest source of GHG emissions at the mine. With the help of this technology, we are on track to reduce our emissions in 2024 by 6,000 t of CO2e.

“The journey to net-zero is not one we can navigate alone. With the help of value-added partners like SMS Equipment and Komatsu, we can explore our challenges and find sustainable solutions without sacrificing productivity, efficiency or profitability.”

The Komatsu shovel was made in Germany and assembled at Copper Mountain mine earlier this year. Komatsu officials, including the President and Managing Director of Komatsu Germany GmbH, were on-site for a handover ceremony and reception for Hudbay employees and SMS Equipment representatives.

Elkview

Teck to exit steelmaking coal business with Glencore, Nippon Steel deals

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Teck Resources has agreed to sell its entire interest in its steelmaking coal business, Elk Valley Resources (EVR), through a sale of a majority stake to Glencore for an implied enterprise value of $9.0 billion, and a sale of a minority stake to Nippon Steel Corporation (NSC).

The sale of Teck’s steelmaking coal business at the implied enterprise value of $9 billion on a 100% basis achieves a simple and complete separation of steelmaking coal from base metals.

Glencore has agreed to acquire 77% of EVR for $6.9 billion in cash, payable to Teck at closing of the Glencore transaction, subject to customary closing adjustments.

NSC has agreed to acquire a 20% interest in EVR in exchange for its current 2.5% interest in Elkview Operations plus $1.3 billion in cash payable to Teck at closing of the NSC transaction and $400 million paid out of cash flows from EVR. NSC will also enter into a long-term steelmaking coal offtake rights arrangement at market terms, continuing NSC’s long-standing commercial arrangement for the purchase of steelmaking coal from the Elk Valley.

POSCO has advised Teck it intends to exchange its current 2.5% interest in Elkview Operations and its 20% interest in the Greenhills joint venture, for a 3% interest in EVR. At closing of the Glencore transaction, Glencore will acquire from Teck any remaining receivable payable to Teck by EVR.

Teck will continue to operate the steelmaking coal business and will retain all cash flows from EVR until closing of the Glencore transaction, estimated to be $1 billion. Following the closing of that transaction, Teck will have no further financial interest in EVR.

Key historical information on EVR, as reported by Teck, is outlined below:

  • Production of steelmaking coal of 21.5 Mt in 2022 and 17.3 Mt year to date to September 30, 2023;
  • EBITDA of C$7.4 billion ($5.4 billion) in 2022 and C$3.7 billion year to date to September 30, 2023;
  • Profit before tax of C$6 billion in 2022 and C$3.1 billion year to date to September 30, 2023; and
  • Gross assets as at September 30, 2023 of C$18.5 billion.

Jonathan Price, President and CEO, Teck, said: “This transaction will be a catalyst to re-focus Teck as a Canadian-based critical minerals champion with an extensive portfolio of copper growth projects, unlocking the full value potential of the company. This sale will ensure Teck is well-capitalised and able to realise value from our base metals business and deliver strong returns to our shareholders while maintaining a robust balance sheet. Glencore has made strong commitments that will create new benefits for Canada and the Elk Valley and ensure responsible stewardship of the steelmaking coal operations for the long term.”

Gary Nagle, CEO of Glencore, said: “We are pleased to have reached agreement to acquire Teck’s steelmaking coal operations in the Elk Valley. These world-class assets and the experienced people that operate them are expected to meaningfully complement our existing thermal and steelmaking coal production located in Australia, Colombia and South Africa. Glencore has high regard for the business that has been developed over many decades in British Columbia and looks forward to maintaining and enhancing its operational performance, environmental stewardship and social contribution.

“We are dedicated to working with all governing bodies and stakeholders to ensure that the transaction is of benefit to Canada, which includes a commitment from Glencore regarding employment, engaging in further reclamation efforts and to engage constructively and meaningfully with the Indigenous Nations in the Elk Valley. This transaction also deepens our longstanding commitment to Canada, supporting our position as one of the largest diversified miners and suppliers of critical minerals in Canada, in one of the world’s leading mining jurisdictions.”

Closing of the Glencore transaction is subject to customary conditions, including receipt of approvals under the Investment Canada Act and competition approvals in several jurisdictions, and is expected to occur in the third quarter of 2024. The NSC transaction is also subject to customary conditions, including receipt of certain competition approvals, and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024. These transactions are not inter-conditional.

Rajant, Redline network solution decreases downtime at Copper Mountain mine

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Uninterrupted connectivity is critical for maintaining safety and productivity at Copper Mountain’s mine site in southern British Columbia, Canada, with a Rajant-Redline network solution recently passing the test during a scheduled power outage.

Without a high degree of uptime, vehicles on the mine lose their connection to the control room and critical data – like vehicle location and the weight of vehicle loads – cannot be received.

In the winter of 2023, that worst-case scenario nearly came to pass. Less than a week after Tridon, Rajant’s technology partner in the region, commissioned a Rajant-Redline network solution, crews at the mine intentionally cut power to a building where one of the main backhaul clusters was located due to the need to mitigate an unrelated explosion hazard. This power outage caused all four point-to-multipoint master radios at this hub site to be powered off, triggering an immediate alert to Tridon’s Network Operations Centre (NOC) of a potential communications outage.

From the outset, the challenge was designing a network that could provide Copper Mountain with the kind of reliability they needed – 99.999% annual uptime. Given the sometimes-brutal nature of British Columbia Canada’s weather, the network had to be highly robust and ruggedised. It had to be nomadic and adaptive to change, given the constantly evolving terrain of an active mine. Finally, the network had to be flexible to adapt to unexpected events, like a power outage, without breaking down.

A competitive solution was initially considered to support the network but was soundly rejected due to multiple compatibility issues. Instead, Tridon’s engineers designed a hybrid technology solution that would deliver what Copper Mountain needed.

Based on engineered propagation studies, 19 portable trailers are strategically placed around Copper Mountain for optimal coverage. Mine vehicles connect via an existing on-board client radio to the 2.4 GHz radio within the Rajant Hawk BreadCrumb of the best serving trailer. If the trailer handling the client traffic is in a location with line-of-sight to one of the hub sites (via a Redline PtMP RAS-ELTE radio), then the traffic is forwarded directly to the hub site over the Redline backbone. If the trailer does not have a viable PtMP link through the Redline backbone, traffic is forwarded over the lowest-cost mesh link via the 5.8GHz radio within the Rajant Hawk BreadCrumb.

If a trailer is ever moved to a different location, the Redline RAS ELTE radio will automatically scan for a viable PtMP link back to the hub sites, and the Rajant Hawk will continue to mesh with other BreadCrumbs on trailers in the area.

“Foresight, expert engineering, and top-drawer technology resulted in a network that essentially self-healed,” Rajant says. “Tridon’s NOC reported the power outage to the client, who, in turn, reported that operations were carrying on as usual.”

There was no traffic loss from the operational mine network and no indication from the Copper Mountain control room operators that the core network infrastructure was degraded in any way. They did not see a network outage due to the hybrid, multi-layered, self-healing nature of the network design.

This allowed Copper Mountain to continue operating at total network capacity even after losing half of the core central infrastructure by engineering a solution that seamlessly integrates multiple technologies to achieve an extraordinarily reliable and redundant network, Rajant says. After power was restored, the affected radios on site powered back on and automatically re-associated back into the network without manual intervention.

Rajant concluded: “Innovative communications technology, paired with an equally innovative system design by Tridon’s engineers, resulted in a network that performed exactly as it was designed to. To put it simply, the solution just worked and continues to do so today.”

MSALABS continues to build global PhotonAssay offering on ‘undeniable’ demand

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MSALABS, a global provider of geochemical laboratory services for the exploration and mining sectors and a majority-owned subsidiary of Capital, has provided an operational development update to coincide with the annual PDAC convention in Toronto, Canada, which highlights the deployment of western Canada’s first PhotonAssay™ technology unit.

The first few months of 2023 have seen MSALABS maintain its significant growth momentum from 2022, with the delivery of a strong operational performance from existing contracts, as well as the successful commissioning of a number of new laboratories, it said.

The western Canada first occurred at Prince George, in British Columbia, with the unit now commissioned and set to begin processing samples from a broad range of customers in the region.

In January, meanwhile, the company commissioned a PhotonAssay unit at Barrick’s Kibali mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the largest gold mine on the Africa continent.

MSALABS has been a champion of Chrysos Corp’s PhotonAssay technology, which it says delivers multiple advantages over the slower, more hazardous fire assay process, such as faster, safer, more accurate and environmentally-friendly analysis of gold, silver, copper and other elements.

In July last year, it expanded its partnership with Chrysos Corp, planning for the deployment of 21 units across the globe by 2025.

In its latest update, MSALABS said its traditional business also continued to grow. with the commissioning of mine site and regional laboratories.

Included among this is the commissioning of the Singida mine site laboratory for Shanta Gold’s Singida mine in Tanzania, following a three-year contract, awarded late last year.

In Mali, meanwhile, MSALABS commissioned the laboratory in Bougouni, which will support gold and lithium operations in the southern part of the country. The first samples from Leo Lithium’s Goulamina operation are expected within days, it said;

At PDAC, the company is also expecting to sign a franchise partnership with Aurora Minerals Group to provide geochemistry services to the burgeoning Kazakhstan mining industry.

Stuart Thomson, MSALABS CEO, said: “MSALABS has got off to a very strong start in 2023, testament to the strong demand we are seeing for our services but also the continued hard work of our employees to deliver such impressive growth. Announcing new labs across all three of our major regions, further diversification of commodity mix and entry into a new country is indicative of the increasing strength and robustness of MSALABS.

“In particular, the demand for Chrysos PhotonAssay is undeniable with a multitude of major mining companies continuing to run trials and converting to the revolutionary technology. In partnership with Chrysos, we are proud to be bringing this technology to western Canada with our new commercial laboratory at Prince George where we can service the significant mining region.”

Newcrest’s Brucejack mine nears battery-electric truck milestone, establishes BEV loading trial

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Having made significant progress on converting its full underground truck fleet to battery-electric operation, Newcrest Mining’s Brucejack gold mine in British Columbia, Canada, is starting the process for its loading equipment.

Brucejack is a high-grade underground gold-silver mine using long-hole stoping and a combination of longitudinal and transverse mining, depending on zone width and orientation. The ore is crushed underground and conveyed to surface where the fully-enclosed mill produces gold-silver dore bars and flotation concentrate.

Despite a stoppage for an extensive safety review in the December quarter – which followed a tragic fatality in October – the mine is expected to produce 320,000-370,000 oz of gold in the year to the end of June 2023.

In the company’s half-year 2023 financial year results, released this week, it confirmed its final Sandvik Z50 50-t payload battery-electric truck was due on site in March. The arrival of this vehicle – the eighth at Brucejack – will complete the full truck fleet at the mine.

Alongside this, the company says it is set to commence a trial with a battery-electric LHD that arrived on site this month.

Newcrest later confirmed to IM that the vehicle in question was a Sandvik LH518B, an 18-t payload machine that features a 600 kW drivetrain to allow for higher acceleration than conventional loaders as well as fast ramp speeds. Courtesy of its space-efficient battery system and driveline, it is the most compact 18-t loader on the market, capable of fitting in a 4.5 x 4.5 m tunnel, the OEM claims.

On the expected benefits of the new BEV truck fleet, Newcrest said it was anticipating improved truck productivity, lower unit costs and the abatement of approximately 65,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions through to 2030.

The project is being partly funded thanks to a C$7.95 million ($5.9 million) investment from the CleanBC Industry Fund.

It is also part of a wider transformation program Newcrest established for the asset following the acquisition of former owner Pretium Resources in 2022.

In addition to the BEV truck and LHD work included in this program, the company is also rolling out the “NewSafe program” to reinforce safety culture, carrying out a debottlenecking study set to investigate a mill capacity increase to 4,500-5,000 t/d, and conducting trials of ore sorting technology to classify and separate mineralised material to deliver more consistent mill feed grades.

Taseko Mines using innovation to increase production and efficiencies

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The Taseko Mines story is indicative of the current environment miners find themselves in – maximise productivity to grow margins at existing operations or invest in innovative new methods of extracting critical metals that come with a reduced footprint.

The Vancouver-based company is pursuing both options at the two main assets on its books – the Gibraltar copper mine in British Columbia, Canada, and its Florence Copper project in Arizona, USA.

Gibraltar, owned 75% by Taseko, initially started up in 1972 as a 36,000 t/d operation. It was shut down in 1998 due to low copper prices before Taseko restarted it in 2004. In the years since, the company has invested over $800 million in the mine, increasing the throughput rate to 85,000 tons per day (77,111 t/d), where it’s been operating at since 2014.

The asset now sits as the second largest open-pit copper mine in Canada – with life of mine average annual production of 130 MIb (59,000 t) of copper and 2.5 MIb of molybdenum.

Stuart McDonald, President and CEO of the company, says the company continues to work on the trade-off of upping throughput – potentially past the nameplate capacity – and improving metallurgical recoveries at the operation.

This became apparent in the latest quarterly results, when Taseko reported an average daily throughput of 89,400 tons/d over the three-month period alongside “higher than normal” mining dilution.

The company believes Gibraltar can improve on both counts – mill throughput and mining dilution.

“We were optimistic coming into the new pit (Gibraltar Pit) that, based on the historical data, we could go above 85,000 tons/d as we got settled in and mined the softer ore,” McDonald told IM. “We still believe there are opportunities to go beyond that level, but, at some point, it becomes an optimisation and trade-off between throughput and recoveries.

“In our business, we’re not interested in maximising mill throughput; we’re interested in maximising copper production.”

On the dilution front, McDonald believes the problem will lessen as the mining moves to deeper benches in the Gibraltar Pit.

“As we go deeper, the ore continuity improves, so we hope the dilution effect will continue to improve too,” he said.

“The dilution rate is still not quite where we want it to be, so it’s a matter of looking at our operating practices carefully and following through a grade reconciliation process from our geological model through to assays from our blast holes, assays into the shovel bucket and all the way through to the mill.”

‘Assays into the shovel bucket’?

McDonald explained: “We do use ShovelSense® technology on two of our shovels, so that helps us assess the grade of the material in the shovel bucket.”

To this point, the company has leveraged most value from this XRF-based technology, developed by MineSense, when deployed on shovels situated in the boundaries between ore and waste. This offers the potential to reclassify material deemed to be ‘waste’ in the block model as ‘ore’ and vice versa, improving the grade of the material going to the mill and reducing processing of waste.

ShovelSense has been successful in carrying out this process with accuracy at other copper mines in British Columbia, including Teck Resources’ Highland Valley Copper operations and Copper Mountain Mining’s namesake operation.

McDonald concluded on this grade reconciliation process: “We just have to make sure we are tracing the material through all of those steps and not losing anything along the way. Gibraltar is a big earthmoving operation, so we must continue to keep the material flowing as well as look at the head grade.”

A different type of recovery

In Arizona at Florence Copper, Taseko has a different proposition on its hands.

Florence is a project that, when fully ramped up, could produce 40,000 t of high-quality copper cathode annually for the US domestic market.

It will do this by using a metal extraction and recovery method rarely seen in the copper space – in-situ recovery (ISR).

The planned ISR facility consists of an array of injection and recovery wells that will be used to inject a weak acid solution (raffinate – 99.5% water, 0.5% acid) into copper oxide ore and recover the copper-laden solution (pregnant leach solution) for processing into pure copper cathode sheets. The mine design is based on the use of five spot well patterns, with each pattern consisting of four extraction wells in a 100 ft (30.5 m) grid plus a central injection well. This mine outline and associated infrastructure comes with a modest capital expenditure figure of $230 million.

The company has been testing the ISR technology at Florence to ensure the recovery process works and the integrity of the wells remains intact.

Since acquiring Florence Copper in November 2014, Taseko has advanced the project through the permitting, construction and operating phase of the Phase 1 Production Test Facility (PTF). The PTF, a $25 million test facility, consists of 24 wells and the SX/EW plant. It commenced operations in December 2018.

Over the course of 18 months, Taseko evaluated the operational data, confirmed project economics and demonstrated the ability to produce high-quality copper cathode with stringent environmental guidelines at the PTF, the company says.

McDonald reflected: “We produced over 1 MIb [of copper] over this timeframe and then switched over from a copper production cycle into testing our ability to rinse the orebody and restore the mining area back to the permitted conditions.

“We’re proving our ability to do the mining and the reclamation, which we think is a critical de-risking step for the project.”

Over an 18-month period, Taseko produced 1 MIb from the ISR test facility at Florence

Taseko says Florence Copper is expected to have the lowest energy and greenhouse gas-intensity (GHG) of any copper producer in North America, with McDonald saying the operation’s carbon footprint will mostly be tied to the electricity consumption required.

“Our base case is to use electricity from the Arizona grid, which has a combination of renewables, nuclear and gas-fired power plants,” he said. “In the longer-term, there are opportunities at Florence to switch to completely 100% renewable sources, with the most likely candidate being solar power.

“At that point, with renewable energy powering our plant, we could be producing a copper product with close to zero carbon associated with it.”

Gibraltar has also been labelled as a “low carbon intensity operation” by Skarn Associates who, in a 2020 report, said the operation ranked in the lowest quartile compared with other copper mines throughout the world when it comes to Scope 1 and 2 emissions.

When it comes to the question of when Florence could start producing, Taseko is able to reflect on recent successful permitting activities.

In December 2020, the company received the Aquifer Protection Permit from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, with the only other permit required prior to construction being the Underground Injection Control (UIC) permit from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

On September 29, the EPA concluded its public comment period on the draft UIC it issued following a virtual public hearing that, according to Taseko, demonstrated strong support for the Florence Copper project among local residents, business organisations, community leaders and state-wide organisations. Taseko says it has reviewed all the submitted comments and is confident they will be fully addressed by the EPA during its review, prior to issuing the final UIC permit.

Future improvements

In tandem with its focus on permitting and construction at Florence, and upping performance at Gibraltar, the company has longer-term aims for its operations.

For instance, the inclusion of more renewables to get Florence’s copper production to carbon-neutral status could allow the company to benefit from an expected uptick in demand for a product with such credentials. If the demand side requirements for copper continue to evolve in the expected manner, it is easy to see Taseko receiving a premium for its low- or no-carbon product over the 20-year mine life.

At Gibraltar, it is also pursuing a copper cathode strategy that could lead to the re-start of its SX-EW plant. In the past, this facility processed leachate from oxide waste dumps at the operation.

“As we get into 2024, we see some additional oxide ore coming out of the Connector Pit, which gives us the opportunity to restart that leach operation and have some additional pounds coming out of the mine,” McDonald said.

Alongside this, the company is thinking about leaching other ore types at Gibraltar.

“There are new technologies coming to the market in terms of providing mines with the opportunity to leach sulphides as well as oxides,” McDonald said. “We’re in the early stages of that work, but we have lots of waste rock at the property and, if there is a potential revenue stream for it, we will look at leveraging that.”

Bolting head upgrade gives Sandvik DS300 drills new life at New Afton mine

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A like-for-like Sandvik Bolting Head (SBH) upgrade at the New Afton mine, in British Columbia, Canada, is delivering a significant productivity boost at the New Gold-owned operation, according to Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions.

Launched over a decade ago, New Afton’s now ageing Sandvik DS300 drill rigs are being given a new lease of life, thanks to an upgrade that sees a current generation bolting head fitted in a like-for-like replacement. Not only is maintenance more straightforward and spare parts easier to source, the new bolting head is delivering a remarkable productivity increase – of 25% – Sandvik claims. In fact, so successful has the mine’s 2021 upgrade been that New Gold has recently confirmed a second of its Sandvik DS300 drill rigs will be given the treatment.

Bolting rigs are used to stabilise hanging and side walls in underground mine applications.

“The upgraded SBH bolting head fitted to the Sandvik DS300s is the business end of the drill and features the latest RD300 series rock drill,” Francois Nell, Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions’ Head of Rebuilds and Upgrades, says. “This makes it perfect for rock reinforcement in underground mines with small-and-medium cross sections. Different bolt type and length configurations are available, providing an extensive bolt selection, while a full bolt carousel ensures the DS300 is capable of installing up to 15 bolts, ranging from 1.6-3 m in length. Bolt types include cement grouted, resin grouted, anchor point and friction bolts.”

There are several benefits of adding new technology to ageing drills, according to Nell.

“The new SBH is already proven in the field and gives an instant performance boost, thanks to the RD314’s much improved penetration rates,” he explained. “Added to that is the convenience of being able to source readily available current parts more easily, as well as increasing mine’s parts commonality across more drills.

“Also, the new SBH doesn’t put the rest of the D300 under additional strain; in fact, due to the lighter RD314 drifter compared to the drill it replaces, machine strain is, if anything, reduced.”

The SBH upgrade itself is straightforward, coming in kit form, and can be conducted by a mine’s in-house technical teams using the instruction manual the SBH comes with, according to Sandvik. Taking at most a couple of shifts to complete, customer feedback regarding the installation process has been universally positive, the OEM says.

With several hundreds of Sandvik’s Lyon, France-built D300s still working around the world, Sandvik says it expects that this SBH upgrade will be as popular with other mines as it is at New Afton.

Teck to deploy first electric tug boats in Canada at Neptune Terminal

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Teck Resources has announced an agreement to deploy two electric tug boats at the Neptune Terminal in Vancouver, British Columbia, in support of Teck’s climate goals.

This marks the first electric tugs operating in Canada as a full tugboat package for harbour assist and tug services, according to Teck.

Under the agreement, SAAM will furnish two ElectRA 2300 SX tugs commencing operation during the second half of 2023, which are expected to eliminate over 2,400 t/y of greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to emissions reductions, using electric tugs will also reduce underwater noise, benefitting marine life in the harbour.

“Working with SAAM Towage to further reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with transportation of our products is another step forward in achieving our climate goals and contributing to global climate action,” Jonathan Price, CEO of Teck, said. “Collaborating with transportation providers to develop green transportation corridors is part of our climate action strategy and supports our goal of net zero emissions by 2050.”

Sander Bikkers, President, SAAM Towage Canada, added: “With Teck and Neptune Terminals, SAAM Towage has found value aligned partners who want to drive sustainable environmental change through innovation. This partnership is based on a shared commitment to do our part to address the global challenge of climate change by reducing our carbon footprint.”

The ElectRA Tugs are designed by Vancouver-based Robert Allan Ltd and will be built at Sanmar Shipyards in Turkey.

Neptune is owned by Canpotex Bulk Terminals Limited, a Canpotex affiliate, and Teck Coal Partnership, a subsidiary of Teck Resources.

This announcement builds on Teck’s progress to work with partners to reduce emissions across its supply chain and achieve a 40% reduction in shipping emission intensity by 2030.

Teck previously announced an agreement with Oldendorff Carriers to employ energy-efficient bulk carriers for shipments of Teck steelmaking coal from the Port of Vancouver, reducing 45,000 t/y of CO2, equivalent to removing nearly 10,000 passenger vehicles from the road, according to the company.

Teck has also announced a pilot of a fully electric on-highway transport truck to haul copper concentrate between Teck’s Highland Valley Copper Operations in south-central BC and a rail loading facility in Ashcroft, BC.

Teck’s climate action strategy also includes goals to reduce carbon intensity across operations by 33% by 2030 and be a net-zero operator by 2050.