Tag Archives: Hudbay Minerals

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

Base metals, Mine operation news, Mining equipment, Mining services, Power supply for mines, , , , , , ,

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.

Rajant and STRACONTech boost network coverage at Hudbay’s Constancia mine

Base metals, Communications in mining, IoT, Mine operation news, Mining services, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Rajant Corporation, the pioneer of Kinetic Mesh® wireless networks, and STRACONTech, a Kinetic Mesh Partner in Lima, Peru, say they have increased bandwidth and improved networking coverage at the Constancia mine in Peru, a project owned by Hudbay Minerals.

After reviewing options, the mine selected to invest in Rajant’s solution for mobility, which allows an almost “plug-and-play” integration with the mine’s existing LTE network, Rajant said. Eduardo Rojas, IT Manager at Hudbay, said: “Our mining operation needed a better design for its haulage and loading fleet. With the Rajant hybrid solution, we now have a significant increase in bandwidth, which will allow us to be more efficient.”

With the Rajant Peregrine LTE BreadCrumb®, the mine obtained a four times performance improvement, going from a limit of 10 Mb/s with LTE up to 40 Mb/s.

The Rajant Peregrine LTE allows connectivity on multiple frequencies simultaneously, including LTE. This improves operations so connectivity is not lost with the mining fleet even when interference exists on the 2.4 GHz, 5 Ghz, or LTE band, Rajant says.

Rajant Vice President of Sales (Americas/APAC), Sagar Chandra, added: “All mining operations want reliable and scalable connectivity. We successfully improved the performance of the installed LTE network using the Peregrine LTE, which offers the unique benefit of Kinetic Mesh and direct machine-to-machine connectivity.”

Rajant and STRACONTech teams started with a proof of concept, resulting in a larger phased installation, delivering improved performance.

STRACONTech’s team explains: “We measured 30-32 Mb/s at 1 km while the mine’s LTE had a ceiling of 10 Mb/s. We solved the challenge they had. Moreover, the investment in the Peregrine LTE was a one-time cost for the mine without recurring annual software or maintenance costs, saving them long-term.”

Hudbay’s Constancia mine produced 89,395 t of copper, 58,229 oz of gold and 2.3 Moz of silver in 2022.

Hudbay secures renewable energy supply for Constancia with ENGIE agreement

Mine operation news, Power supply for mines, Sustainable mining, , , ,

Hudbay Minerals Inc says it has signed a new 10-year power purchase agreement with ENGIE Energía Perú for access to a 100% renewable energy supply to Hudbay’s Constancia operations in Peru.

Following the end of the current power supply agreement in Peru, energy will be supplied by ENGIE Energía Perú starting on January 1, 2026, with a 10-year term. The new agreement ensures a consistent and guaranteed supply of renewable energy sufficient for Hudbay’s Constancia operation, the company says.

Hudbay said: “The new contract provides improved flexibility in power supply levels and lower contracted costs as compared to the existing power supply contract. The contract functions on a consumption basis, ensuring the company’s costs are variable based on actual usage, with no minimum spend or penalty for usage below the contracted rate.”

In alignment with Hudbay’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction initiatives, the new contract includes the granting of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) to Hudbay as an assurance of the supply of renewable energy dedicated to Constancia’s electricity consumption. These RECs will be applied to Hudbay’s energy consumption to enable the company to have a 100% carbon-neutral energy supply at its Constancia operations, it said. As a result of the application of these RECs, total Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions company-wide at Hudbay’s current operations are expected to decline by 40% during the life of the contract, positioning the company well to achieve its 2030 climate change target of a 50% reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions.

Peter Kukielski, Hudbay’s President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “Last December, Hudbay committed to reducing its 2030 GHG emissions by 50% and achieving net zero by 2050. The signing of this 10-year power purchase agreement marks a major milestone for achieving Hudbay’s greenhouse gas reduction goals. We are proud of this achievement as it places Hudbay firmly in reach of achieving a 50% emissions reduction by 2030 and on track for net zero by 2050. Additionally, Hudbay’s low carbon footprint production will continue to produce the metals needed for the global transition to a low-carbon future.”

Hudbay’s Constancia continuous improvement quest leads to MineSense XRF trial

Base metals, Comminution of minerals, Environmental, Mine operation news, Mineral processing, Mineral project development, Mining equipment, Sustainable mining, Water management, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hudbay Minerals has one of the lowest cost per tonne copper sulphide operations in Peru on its hands at Constancia, but it is intent on continuously improving the mine’s margins and environmental performance through a commitment to continuous improvement. This has recently led it to exploring the potential of sensor-based ore sorting.

Hudbay’s operations at Constancia include the Constancia and Pampacancha pits, an 86,000 t/d ore processing plant, a waste rock facility, a tailings management facility and other ancillary facilities that support the operations.

The company increased reserves at the mine, located in the Cusco department, by 33 Mt at a grade of 0.48% Cu and 0.115 g/t Au last year – an increase of approximately 11% in contained copper and 12% in contained gold over the prior year’s reserves.

With the incorporation of Pampacancha and Constancia North, annual production at Constancia is expected to average approximately 102,000 t of copper and 58,000 oz of gold from 2021 to 2028, an increase of 40% and 367%, respectively, from 2020 levels, which were partially impacted by an eight-week temporary mine interruption related to a government-declared state of emergency.

Constancia now has a 16-year mine life (to 2037) ahead of it, but the company thinks there is a lot more value it can leverage from this long-life asset and it has been looking at incorporating the latest technology to prove this.

In recent years it has, for instance, worked with Metso Outotec to improve rougher flotation performance at Constancia using Center Launders in four e300 TankCells and installed a private LTE network to digitise and modernise its open-pit operations.

Peter Amelunxen, Vice President of Technical Services at Hudbay, said the Constancia ore sorting project – which has seen Hudbay partner with MineSense on a plan to trial the Vancouver-based cleantech company’s ShovelSense X-ray Fluorescence (XRF)-based sorting technology – was one of many initiatives underway to further improve the operating efficiency at Constancia.

“The ore sorting program is separate from the recovery uplift program at Constancia,” Amelunxen said, referring to a “potentially high-return, low capital opportunity” that could boost milled copper recovery by 2-3%.

He added: “The ore sorting program is expected to yield positive results at the mining phase of the operation and is expected to increase the mill head grade and reduce metal loss to the waste rock storage facility.”

Back in April 2021 during a virtual site visit, Hudbay revealed it was trialling bulk sorting at Constancia as one of its “optimisation opportunities”, with Amelunxen updating IM in mid-January on progress.

Hudbay has previously evaluated particle sorting at its Snow Lake operations in Manitoba – with the benefits outlined in a desktop study “muted” given “bottlenecks and constraints”, Amelunxen said – but, at Constancia, it considered XRF sorting from the onset for copper-grade only pre-concentration, due to its perception that this application came with the lowest potential risk and highest probability of success.

The company has a three-phase evaluation process running to prove this, with phase one involving a “bulk sorting amenability study”, phase two moving up to laboratory-scale testing and phase three seeing trials in the field.

The “bulk sorting amenability study” looked at downhole grade heterogeneity to estimate curves of sortability versus unit volume, Amelunxen detailed. Laboratory testing of drill core samples to evaluate the sensor effectiveness was then carried out before an economic analysis and long-range-plan modelling was conducted.

With the concept and application of bulk sorting having cleared all these stage gates, Hudbay, in November, started pilot testing of XRF sensors on a loader. This involved fitting a ShovelSense unit onto the 19 cu.m bucket of a Cat 994H wheel loader, with around 20 small stockpiles of “known grades” loaded onto the bucket and dispatched into a feeder and sampling system (pictured below, credit: Engels Trejo, Manager Technical Services, Hudbay Peru). With this process completed, the company is now awaiting the results.

At a similar time, the company moved onto demonstration trials of a “production” ShovelSense sensor unit on the 27 cu.m bucket of a Hitachi ECX5600-6 shovel operating in one of the pits. It has collected the raw spectral data coming off this unit since the end of November, with plans to keep receiving and analysing sensor data through to next month.

“We should have the finalised XRF calibration in February, at which time we’ll process the raw data collected during the three-month trial period and compare it with the short-term mine plan (ie grades of ore shipped),” Amelunxen said. “So, by the end of February or early March, we’ll be able to validate or finetune the economic model.”

Should the results look favourable, Amelunxen is confident that leasing additional sensors and installing them on the other two Hitachi ECX5600-6 shovels will not take long.

Credit: Engels Trejo, Manager Technical Services, Hudbay Peru

“Plans may change somewhat as the program unfolds,” he said. “For example, we may have success sorting ore, but feel additional calibration is required for waste sorting at Pampacancha, in which case we may install production sensors on Constancia ores while doing another trial program at Pampacancha.

“It all depends on the precision of the XRF calibration.”

Higher head grades and potentially higher copper recoveries may be the headline benefits of using ore sorting technology, but Hudbay is equally focused on obtaining several key environmental benefits, including reduced consumption of energy and water.

On the latter, Amelunxen said: “This is expected due to the processing of less ‘waste’ by removing uneconomic material earlier in the process and reducing the hauling and processing costs of the uneconomic material.”

Looking even further forward – past a potential commercial implementation of XRF-based ore sorting at Constancia – the company plans to evaluate the application of other sensors, too.

“For our future development copper project in Arizona, we plan to look at other sensors as well,” Amelunxen said, referencing the company’s Rosemont asset.

This ore sorting project is not the only project the processing team at Constancia are examining, as Amelunxen already hinted at.

As part of the recovery uplift project, it is installing equipment that will allow the operation to increase the overall mass recovery of the roughers, which is currently constrained by the downstream pumps and cleaning circuit.

“This will allow us to achieve an expected 2-3% increase in copper recoveries without impacting concentrate grade,” Amelunxen said.

It has various initiatives underway under the “Moly plant improvement projects” banner, too. This includes flowsheet optimisation, pH control in the cleaners and pH reduction in the bulk cleaners.

“This project has been in the works since late 2019, and the new mechanical agitator installation in the cleaning cells was completed during the August 2021 schedule mill maintenance shutdown and the new nitrogen plant was commissioned in the second half of the year,” Amelunxen explained. “The next steps are pH control in the cleaners (with CO2), water balance optimisation and potentially installing a Jameson flotation cell as a pre-rougher (the cell is already on site and not in use, it will be repurposed pending results of the pH trials).”

A flotation reagent optimisation study is also on the cards, aimed at reducing zinc and lead contamination in the copper concentrate.

“A depressant addition system is on the way to site and should be installed in February, with plant trials commencing in March,” Amelunxen said, explaining that this followed laboratory test work completed in 2021.

Anglo American, Glencore, Newcrest and Newmont join coarse particle recovery consortium

Comminution of minerals, Environmental, Metallurgy, Mineral processing, Mineral project development, Mining industry recognition, Mining services, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Researchers from The University of Queensland’s Sustainable Minerals Institute (SMI) have signed an agreement with industry partners to form a consortium to develop improved energy efficiency for mineral processing operations.

The Collaborative Consortium for Coarse Particle Processing Research will run initially for five years and tackle multidisciplinary aspects of coarse particle processing such as flotation, comminution, classification, and equipment design and process chemistry, SMI says.

It will also contribute towards global challenges such as the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation of human-made climate change.

The processing of coarse particles is considered one of the key research areas for developing improved energy efficiency of mineral processing operations, according to SMI.

The consortium includes researchers from SMI’s Julius Kruttschnitt Minerals Research Centre (JKMRC) and representatives from Anglo American, Aeris Resources, Eriez Flotation Division, Glencore, Hudbay Minerals, Newcrest Mining and Newmont.

The program Chair is SMI Director, Professor Neville Plint (far left). JKMRC’s Associate Professor, Kym Runge (right), and Dr Liza Forbes (middle) are the Technical Directors.

Professor Plint said SMI and JKMRC have a long history of successful industry engagement.

“This consortium brings together depth and breadth of expertise and significant technical skill, and it shows the willingness of industry to work closely with university researchers to tackle complex problems and have an impact,” he said.

“The team in JKMRC have worked hard and consulted with all our industry partners to create this important forum.”

Newmont’s Director of Processing, Dr Ronel Kappes, said the company had identified coarse particle recovery (CPR) as a key enabling technology to focus on, in order to improve future processing efficiencies.

“The UQ CPR Consortium project is an important step in technology development in order to leverage future CPR applications,” Dr Kappes said.

Eriez Flotation Division’s, Dr Eric Wasmund, said the company was pleased to be a founding sponsor of the consortium.

“This consortium fits EFD’s vision to enable sustainable technology solutions through strong customer partnerships,” he said. “As demonstrated by our leading-edge HydroFloat® technology, coarse particle flotation is a key disruptive technology for improving mineral recoveries, reducing power and water consumption and producing safer tailings.”

The CPR Consortium held its first technical workshop at the end of September.

Hudbay invests in comminution energy efficiency research with CEEC sponsorship

Base metals, Comminution of minerals, Environmental, IoT, Mineral processing, Mining industry recognition, Mining services, Power supply for mines, Precious metals, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Coalition for Energy Efficient Comminution (CEEC) has announced new sponsorship from base and precious metals mining company, Hudbay Minerals Inc.

Hudbay, a diversified mining company producing copper, zinc, gold and silver, owns three polymetallic mines, four ore concentrators and a zinc production facility in Canada and Peru (Constancia, pictured), as well as copper projects in the US. Its vision is to be a responsible, top-tier operator of long-life, low-cost mines in the Americas, CEEC says.

CEEC CEO, Alison Keogh, said that with growing global demand for minerals such as copper to support the shift towards low-carbon technologies, the need for lower footprint mineral processing was becoming even more critical.

“Rock crushing and grinding can typically account for more than half of a mine’s energy consumption,” she said. “By working together as an industry to understand and optimise comminution challenges, we have the opportunity to improve efficiency and environmental outcomes.

“We’re delighted that Hudbay has joined our list of visionary sponsors, each committed to collaborating with CEEC’s global network of miners, suppliers and researchers to advance efficient, cost-effective, lower footprint mining.”

Peter Amelunxen, Hudbay Vice President of Technical Services, said increasing performance and delivering sustainable value involves a combination of operational know-how and technical sophistication.

“We recognise that collaboration with CEEC is a positive step in our commitment to continuous improvement.”

Amelunxen said Hudbay was particularly interested in “adding a metric to our success” by contributing to the CEEC Energy Curves database. This free tool allows users to benchmark the energy efficiency of sites and visually assess potential energy and cost benefits through various operational scenarios.

“We’ve always approached what we do in terms of improving cost and energy efficiencies,” he said. “However, we’re most excited about using the Energy Curves to quantify, pound for pound, the energy reduction piece.

“This will help inform our decisions around targeted enhancements to existing sites and plan best practice operations in future mines. The bottom line is that this tool will enable us to demonstrate how we are improving environmental management while also improving returns for shareholders.”

David Clarry, Hudbay Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility, said data sharing through the CEEC Energy Curves, and broader initiatives such as participation in the CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project), were important for the industry.

“By being transparent and sharing knowledge, we can learn from each other and find novel approaches for achieving environmental benefits in a cost-effective way,” Clarry said. “Tapping into all the resources that CEEC offers gives us cutting-edge learnings so we can continue to pursue economically viable opportunities to improve energy efficiencies, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and better manage climate-related risks.”

Keogh said with the COVID-19 pandemic affecting many businesses around the world, Hudbay’s sponsorship during this time was commendable.

“As a lean, virtual not-for-profit, we thank all our sponsors for their continued support during this period of uncertainty,” she said. “This ongoing commitment will help CEEC and the industry to weather the storm and come out stronger and more sustainable on the other side.”

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

Base metals, Environmental, Mineral project development, Water management, , , ,

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.

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

Base metals, Environmental, Mineral exploration, Mining policy, Mining project news, Precious metals, Water management, , , , , , , , , , ,

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.