Tag Archives: Chapada

Lundin Mining enlists Ausenco for plant expansion optimisation study at Chapada

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Less than a year after acquiring the Chapada copper-gold operation from Yamana Gold, Lundin Mining is eyeing up a plant expansion at the Brazil mine.

The company has enlisted Ausenco to carry out a feasibility study to evaluate the optimisation of the current copper-gold processing plant from 24 Mt/y to 26 Mt/y, Ausenco confirmed.

In addition, Ausenco is to undertake trade-off studies to determine optimum plant expansion scenarios for a future expansion.

Prior to Lundin Mining acquiring the mine in July 2019, previous owner Yamana had been studying plant expansion opportunities to increase the processing rate to a range from 28 Mt/y to 32 Mt/y, Lundin Mining says. The relocation of some plant infrastructure to allow the push-back of the pit wall for the development of the Sucupira orebody was also being studied.

The processing facility at Chapada comprises a single-line plant designed to treat sulphide ores at a current capacity of around 65,000 t/d, or 24 Mt/y, with the conventional crush, grind and flotation process producing a gold-rich copper concentrate.

Lundin Mining expects Chapada to produce 51,000-56,000 t of copper in concentrate in 2020, along with 85,000-90,000 oz of gold in concentrate.

Yamana Gold turns 15

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Toronto- and New York-listed miner Yamana Gold is celebrating 15 years as a public entity today.

On this day in 2003, the company was taken public with an initial portfolio including the Chapada project in Brazil, which it subsequently developed and brought into production in 2007 (pictured).

Yamana has, over the years, grown through phases of strategic acquisitions to enhance and diversify its portfolio as well as pursuing organic opportunities within its portfolio.

“Throughout, the company has focused on the sustainability of its business and has sought to continuously improve its performance across all health and safety, environment and community metrics,” Yamana said.

Peter Marrone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said: “In 2003, we had a vision to create a significant and dominant intermediate gold company that focused on high quality assets in more prominent and higher quality mining jurisdictions in North and South America mostly to deliver better value with lower risk.

“Over the past 15-year period, we have achieved these objectives plus much more, and we are proud that Yamana, in 2018, is a realisation of that initial vision.”

Operating from seven mines in Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Canada, the company has a production platform of gold, silver and copper. It expects to produce over 1.1 million ounces of gold equivalent and 120 million pounds of copper this year.