Tag Archives: copper

Barminco ready to mobilise at Khoemacau copper-silver underground project

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Ausdrill’s Barminco subsidiary is proceeding with mobilisation and readiness to commence execution of the Zone 5 underground mine at Cupric Canyon Capital’s Khoemacau copper-silver project in northwest Botswana, the Gaborone-based company said.

Following closing of a finance package for Khoemacau’s 3.6 Mt/y starter project, the contractor is now expected to start work on the underground mine in December. This is part of the five-year, US$560 million underground mining contract the two parties signed last month.

This starter project is expected to involve processing ore from a 91 Mt resource base at a head grade of 2% Cu and 21 g/t Ag. First copper concentrate output is scheduled for the first half of 2021, with annual production averaging 62,000 t of copper and 1.9 Moz of silver for over 20 years.

Cupric noted that early construction activities on the underground project had been taking place since the start of the year.

“There are now more than 700 people on site carrying out construction work including boxcuts for underground access, roads, a water pipeline and terraces for surface infrastructure,” the company said.

To date, some 7.8% of the project capital cost, or $31 million, has been spent on these activities, with around 57% of the costs committed, the company said on July 18.

SNC-Lavalin wins EPCM contract for NEXA Aripuanã polymetallic project

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SNC-Lavalin has been awarded an engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) contract from NEXA Resources for its majority-owned Aripuanã zinc-copper-lead project in Mato Grosso, Brazil.

The Montreal-based professional services and project management company will deliver EPCM services for the project out of its Belo Horizonte office, in Brazil, and will include all operations required for copper, zinc and lead ore processing, including crushing, grinding, flotation, thickening, filtration and storage of concentrates and tailings, as well as load out of the final concentrated products and all related surface infrastructure, it said. The mandate also includes waste backfill, mine ventilation, and mine dewatering.

The Aripuanã project is an underground polymetallic mine and concentrate processing facility to extract zinc, copper and lead. Once completed, it will have an anticipated mine life of 13 years and a processing capacity of 1.8 Mt/y of ore per year, according to SNC-Lavalin.

The project’s zinc process flowsheet has been developed by considering conventional technologies for treatment, including sequential flotation for the recovery of zinc, copper, and lead as separate concentrates, according to NEXA.

SNC-Lavalin said the project will rely on “data-centric engineering” for development and design, and the use of immersive technologies for training operations personnel.

Work has begun and is slated for completion by the beginning of 2021.

Maria de Lourdes Bahia, General Manager of SNC-Lavalin Brazil, said: “Our Mining & Metallurgy sector has a long history in reimbursable EPCM services, and this award is testament to our continued recognition in this model of project delivery.

“This mandate is well aligned with our services-based strategy for mining and metallurgy projects. We look forward to continuing our trusted relationship with NEXA Resources in the successful execution of the project.”

3D-P gets networking at copper miner’s Americas sites

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3D-P says it has come up with a solution for a large copper miner looking for reduced wireless network management and improved network performance, all while being able to gather additional machine health data and improve its operational capacity across mine sites in the Americas.

The company had been running an 802.11g wireless network for a number of years, but head office was concerned by the amount of maintenance required to preserve the performance of the wireless network at each of the sites, as trailer moves were becoming a frequent activity, 3D-P said.

“In parallel, the sites had been running several applications on-board their mobile equipment, each using their own hardware, including Honeywell MEM for asset health, Modular Dispatch and High Precision GPS,” the company explained. “Many of these systems were due for upgrade, which in some cases would include increased network requirements.”

Led by the global IT department, the miner was investigating a wireless network upgrade, complete with infrastructure and on-board radio upgrades, according to 3D-P. At the same time, the maintenance department was investigating an upgrade to its on-board asset health dataloggers, adding functionality and supportability.

The brief for the new wireless network was as follows:

  • It should have the ability to reside on Layer 3 to bring network routing as close to the edge as possible, and;
  • It should also require minimal maintenance and have the ability to scale up in line with the miners’ wireless coverage needs.

Part of the global IT department’s vision was to consolidate the radio and the different applications running on-board the fleet into a single platform.

In addition, there was a requirement to include an accelerometer and a gyroscope allowing geo-referenced and time-stamped monitoring of the quality of the haul roads, as well as induced stress on the truck itself. Aligning with the miner’s corporate network switch standard, the solution should include a Cisco switch.

By creating a partnership and factoring in these requirements along with the company’s long-term vision, a “truly unique solution” consolidating these departmental needs into a single on-board platform was created, 3D-P said. This reduced initial costs and downtime significantly while providing the significant performance improvement each department required, it added.

3D-P said: “Additionally, the miner was looking for a technology partner that would support them through the lifespan of the technology from design and deployment, to training, consulting and ongoing support. The partner should also have in-depth mining experience.

“The expected result was an easy-to-maintain end-to-end solution that would support the miner’s requirements overtime while reducing their technology ‘clutter’, improving operations and reducing maintenance time and associated costs.”

The solution

3D-P, in its role as the end-to-end solution provider, recommended the miner deploy a Rajant Kinetic Mesh network. This, the company said, provided the required performance, reliability and scalability, while meeting the miner’s Layer 3 network security mandate.

“Rajant was selected as the technology of choice for the miner’s requirements for its self-forming, self-healing capabilities that would allow significant reduction in ongoing maintenance of the network infrastructure in the mines’ pits,” 3D-P said.

Its meshing capabilities would also allow cost effective increased coverage through dynamic meshing, while Rajant’s RPT protocol and security capability allowed both the required Layer 3 connectivity and the IT departments security requirements, the company added.

For high speed wireless backhaul, Cambium Networks PMP radios were used, with 3D-P identifying their known reliability, GPS synchronisation, channel re-use capacity as well as non-collision based channel access as key features.

3D-P explained the installation a little more:

“The miner’s networks consist of multiple segregated VLAN’s serving machine applications and network management. These networks span multiple Layer 2 segments across each site, being brought from the wired network to strategic locations throughout the sites with Cambium PMP radios. Rajant BreadCrumbs are placed at these locations, and others, creating high speed multi-channel InstaMesh links to other RF visible Breadcrumbs, either embedded in the 3D-P Intelligent Endpoint® (IEP) or standalone.

“Data generated on the mobile clients is transferred from machine to the IEP, or standalone Breadcrumb, to the Rajant wireless InstaMesh network and routed by Rajant’s InstaMesh Cost routing algorithm. This data is routed to its final destination by Rajant’s APT protocol (Layer 2 InstaMesh routing, within single segment) and RPT protocol (Layer 3 InstaMesh routing, between Layer 2 segments) while using the most cost efficient route whilst being blind to the type of network medium used.”

Client access

At the client access level, the solution consists of the 3D-P Intelligent Endpoint. This is designed as an open computing platform and mobile radio with on-board network management and data collection capabilities. The selection of the IEP platform allowed development of a solution that met all of the miner’s needs in a single device, 3D-P said, adding that the IEP model included a Rajant ME4 radio and a Cisco ESS2020 switch, while hosting the Honeywell MEM asset heath system.

“The native suite of tools residing on-board the IEP allowed development of a few customised solutions, including network health monitoring, a publish/subscribe solution for delivery of HPGPS corrections where required, and the firewall capability to provide connectivity via bi-directional network address translation to the P&H (Komatsu) Centurion systems running on their shovels where local static IP addresses are utilised, which are not compatible with the miner’s IP networking scheme.”

The solution saw the miner benefit from a significant reduction in capital expenditure for the on-board solution, as well as reduction in operational expenditure through significant savings in installation and troubleshooting time.

In terms of ongoing network maintenance, 3D-P mentioned its Network Performance Analysis Toolkit (NPAT). This regularly monitors the health of the wireless network from the mobile client’s perspective, with the NPAT data collector running a number of active and passive performance tests directly on the IEP, including ICMP pings of varying size, upstream and/or downstream UDP/TCP throughput, connectivity, neighbour tables, noise levels and location, etc.

The data is then geo-stamped and time-referenced before being visualised on a map for the miner to interpret. 3D-P and the sites are also developing a solution to automate the data collection and provide it to the miner’s own analytical tool, the company said.

The miner decided to perform the upgrade one site at a time over the course of a year, with a former ‘train the trainer’ model followed at each site, 3D-P said.

3D-P says the upgrade of the first five sites has been delivered on time and on budget, with the remaining four sites to be completed by the end of the year.

“Close partnership between 3D-P and the miner played a critical role in this success, through design and development of a complete end-to-end solution that met both the IT and asset health groups,” the company concluded.

Canada invests in clean and green copper hydrometallurgical technology

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Natural Resource Canada has set aside funds for a mineral extraction research and development project that, applied at commercial scale, will help reduce emissions and water use while lowering costs for companies, it said.

The project, being carried out by Vancouver’s Jetti Services Canada Inc (Jetti Resources), will develop a more energy-efficient process to extract copper from regular- and lower-grade ores, as well as waste mining materials and tailings, according to the NRC.

Jetti Resources calls itself a technology-driven natural resources company that has developed a novel hydrometallurgical technology to extract metals of value from mineral ores that the mining industry has struggled to process.

“The Jetti technology is especially advantaged for extracting copper from low-grade primary sulphides, the world’s most abundant copper resource,” it said. “The catalytic technology seamlessly integrates with existing heap leaching methods and downstream processing operations.”

According to the company, the technology requires low capital expenditure, operating costs and enables high copper yields. It also has a strong environmental profile, “leading to lower criteria emissions and water usage along with the maximisation of resources at existing copper deposits.”

The NRC, through its C$155 million Clean Growth Program, agreed to invest C$492,500 ($377,261) in the project, while Innovate BC, a Crown corporation that helps accelerate technology commercialisation by supporting startups and developing entrepreneurs in British Columbia, also committed C$150,000 to the project.

Funding for the clean technology project was announced during the 2019 Energy and Mines Ministers’ Conference (EMMC), held in Cranbrook, British Columbia, taking place on July 15-17, where ministers from federal, provincial and territorial governments are meeting under the theme, ‘Competitiveness and Innovation in Canada’s Energy and Mining Sectors.’

The Honourable Amarjeet Sohi, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, said: “The Government of Canada continues to invest in projects that are positioning Canada’s mining industry to lead the clean energy future. Through strong government partnerships and a commitment to innovation, we are building the sustainable and competitive mining industry of tomorrow.”

Rio revises Oyu Tolgoi cost and production estimates on rock stability issues

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Rio Tinto has provided an update on its majority-owned Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold underground project, in Mongolia, admitting that stability risks identified with the previously approved mine design has led to an estimated cost increase and delay to first production.

First output is now expected to be achieved between May 2022 and June 2023, a delay of 16 to 30 months compared with the original feasibility study guidance in 2016, while preliminary estimates for development capital spend is now $6.5-$7.2 billion, $1.2-$1.9 billion up on the $5.3 billion previously disclosed.

These estimates are preliminary in nature – the equivalent of a conceptual or order of magnitude study – but Rio said a definitive estimate should be forthcoming in the second half of 2020.

Oyu Tolgoi Underground is Rio’s major copper growth project. When the underground mine is fully ramped up, the existing open pit and underground, combined, are expected to produce more than 500,000 t/y of copper.

Alongside this announcement, Rio Tinto also published its June quarter production results, which showed Rio’s share of production of the Oyu Tolgoi open-pit mine was 13,100 t of copper over the period.

Since February, key below ground infrastructure such as the control room facility and the jaw crusher system have been completed and construction of shafts 3 and 4 is progressing well, according to Rio. The commissioning of shaft 2 remains on track for October 2019.

As Rio previously advised, enhanced geotechnical information and data modelling suggests there may be some stability risks identified with the approved mine design. As a result, several other mine design options are under consideration to complete the project.

Rio said: “Studies to date indicate that these options may result in some of the critical underground infrastructure, such as the mid-access drive and the ore handling system, being relocated or removed. Options relating to the sequence of crossing the panel boundaries during mining operations are also being analysed.”

These options are being evaluated to determine the final design of the first panel of mining, “Panel 0”, with the work anticipated to continue until early 2020, Rio said. This is where the definitive estimate date of the second half of 2020 comes from. This estimate will include the final estimate of cost and schedule for the remaining underground project and the preferred mine design approach.

Rio said: “All options under consideration present a pathway to sustainable first production, and have different cost and schedule implications. To date, these have been defined to a level of accuracy associated with a conceptual study or order of magnitude study, and, therefore, significantly more work is required to complete the final assessment.”

Preliminary information now suggests, depending on which mine design options are adopted, first sustainable production could be achieved between May 2022-June 2023. This range includes contingency of up to eight months reflecting the “unexpected and challenging geotechnical issues, complexities in the construction of shaft 2 and the detailed work still required to reach a more precise estimate”, Rio said.

The company added: “The company will continue to focus on minimising the impact to project schedule and cost, as it works through the detailed analysis and testing of each mine design option. Although further work is necessary to reach definitive conclusions, Rio Tinto is reviewing the carrying value of its investment in the project and will announce if any changes are required in the half year results on August 1, 2019.”

Stephen McIntosh, Group Executive, Growth & Innovation, said: “We have made significant progress on a number of key elements in the construction of the underground project during 2019. However, the ground conditions are more challenging than expected and we are having to review our mine plan and consider a number of options. Delays are not unusual for such a large and complex project, but we are very focused as a team on finding the right pathway to deliver this high value project.”

Arnaud Soirat, Chief Executive, Copper & Diamonds, said: “Oyu Tolgoi is a world-class orebody and a world-class business that is already producing copper, employing around 16,000 people and benefitting Mongolia through taxes, royalties and significant procurement. We are working with Turquoise Hill Resources and the Government of Mongolia to complete the underground, which will unlock the most valuable part of the mine for the benefit of all stakeholders.”

Oyu Tolgoi is owned 66% by Turquoise Hill Resources (THR) and 34% by the Mongolian government, with Rio Tinto holding a majority stake in THR.

Open-pit mining to recommence at FQM Las Cruces copper operation

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The Andalusia Government has authorised the resumption of exploitation work at the Las Cruces copper mine in Gerena, Spain, following a pit wall slide that occurred back in January, the operating subsidiary, Cobre Las Cruces (CLC), says.

In an announcement translated from Spanish to English and dated July 12, the company said it was in a position to immediately restart mining operations in the open pit, after receiving the corresponding authorisation from the Ministry of Finance, Industry and Energy of the Junta de Andalucía.

Open-pit mining at Las Cruces, owned by First Quantum Minerals through its ownership in CLC, was temporarily suspended as a result of a landslide that occurred on the northern slope of the pit on January 23.

The stoppage of the open pit has previously led First Quantum Minerals to warn investors the operation could lose around 25,000 t of copper output in 2019, followed by a further 25,000 t in 2020.

Since open-pit mining stopped, the operation has been feeding the hydrometallurgical plant with stockpiled ore to keep up throughput.

The approval to restart activity at the mine follows the company enacting its recovery and insurance plan at the open-pit site. This has seen CLC rebuild and reinforce the pit wall, as well as employ a georadar and laser scanner to scan the slopes of the mine in real time. A seismograph has also been employed to detect possible vibrations in the terrain.

Open-pit mining will resume in the eastern area of the open pit, CLC said. This is where the last phase of mining (phase 6) of the current open-pit plan is due to take place before the deposit is exhausted.

Las Cruces produced 70,738 t of copper cathode in 2018, slightly behind the 73,664 t it posted in 2017.

Boliden Kevitsa takes delivery of first EU-Stage-V-compliant Komatsu haul truck

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Boliden has received the first haul trucks from Komatsu as part of its investment in a new truck fleet at its Kevitsa (Finland) and Aitik (Sweden) open-pit base metal operations.

The delivery marks the entry of Komatsu electric dump trucks into the European market, according to the miner.

For Kevitsa, 17 Komatsu 830E-5 haul trucks will be delivered until January of 2020, with nine Komatsu 930E-5 haul trucks being delivered to Aitik until April 2020.

The new trucks are the first EU Stage-V haul trucks within Boliden’s fleet, significantly reducing diesel exhaust emissions, the company said. They will also provide improvements in operator environment and safety, Boliden added.

The Komatsu 830E-5 haul trucks have a 220 t payload and will replace the current truck fleet at Kevitsa, reducing the mine’s production cost, Boliden said. To further increase efficiency and productivity, the trucks will be equipped with dispatch and maintenance systems from Modular Mining to enable optimised production and tracking as well as fleet maintenance support, the company said.

Boliden mentioned the purchase of trucks back in October during its September quarter results, saying it had reached agreement with Komatsu regarding an investment totalling some SEK 900 million ($96 million). At the time, the company said all of the trucks were equipped for future electrification; an important point considering the trolley assist trial ongoing at Aitik.

To mark the delivery milestone of the first truck, a handover ceremony was arranged in Kevitsa on July 10.

During the event, strategies and technical solutions were presented by executives such as Boliden President and CEO, Mikael Staffas, and Managing Director and CEO of Komatsu Europe, Masatoshi Morishita.

Mikael Staffas said: “This is an important step in the development of our open-pit mines while improving our environmental performance from an already strong position. This [is], not least, because we now create opportunities for increased electrification and related productivity development.”

Masatoshi Morishita says: “Today is a milestone for Komatsu Europe. With the delivery of first CE-certified Electric Dump Trucks to Boliden, Komatsu can offer a full line-up of mining products and solutions in Europe as well. We aim this will only be the start.”

PT-FI makes headway at Grasberg Block Cave underground copper-gold mine

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Freeport McMoRan has confirmed that, during the second quarter of 2019, PT Freeport Indonesia (PT-FI) commenced extraction of ore from the Grasberg Block Cave underground mine, in Papua, Indonesia.

This is the same orebody historically mined from the surface in the open pit, Freeport noted.

Since its discovery in 1988, production from the Grasberg open pit has totalled approximately 27,000 MIb (12.25 Mt) of copper and 46 Moz of gold. Over its life, PT-FI expects to produce an additional 17,000 MIb of copper and 14 Moz of gold from the Grasberg Block Cave underground mine, making Grasberg one of the world’s largest copper and gold deposits.

In 2023, PT-FI expects to produce an average of 130,000 t/d of ore from five production blocks spanning 335,000 sq.m in the large-scale Grasberg Block Cave underground mine. At average reserve grades of 0.96% Cu and 0.72 g/t Au, this is expected to equate to production of 850 MIb of copper and 700,000 oz of gold per year.

During the June quarter, Freeport noted:

  • Undercutting in the Grasberg Block Cave underground mine exceeded 20,000 sq.m, over 20% above forecast. Inception to date, undercutting in the Grasberg Block Cave underground mine totals 48,000 sq.m;
  • Initiated drawbelling in two additional production blocks, bringing the active production blocks to three. Eighteen drawbells were opened, exceeding forecast. Open drawbells in inventory in the three active production blocks currently total 29;
  • Ore extraction ramped up from an average of 5,000 t/d in March quarter 2019 to an average of around 9,000 t/d in June 2019 and is expected to reach 15,000 t/d by the end of 2019, and;
  • The fully-autonomous, state-of-the-art underground rail system is supporting efficient transport of ore to the oreflow system for delivery to the mill processing facility.

Freeport said: “Monitoring data on cave propagation in the Grasberg Block Cave underground mine is providing increased confidence in growing production rates over time. As existing drawpoints mature and additional drawpoints are added, cave expansion is expected to accelerate production from an average of 30,000 t/d of ore per day in 2020 to 130,000 t/d in 2023.

The Deep Mill Level Zone (DMLZ) underground mine, located east of the Grasberg orebody and below the Deep Ore Zone (DOZ) underground mine, is expected to produce 8,000 MIb of copper and 8 Moz of gold over its life.

In 2022, PT-FI expects to produce from three production blocks in the DMLZ underground mine spanning 200,000 sq.m. At average reserve grades of 0.92% Cu and 0.76 g/t Au, 80,000 t/d of ore is expected to equate to production of 500 MIb/y of copper and 560,000 oz/y of gold.

During the quarter hydraulic fracturing operations at the DLMZ were ongoing and continue to be successful in conditioning the rock for large-scale mining, according to Freeport. Undercutting approached 4,000 sq.m, in-line with forecast (inception to date, undercutting totals 58,000 sq.m).

In June 2019, undercutting commenced on the second production block to establish two large production blocks in the DMLZ underground mine for ore extraction, while a total of four drawbells were opened, bringing total inventory of drawbells to 74.

Lastly at DMLZ, production ramped up from an average of 6,800 t/d of ore in the March quarter to an average of some 9,000 t/d in June. The DMLZ underground mine is expected to reach 11,000 t/d of ore by the end of 2019.

Ongoing hydraulic fracturing operations combined with continued undercutting and drawbell openings in the two production blocks are expected to expand the cave, supporting higher rates of production with an average of 28,000 t/d of ore estimated in 2020 and 80,000 t/d of ore in 2022.

Meanwhile, PT-FI continues to mine the final stages of the Grasberg open pit. During the most recent quarter, PT-FI opened an additional mining area to extend pit life options into the September quarter and potentially longer (previous estimates were based on mining through June 2019).

“The mine sequencing changes in the open pit delayed access to the high-grade material previously forecast to be produced during second-quarter (June quarter) 2019, resulting in lower copper and gold production from the open pit than the April 2019 estimates,” the company said.

Revised 2019 mine plans for the Grasberg open pit are expected to meet and provide an opportunity to exceed the April 2019 estimates for copper and gold production for the year 2019, Freeport noted. PT-FI will continue to monitor geotechnical conditions to determine the extent of mining in the open pit, with material not mined from the open pit available to be mined from the Grasberg Block Cave.

BHP’s Jurgens presents big picture automation plan

Automation, Base metals, Coal technology, Communications in mining, Equipment maintenance, Explosives and blasting, IoT, Metallurgy, Mine operation news, Mine surveying, Mineral exploration, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining events, Mining maintenance, Mining safety, Mining services, Mining software, Mining techniques, Steel and iron ore, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Diane Jurgens, BHP’s Chief Technology Officer, used her time on stage at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch SmartMine conference, in London, to highlight the company’s plan to introduce full or partial automation across its entire value chain.

The miner has already introduced automation across many of its operations – from haul trucks at Jimblebar (Western Australia) to drill rigs at Western Australia Iron Ore – but Jurgens said the company has bigger automated plans.

This includes considering opportunities to accelerate truck autonomy across the company’s Australia and Minerals Americas sites – the company previously detailed plans to automate around 500 haul trucks across its Western Australia Iron Ore and Queensland Coal sites – and introducing “Decision Automation” to link autonomous processes and data from different sources together to create “near instantaneous, optimised decision making”, Jurgens said.

While she talked up the use of automation in mining – referencing the experience she has in the automotive and aerospace industries – she admitted full automation across the BHP group was unlikely.

“This is because we automate equipment and processes where it provides the highest value,” she said, explaining that investment in technology competes against all of other projects in the BHP portfolio, “and alternative uses of cash, under BHP’s Capital Allocation Framework”.

To test this, the company has built proving grounds at two active mine sites (Eastern Ridge in Australia and Escondida in Chile) to trial new innovations in geology, extraction and processes, and “develop workforce capability so that our people are equipped for the rapid pace of change that lies ahead”, Jurgens said.

Just some of the new innovations Jurgens mentioned included the use of advanced geophysics modelling to reanalyse existing drilling data. This new approach led, in November last year, to the Oak Dam copper discovery, near its existing Olympic Dam operations in South Australia.

Recently, sensors were installed at the Escondida test grounds to prototype the use of real-time data to analyse the quality and grade of ores and inform, for example, whether to divert unprocessed ore for leaching, to concentrators or waste. Jurgens said: “The key to achieving this is using data collected through the sensors and combining it with proprietary algorithms. We then apply our knowledge of the ore body to optimise the processing methods. Once in production, we expect these to improve throughput performance.”

With access to more detailed data on extracted material, machine algorithms can automate decisions to identify and divert waste, which increases plant performance and reduces processing costs, she added.

New patented leaching technologies have, meanwhile, increased metal recoveries by 10-12% and shortened the processing time by 50%, according to Jurgens. “At Spence in Chile we increased copper recoveries by about 10% and helped offset grade decline through implementing the low-cost Spence Recovery Optimisation project,” she said. “The initiative improved heap leach kinetics which meant we could maximise utilisation of the leach pads and therefore use the full 200,000 t of tankhouse capacity.”

This breakthrough also informed the successful heap leach trial at Olympic Dam, which the company has just completed.

The company’s automation and innovation journey has already resulted in significant wins, according to Jurgens.
Equipment automation is creating more efficient, standardised and safer operations, she said:

  • Autonomous blast hole drills across BHP’s Western Australia Iron Ore assets have increased drill rates by 25%, and reduced monthly drill maintenance costs by over 40%;
  • Haulage automation at the Jimblebar operation, in the Pilbara, has reduced heavy vehicle safety incidents by 80%;
  • Machine learning is being applied to maintenance on trucks in iron ore and coal – to analyse component failure history;
  • At Yandi, haul truck maintenance analytics increased truck availability to above 90% and generated recurrent cost savings. Replicating these strategies to our trucks in energy coal in the Hunter Valley, BHP has also seen an increase in truck availability;
  • Automating key components of BHP’s rail network is supporting increased capacity, more reliable dispatch and improved maintenance outcomes;
  • In Western Australia, material density scanning and laser precision have delivered an additional 2.4 t of iron ore per car while reducing safety risks of overloading;
  • The automated rail network scheduling system, which controls over 10,000 ore cars and transports about 270 Mt/y of iron ore, is becoming more effective through self-learning algorithms, ensuring trains arrive at port, on-time, and;
  • LiDAR technologies are being used to automate the loading of ships that transport BHP’s product to customers around the world.

Taseko Mines’s Florence ISR trial copper mine reaches commercial level ahead of time

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Taseko Mines says it has reached “commercial grade levels” at its Florence in-situ copper test mine in Arizona, USA, less than six months after well field operations commenced.

The company cannot yet say it is a ‘commercial mine’, but it is well on the way to being able to with permits amendment applications to transfer the test facility into a commercial operation being delivered and financing arrangements being made.

On the former, Taseko said the Aquifer Protection Permit (APP) amendment application for Florence was now on its way to the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ). “The APP is one of two key permit amendments which are required for commercial production at the company’s Florence copper project,” Taseko said, adding that the permit amendment application for the Underground Injection Control Permit will be made to the US Environmental Protection Agency in the coming weeks.

Russell Hallbauer, Chief Executive Officer of Taseko, provided the update on operations at Florence. “This past week, after roughly six months of operating the test facility, the leach solution reached commercial grade levels, well in advance of our anticipated timeframe,” he said.

“Based on previous bench-scale testing, we expected it would take upwards of a year to reach target solution grade, so we are obviously extremely pleased to have achieved this milestone after such a short period of time.”

Hallbauer said the grade of the leach solution coming from Florence’s main recovery well is around 1,600 parts per million (ppm) of copper in solution and would be comparable to a typical open pit, low cost heap leach operation.

“The main difference between Florence Copper and other leach operations is that we have no mining costs associated with our in-situ leach process, making Florence Copper, when in commercial operation, one of the lowest cost operations globally,” he said.

The main focus of the Florence test facility, beyond ensuring the company achieves all the technical targets of its feasibility study, will be building the company’s on-the-ground operational experience to streamline the transition to commercial production, according to Halllbauer.

“Based on the knowledge we have gained in the last six months, the benefits of the two phase approach (production test facility followed by the commercial facility) will significantly improve the ramp up of the final commercial scale operation,” he said.

Stuart McDonald, President of Taseko, said financing for the commercial production facility is progressing with multiple options continuing to be pursued.

“We have initiated discussions with potential lenders and financing partners and we remain on track to have a plan formalised in the coming months,” he said.

“We now have the three key initiatives – technical, permitting and financing – all aligned for our project to be construction-ready in the first half of 2020.”

The commercial Florence mine is expected to produce copper at average operating costs of $1.10/Ib ($2,425/t), come with a capital cost intensity of $5,200/t of copper capacity and yield a pre-tax net present value of $920 million. It also has a slated copper production capacity of 85 MIb/y (38,555 t/y) and a 21-year mine life.