Tag Archives: copper

Pre-sink of Shaft 2 at Ivanhoe’s Platreef underground project months away

Base metals, Bulk handling, Explosives and blasting, Mine shafts and equipment, Mineral project development, Mining project news, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , , , , , , , , ,

In a review of exploration and development activities in 2018, Ivanhoe Mines has gone into some detail on developments at Shaft 2 at the Platreef PGM-nickel-copper-gold project on the northern limb of South Africa’s Bushveld Complex.

This follows a project update issued just after the Mining Indaba event in February.

Shaft 1, expected to reach its final depth of 982 m below surface in early 2020, will ultimately become the primary ventilation shaft during the project’s initial 4 Mt/y production case, but Shaft 2, around 100 m northeast of Shaft 1, will provide primary access to the mining zones.

Ivanhoe said Shaft 2 will have an internal diameter of 10 m, will be lined with concrete and sunk to a planned, final depth of more than 1,104 m below surface.

It will be equipped with two 40-t rock-hoisting skips capable of hoisting a total of 6 Mt/y of ore – the single largest hoisting capacity at any mine in Africa. The headgear for the permanent hoisting facility was designed by South Africa-based Murray & Roberts Cementation.

Ivanhoe said nine blasts were successfully completed in 2018 enabling the excavation of Shaft 2’s box cut to a depth of approximately 29 m below surface and the construction of the concrete hitch (shaft collar foundation) for the 103-m-tall concrete headgear (preparations pictured here) that will house the shaft’s permanent hoisting facilities and support the shaft collar.

Excavation of the box cut and construction of the hitch foundation is expected to be completed in the June quarter, enabling the beginning of the pre-sink, that will extend 84 m below surface, it said.

In July 2017, Ivanhoe, which indirectly owns 64% of the Platreef project through its subsidiary, Ivanplats, issued an independent, definitive feasibility study (DFS) for Platreef covering the first phase of production at an initial mining rate of 4 Mt/y. The DFS estimated Platreef’s initial, average annual production rate would be 476,000 oz of platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold, plus 21 MIb (9,525 t) of nickel and 13 MIb (5,897 t) of copper.

Mitchell to keep drilling south at BHP’s Olympic Dam copper-gold-uranium mine

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Mitchell Services has been awarded a contract extension at BHP’s Olympic Dam copper-gold-uranium mine in South Australia, which means it will continue with its underground drilling work until April 2020.

Under the varied terms of the deal, which comes on the back of a sustained period of strong drilling performance, the company will provide up to eight underground rigs and will continue to play “an integral part in BHP’s plans to expand into the high-grade southern area of the mine as part of a broader growth strategy at Olympic Dam”, it said.

Mitchell previously announced a material contract extension and scope increase in relation to its underground drilling contract back on September 5. This highlighted that the company would provide up to seven underground rigs and that the contract would be extended to April 2019.

In its latest results, BHP reported that underground operations continue to progress into the Southern Mine Area of Olympic Dam, with record development kilometres achieved and the mine’s third decline becoming fully operational in the December quarter of 2018.

 

Eurasia secures Sinosteel EPC finance package for Monchetundra palladium project

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Eurasia Mining says it has signed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract, with an associated mine finance package, for its Monchetundra PGM-gold-copper-nickel project, in Russia.

The contract with China’s Sinosteel follows ongoing discussions between the two parties, which have been taking place since issue of the mining permit for a circa-2 Moz (two platinum group metals and gold) deposit in November 2018.

Monchetundra has 1.9 Moz of palladium-led reserves and resources with platinum, gold, copper and nickel.

Sinosteel said: “We are delighted that Terskaya Mining Company, controlled by Eurasia Mining plc, has received the final mining permit for the Monchetundra project. We look forward to working with CKE (Central Kola Expedition – a contractor), TGK (Terskaya Gornaya Kompany) and Eurasia, to commence the EPC and develop the mine and plant at this exciting palladium, platinum, copper and nickel project.”

Christian Schaffalitzky, Chairman at Eurasia, said: “We are delighted to advance the Monchetundra project. The details include not only the engineering components, but also the financing and legal documentation. We will be busy over the coming months developing our plans with Sinosteel for the mine’s start up and expected move towards production.

CKE, Eurasia’s long standing working partner at Monchetundra, were recently awarded and have now commenced work on a detailed project report, required to be submitted and approved within one year of the issue of the mining permit. This contract was awarded to CKE by Eurasia’s subsidiary TGK.

Eurasia said: “The report will include an outline of the further geotechnical, hydrogeological, metallurgical and resource and reserve base work required as part of the broader mine development plan. The report is a statutory requirement and is on track to be completed and approved.”

The ground works and other studies detailed within the report will then contribute to a more detailed feasibility study of permanent conditions and a revised reserves statement made on the basis of the existing feasibility study and the reserves report already approved by the state.

“It is Eurasia’s intention to fast track the above and to run them in parallel with further mine studies and programmes as outlined in the EPC contract with Sinosteel,” the company said.

The Sinosteel EPC financing covers 85% (or $149.6 million) of a total contract value of $176 million. A $50 million sub-contract is specified within the contract and is assigned to Eurasia’s 80% subsidiary TGK, or a sub-contractor of its choosing, for engineering and pit development works in advance of mining.

Codelco looks to Uptake’s AI solution for equipment maintenance gains

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Uptake says it and the world’s largest copper producer, Codelco, are working on an artificial intelligence (AI) solution to monitor the health of mining equipment and ensure operations run efficiently and maintenance needs are predicted.

The agreement, part of Codelco’s digital transformation plan, includes mining and processing equipment at Codelco’s Division Ministro Hales (DMH) mine in Calama, Chile. In addition, Uptake will monitor grinding mills, roasters, crushers, pumps, haul trucks, and other machines with a view to creating a comprehensive and enterprise-wide Asset Performance Management solution across all of the company’s operating mines.

In 2017, the company’s DMH mine produced 215,086 t of copper alongside more than 126 t of silver.

Jaime Rivera, Codelco General Manager of the Andina Division, said: “Deploying artificial intelligence will allow Codelco to make best use of our operational data and allow us to reach our goals of boosting mining productivity, reduce costs and maintain safe machine operations through the predictive capabilities of Uptake’s Asset Performance Management (APM) software.”

Jay Allardyce, Uptake Executive Vice President of Industry, Product and Partnerships, said: “Codelco is the world’s leader in copper production and we’re pleased to support their digital efforts to make operations and maintenance expenditures more efficient by increasing visibility into the real-time and future health of mining machines.

“We are excited to partner with Codelco given their forward thinking to accelerate not only their operations, but the industry. With their data first approach coupled with our AI leadership, the transformation impact is outstanding and with leaders like Codelco it sets the tone for what is possible.”

Uptake’s APM software solution improves operational efficiency by leveraging AI to create business value from operational data, according to Uptake.

“Traditional asset management only covers routine maintenance tasks and fails to anticipate and adjust to the ways industry operates its business,” Uptake said. “Today’s asset-intensive environments require a new approach with industrial data science generating OEM (original equipment manufacturer)-agnostic insights, predictions and recommendations for any asset.”

By deploying Uptake APM, industry can unlock new operational efficiencies by making proactive maintenance decisions based on predictive insights, the company said. “Our industrial AI and machine-learning engines detect asset anomalies and help predict and prevent problems before they happen. Industry can also leverage the data analytics to understand how to drive more financial outcomes that impact business.”

Codelco terminates SNC-Lavalin contract at Chuquicamata

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Codelco has terminated its contract with SNC-Lavalin following a dispute related to a copper project the engineering firm was working on for the mining company.

SNC-Lavalin, which confirmed the news in a press statement, said Codelco had also initiated a drawdown on its approximately $42 million in bank guarantees.

News of a problem with one of SNC-Lavalin’s mining and metallurgy contracts came to light earlier this year, when the Canada-based company said an unfavourable cost reforecast related to a project would affect its 2018 financial results.

The two parties were unable to agree on a way forward for the project and, following further discussions, agreed to settle the dispute through an accelerated arbitration process. SNC-Lavalin said at the time that it expected to make significant recoveries in the future, but it would in the meantime continue to work on the project, which it expected to complete by the end of the June quarter.

Codelco said the $260 million engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the building of two new acid plants at the Chuquicamata smelter, in Chile, had been terminated due to a serious breach in the contract milestones.

“Among the non-compliances, are the delay in payments to its subcontractors, delays in the execution of the project and problems in the quality of the works, among others,” Codelco said in a news release translated from Spanish.

SNC-Lavalin, which earlier this year stopped bidding on all future mining EPC projects, said it was “appalled and surprised” by the decision taken by Codelco.

“We had reached an agreement in good faith on February 1, 2019, regarding the full completion of the project and a process for a fast track dispute resolution of previously announced unresolved issues through accelerated arbitration.”

The company said as it was nearing the end of the project completion, Codelco’s actions would put the completion and commissioning date further at risk.

“We believe that this termination is unwarranted and in breach of good faith agreements reached by the parties. It should be noted that Codelco has reached this decision after SNC-Lavalin openly informed Codelco of the status of the execution of the works, as requested by Codelco, which showed delays caused by site conditions that were the responsibility of Codelco, and the poor and unjustified acts by the main construction subcontractors,” SNC-Lavalin said.

SNC-Lavalin said it was now demobilising the job site and assessing the legal and financial impact of Codelco’s decision and preparing the dispute resolution actions to “recover as much as possible of the previously announced losses that are due directly to our client and to poor sub-contractor performance”.

RCT wins automation retrofit work at Lubambe copper mine in Zambia

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Autonomous solutions provider RCT says it has entered into a project to provide autonomous technology to the Lubambe underground copper mine in Zambia.

The deal involves RCT commissioning its ControlMaster® Guidance Automation on three Epiroc ST18 and two Sandvik LH517 LHDs at the mine. These machines will be managed via five automation stations located in tele-cabins.

RCT’s Guidance let’s operators remotely control the machine from a comfortable air-conditioned cabin, according to the company. The system automatically steers the machine to avoid collisions, enabling higher speeds, eliminating damage and improving productivity.

The technology will be installed in June with operator training to occur simultaneously, RCT said.

Lubambe is 80% owned by EMR Capital Resources, with 20% held by ZCCM Investments Holdings. In the nine months to March 31, 2018, the mine produced 14,891 t of contained copper.

Rosemont now a ‘fully-permitted, shovel-ready copper project’, Hudbay says

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Hudbay Minerals says it has received the approved Mine Plan of Operations (MPO) for the Rosemont copper project from the US Forest Service.

This completes the required permitting process for the project given Hudbay received the Section 404 Water Permit earlier this month.

Alan Hair, Hudbay’s President and CEO, said: “With the receipt of the Section 404 Water Permit, an agreement to consolidate 100% ownership and receipt of the approved MPO, Hudbay continues to move the project forward.

“Rosemont is now a fully-permitted, shovel-ready copper project and we look forward to developing this world-class asset.”

Rosemont, some 48 km southeast of Tucson, Arizona, is one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper projects. A 2017 feasibility study showed Rosemont could produce 112,000 tons (101,605 t) of copper over its life of mine and, based on a $3/Ib copper price, deliver a 15.5% after-tax unlevered internal rate of return.

GreenGold’s ReCYN to detoxify tailings, recover cyanide and copper at Martabe

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Technology provider GreenGold says it has been awarded a ReCYN™ design and install contract with PT Agincourt Resources to detoxify tailings and recover cyanide and copper at its Martabe gold-silver operation in Sumatra, Indonesia.

Jakarta- and Perth-based GreenGold will deliver the project with preferred fabricators for specialist equipment packages, the company said.

In a report published last year, Whittle Consulting called the ReCYN process “a world-leading approach” in cyanide recovery, metal recovery and tailings detoxification. “Based on an innovative resin-bead absorbent, ReCYN reduces cyanide consumption by 50%, capturing free cyanide from the plant tailings and recycling it back into the leach circuit while recovering metal complexes and making them available for sale,” Whittle said.

Whittle also said adopting the technology could provide a $126.9 million upside to the project.

GreenGold said it had received the contract following a record influx of enquires for the technology.

GreenGold CEO, Malcolm Paterson, said of the Martabe contract: “We have come up with an elegant design to fit the space constrained site. We also will be recovering cyanide and copper which previously was destroyed or sent to tails, turning a cost into an economic benefit for the mine.

“We are looking forward to delivering on this strategically important project, and continuing to build on our proven metallurgy and process capability within the precious/base metals sector globally.”

The Martabe mine has a resource base of some 7.4 Moz of gold and 69 Moz of silver.

Murray & Roberts Cementation to sink ventilation shaft at Palabora copper mine

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Murray & Roberts Cementation says it has been awarded a contract by Palabora Mining Co for a 1,200 m deep ventilation shaft at its copper complex in Phalaborwa, Limpopo Province, South Africa.

The shaft, with a lined diameter of 8.5 m, will reach a final blind sink depth of 1,190 m before a drop raise takes it to its final depth, according to Braam Blom, Project Executive at Murray & Roberts Cementation.

“The duration of this project is expected to be just over three years,” Blom said. “After mobilisation, site establishment and surface civils have been completed, we expect to conduct pre-sinking until the end of 2019, with the use of our special shaft sinking gantry to a shaft depth of 65 m.”

A surface headgear and winder installation will then be constructed from January to March 2020. This will facilitate the slow sink to 200 m and the main sink until February 2022. Canadian shutter and lining methods will be employed, the company said. The team is expected to conduct shaft stripping by mid-April 2022 and to dis-establish the site by the end of May 2022, it said.

“There will be no stations or other excavations required, so this will help keep the team in a sinking cycle and optimise production levels,” Blom said. “We will run full calendar operations with 12 hour shifts and cycles of five day shifts, five night shifts and five shifts off.”

A relatively small labour force of 123 people is planned for steady main sinking conditions, with some sub-contractors conducting surface piling and civil works for the winder, headgear and other site construction. Shaft drilling itself will be done with two twin-boom Komatsu shaft drill rigs, and mucking by a Komatsu excavator with close to 1 t of loading capacity.

Blom said ground conditions were expected to be a challenge in some areas, as profiled from the cover and core drilling “However, we have various ways of reducing the risk and downtime during these intersections – such as keeping the shaft lining as close as possible to the shaft bottom,” he said.

Palabora operates a large block cave copper mine and smelter complex employing around 2,200 people, according to the company’s website. It has developed a $410 million underground mine with a production capacity of 30,000 t/d of ore.

Hudbay’s Rosemont copper project moves forward with 404 Water Permit

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The US Army Corps of Engineers has issued a Section 404 Water Permit for Hudbay Minerals’ Rosemont copper project in the US, the mining company says.

Rosemont has already received the Final Record of Decision from the US Forest Service (USFS), a process that involved 17 co-operating agencies at various levels of government, 16 hearings, over 1,000 studies, and 245 days of public comment resulting in more than 43,000 comments.

The company said: “Now that the 404 permit has been issued, Hudbay expects to receive Rosemont’s Mine Plan of Operations from the USFS shortly and looks forward to moving the project into development.”

Rosemont, around 48 km southeast of Tucson, Arizona, is envisaged as an open-pit mine producing copper, molybdenum and silver. It is expected to have an annual average life of mine copper production of 112,000 tons (101,605 t).

The Rosemont site will include a processing plant and associated facilities, transmission lines for power and water, the pit, and waste rock and dry-stack tailings storage facilities.

“Best available demonstrated control technologies will be the hallmark of Rosemont,” Hudbay said. “These technologies will contribute to maximising production while minimising environmental impact. At Rosemont, this will include the use of dry-stack tailings – a technology that significantly reduces water use and improves reclamation – along with leading-edge lighting designs to maintain dark skies, solar energy as a source of power, dust collectors with cartridge filters and trucks with Tier 4 engines to ensure compliance with air quality standards.”

Alan Hair, Hudbay’s President and CEO, said: “The receipt of Rosemont’s 404 Water Permit is a major milestone in our efforts to build a modern mine that will fulfil the requirements of its permits, create jobs and provide benefits for all of our stakeholders.

“We appreciate the diligence that the Army Corps has put into its consideration of Rosemont’s permit application, and look forward to advancing Rosemont into construction.”

Hudbay said it would continue to execute its plan regarding the Rosemont project and provide updates as developments warrant.