Tag Archives: Byrnecut

West African a month away from first gold pour at Sanbrado

Mine operation news, Mineral processing, Mineral project development, Precious metals, , , , , , ,

West African Resources says it has processed the first ore at its Sanbrado gold project in Burkina Faso, putting it on course to produce its inaugural gold product within the next month.

Construction activities have now been completed on all areas of the process plant and tailings storage facility, according to the company.

All four heavy fuel oil generators have been commissioned in the power station and are now operational, while the desorption and gold room circuits are undergoing commissioning in preparation for a maiden gold pour within the next four weeks.

Open-pit mining contractor, African Mining Services, a subsidiary of the Perenti Group, has ramped up mining activities to include both the M5 and M1 South pits, with day and night shifts starting in the past week, West African said.

Currently, over 360,000 t of oxide ore is stockpiled on the run of mine pad at an average grade of 1.5 g/t Au.

Underground development continues to progress on-schedule with mining contractor Byrnecut Offshore, a subsidiary of the Byrnecut Group, having completed the primary ventilation raisebore. The ventilation fan is also currently being installed. First development ore remains on track for late March and first stoping ore is forecast for the September quarter, the company said.

West African Executive Chairman, Richard Hyde, said: “This is a major milestone for West African Resources and testament to the quality of our team and contractors. Commissioning activities will continue over the next four weeks with the first gold pour on track for early Q2 (June quarter) 2020.”

An updated feasibility study on Sanbrado from 2019 envisaged an initial 10-year mine life, including 6.5 years of underground mining, with probable reserves of 1.7 Moz (21.6 Mt at 2.4 g/t gold). The project was expected to have average annual production over the first five years of 217,000 oz gold with all-in sustaining costs of less than $600/oz.

Sandvik showcases digital mining developments in Brisbane

Automation, Communications in mining, Equipment maintenance, IoT, Mining equipment, Mining events, Mining maintenance, Mining services, Mining software, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Last week, close to 300 leaders from the mining, construction and quarrying industries from Australia, Japan and Indonesia met in Brisbane, Australia, for a two-day summit, hosted by Sandvik, to showcase best practice examples of digitalisation.

The Digitalization in Mining event, on December 3-4, allowed Sandvik to demonstrate its latest digital offering and introduce participants to the latest innovations across its product portfolio, including process optimisation with OptiMine®, information management through My Sandvik digital services and autonomous operation with AutoMine ̶ together with the latest equipment in underground and surface drilling, loading and hauling, crushing and screening and the rock tools management system.

During the event Sandvik also announced two product launches: AutoMine Access API, which gives mines the power to connect non-Sandvik equipment to AutoMine, and its first Stage V compliant underground loaders for hard-rock mining applications.

Jim Tolley, Vice President, Sales Area Australia Pacific, Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology, said digitalisation is helping companies to grow and optimise their operations. “Our partners were keen to join us at this event because they know that digitalisation has a critical part to play in making their mines sustainable for the future.”

Day one of the event featured speakers from mining companies across Australia, as well as leaders in mining technology, process optimisation and automation. They explained the benefits their organisations have gained by implementing automation and process optimisation solutions, as well as the accompanying change in mindset, according to Sandvik.

The following presentations set the program for the day, followed by a panel discussion:

  • Shaping the Industry Digital Ecosystem (Sandvik);
  • Holistic Perspective, Focusing on Productivity, Safety and Optimised Machine Performance (Byrnecut);
  • Developing the Mine of Tomorrow (Barminco Ltd);
  • Machine Learning  ̶  Keeping it Real with Case Studies from across the Mine Value Chain (PETRA Data Science);
  • Capturing Opportunities for Digital and other Product Technology Solutions (Rio Tinto);
  • Automation Technology to Improve Efficiency and Consistency in Longwall Development Operations (Glencore);
  • Direction of Technology and Automation (Newcrest); and
  • Data Privacy, Rights and Control (Sandvik).

Pat Boniwell, Managing Director, Byrnecut Australia, said the industry will improve productivity, safety and optimise machine performance through a more “fundamental understanding” of the individual processes that make up our operations.

“New technology, automation, data transfer and analysis will all assist us in increasing the utilisation of our resources,” he said. “Data is essential, but if it is not being looked at then we are just gathering data for the sake of it. We need to continue to increase the levels of engagement between all stakeholders.”

He concluded: “We are doomed to failure unless we take our people with us and are prepared to question and be challenged.”

PETRA CEO, Penny Stewart, meanwhile, homed in on machine learning, which, she said, powers “digital twin prediction, simulation and optimisation to increase mine productivity, efficiency and yield, by showing engineers and supervisors how to reproduce their ‘best performance’ 24 hours a day, seven days a week”.

She added: “PETRA’s MAXTA™ Suite digital twin applications provide platform agnostic software-as-service operational decision support across the mine value chain ̶ from resource engineering through to processing plant set point optimisation.”

Day two of the event began with a presentation on sustainability by Henrik Ager (pictured), President, Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology, explaining how critical it is for long-term performance.

“Driving productivity and greenhouse gas efficiency together is going to be key for us at Sandvik, improving productivity and greenhouse gas efficiency will be the best way for us to add value for our customers,” he said. “My view is that the more we link our sustainability targets to normal business targets and find ways to combine them to achieve a common good, the better chance we have to deliver on them.”

Also, during the second day, delegates had the opportunity of a virtual visit to several Sandvik customers, including: Northparkes Mine (Australia), Resolute Mining Syama mine (West Africa), RedBull Powder Company (New Zealand) and Aeris Resources Tritton mine (Australia).

Harry Hardy, General Manager Customer Accounts, Applications Engineering and Marketing, Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology, Sales Area APAC, said the company often gets asked for reference cases and data to illustrate the value and payback of digital solutions. “Over the two days of the conference, our customers were able to share their own experiences and quantitatively demonstrate how our solutions have helped increase their productivity, reduce their production costs and increase their safety.”

Byrnecut makes training gains with the help of Immersive

Careers in mining, Equipment maintenance, Mining equipment, Mining safety, Mining software, , , , ,

Byrnecut has partnered with Immersive Technologies to develop a “world-class” technical training centre in Perth, Western Australia.

The mining contractor is set to achieve measurable in-field cost reductions, productivity gains and safety improvements via changes in equipment operator behaviour due to 350 staff coming through the centre in the past nine months of operation, Immersive said.

Equipment Simulators, a tailored suite of learning systems and curricula have been deployed to align with Byrnecut’s “people first” approach to recruitment, skills development and performance improvement, the company added. As part of this, Immersive has delivered two IM360-B simulators and machine modules for a CAT truck and LHD, Sandvik truck and LHD and Atlas Copco (Epiroc) truck.

Pat Boniwell, Byrnecut Australia Managing Director, said the establishment of the centre fits with the Byrnecut philosophy of investing in industry-leading training systems, processes and infrastructure to assist in the personal and professional development of its employees.

Boniwell added: “This, in turn, ensures that we are providing the safest and most productive work places for employees and our clients.”

Supporting the technology integration is a best practice training process which blends eLearning, classroom and simulator training to optimise the learning process for both new hire and experienced equipment operators, Immersive said. This process is managed through the collaboration of Byrnecut and Immersive Technologies on-site training experts.

Dave Kilkenny, Byrnecut Project Manager, said: “Our world-class Training and Induction Center provides the opportunity for experienced and new hire operators to develop best mining practices in a safe, realistic and tech driven environment. Together with Immersive Technologies’ equipment simulators and specialist personnel, our approach is carefully considered to provide valuable feedback and targeted training to address the impacts of performance variability on our business.”

In June, Immersive announced that Komatsu’s wholly-owned subsidiary in Australia had agreed to acquire the company.

Byrnecut to dig into Orion’s Prieska copper-zinc underground project

Base metals, Mineral project development, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , , ,

Orion Minerals Limited says it has concluded a memorandum of agreement with mining contractor Byrnecut Offshore envisaging an alliancing agreement for underground mine development and production at the Prieska copper-zinc project in the Northern Cape province of South Africa.

The agreement follows the announcement of the grant of the Mining Right for the Prieska copper – zinc mine and, Orion says, “paves the way for Byrnecut to bring the benefit of its experience to the development and operation of the Prieska project which is intended as a global-best practice mechanised mining operation”.

Orion has achieved several milestones in the 16 months since the submission of the Mining Right application, including the announcement of a black economic empowerment (BEE) partnership, the upgrading of the Prieska mineral resource to 30.49 Mt at 1.2% Cu and 3.7% Zn and the completion of the Prieska Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS).

While the Foundation Phase BFS demonstrated strong project economics with a post-tax net present value (8% discount) of A$408 million ($273 million), Orion says it has already identified numerous opportunities to improve on the mining plan set out in the BFS and has commenced work with post-BFS field trials, optimisation and refinement studies.

Key terms of the agreement with Byrnecut are that the parties will seek to enter an alliancing agreement related to underground mining at the Prieska project, whereby Byrnecut will undertake to provide underground mine development and mine production services; commit to promoting local employment and skills transfer in support of transformation of the industry; and commit to collaborating with local BEE enterprises.

Formalising the agreement is one of the key project development milestones that follow the release of the BFS for the establishment of high margin and long-life underground mining operations at the Prieska project. The planned foundation phase of operations would result in the mining and processing of 2.4 Mt/y of run-of mine feed for 10 years, to sell approximately 21,000 t of copper and 70,000 t of zinc as differentiated concentrates each year.

Other post-BFS workstreams in progress to prepare the project for execution include third-party peer reviews of the BFS in preparation for funding discussions, the value engineering of components of the BFS, mine-to-market business plan optimisation using the Whittle Enterprise Optimisation process, pilot-scale water treatment field trials of the water accumulated in the underground excavations and the expedition of the various ancillary licences required to operate a mine. The company said substantial progress is being made in all areas.

Orion’s Managing Director and CEO, Errol Smart, said: “We are delighted to include Byrnecut into the list of partners we will be working with to establish what will be another world-class mine in the Northern Cape.

“Byrnecut has an impressive reputation on the African continent both in terms of their operational proficiency and their approach to skills transfer and harmonious relations with local communities. Their involvement in developing Prieska will be invaluable.”

Byrnecut wins underground mining contract at WAF’s Sanbrado gold project

Mineral project development, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , ,

West African Resources has awarded the underground mining contract for the M1 South deposit at the Sanbrado gold project in Burkina Faso to Byrnecut.

The contract, worth $110 million over five years, is Byrnecut’s second in the West African country.

Mobilisation activities are expected to commence in December with portal establishment planned for March.

Works under the contract include underground portal establishment for M1 South, decline and level development of 7 km, ore driving of 2 km and 200,000 t, stope production of 1.3 Mt, and raise drilling and cemented rock backfill.

West African Managing Director Richard Hyde said: “The underground mining contract is a key operational contract for Sanbrado and its award follows the completion of a competitive tender process and extensive due diligence process examining safety, experience and capabilities.

“We are very pleased to award the underground mining contract to Byrnecut who have a long history providing underground mining services globally and have current operating experience in West Africa.”

Byrnecut Group Executive Chairman Steve Coughlan said: “We are looking forward to partnering with West African on the exciting Sanbrado gold project. This project will be our second site in Burkina Faso and fifth project we have operated in the West African region.”

The M1 South underground will kick-off WAF’s mining development at Sanbrado, with the underground development accessing high-grade, free-milling gold mineralisation located directly beneath the proposed M1 South open pit at approximately 120m vertical.

Concurrent mining of the M1 South open pit ore from surface and underground will accelerate cash-flow over the early years of the Sanbrado mine life, the company says.

Ironbark Zinc signs up Byrnecut for Citronen underground contract mining

Base metals, Energy minerals, Equipment maintenance, Mineral project development, Mining equipment, Mining project news, Mining services, , , , ,

Greenland-focused Ironbark Zinc has signed a memorandum of understanding with Byrnecut Offshore Pty that could see the contractor carry out mining, model underground mine costs and provide the fleet for the Citronen zinc-lead project.

The contract has been signed as Ironbark carries out work on removing key items from the project’s capital cost estimates. A definitive feasibility study last year pegged this at $514 million.

Ironbark said the Byrnecut agreement provides it with “extensive international experience in underground hard-rock mechanised mining”.

It said the companies would work towards a more detailed cost based commercial agreement operating under agreed margins through each project stage, and will also encompass agreed performance margins. As part of the agreement, Byrnecut is also expected to hold the debt and security of the equipment for the underground mining fleet.

Ironbark is in discussions with other groups for the remaining disciplines, or to support the project, that have the potential to collectively and significantly assist with the overall project financing.

The $514 million project envisages a production rate of 3.3 million tonnes per year with up to 200,000 t/y of zinc metal produced over a mine life of 14 years.

Located in northern Greenland, Byrnecut’s first-hand knowledge of the skills necessary to overcome remote location logistics, language barriers and upskilling the national workforce will prove key to development and operating success.

Ironbark Managing Director Jonathan Downes said: “Byrnecut has the capacity to provide Ironbark with an immediate ‘bolt-on’ underground mining expertise that will assist Ironbark as we move from financing to active mining.”