Tag Archives: La India

Condor Gold looks to GRES’ Hanlon for SAG mill advice at La India

Comminution of minerals, Mineral processing, Mineral project development, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , , , , , , ,

Condor Gold says it has selected Hanlon Engineering & Associates to develop a feasibility study level design for a new processing plant built around its recently acquired SAG mill at the La India gold project in Nicaragua.

A wholly owned subsidiary company of GR Engineering Services Limited (GRES), Hanlon is based in Tucson, Arizona. As lead engineer for this study, Hanlon will be responsible for the engineering designs, the capital cost and operating costs of the processing plant to a FS level of design.

Condor, earlier this year, entered into an agreement to purchase a completely new Metso Outotec SAG mill package from First Majestic Silver to serve La India.

The feasibility study design will develop costs to a +/- 15% level of accuracy for the design, capital expenditure and operating expenditure of a fully engineered processing plant package, which is normally a mandatory requirement of debt financing. The processing plant will be designed to a nominal capacity of 2,300 t/d, but have the built-in capacity in several key areas to potentially upgrade throughput to 2,850 t/d. At the 2,300 t/d rate, initial production is expected to be 80,000-100,000 oz/y of gold.

Hanlon is due to deliver the FS level engineering designs for a new processing plant within 12 weeks, working in conjunction with its GRES and using their extensive global experience with the design, construction and expansion of gold processing plants.

Mark Child, Chairman and CEO, said Hanlon Engineering was previously engaged by First Majestic Silver, the vendor of the SAG mill, to help design the new SAG mill recently purchased by Condor.

“Their knowledge of the SAG mill and involvement with many similar process plant designs completed to date will help fast track the delivery of the feasibility study design,” he said.

Condor Gold accelerates La India development with Metso Outotec SAG mill acquisition

Comminution of minerals, Mineral processing, Mineral project development, Mining equipment, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , , , , , , ,

Condor Gold has entered into an agreement to purchase a completely new Metso Outotec SAG mill package from First Majestic Silver to serve its La India project in Nicaragua.

The purchase consideration is around $6.5 million – made up of cash and shares – with the SAG mill representing a key item of the plant required to bring La India into production, Condor said.

The SAG mill is estimated by Metso Outotec’s technical support group to have a 2,300 t/d (800,000 t/y) throughput on a sustained basis, based on the metallurgical characteristics of the ore and mineralised material at La India. Based on internal technical studies and mining dilution studies conducted by SRK Consulting, initial production at La India is expected to be 80,000-100,000 oz/y of gold.

Condor says the SAG mill and parts are 90% ready to be shipped. The 2,300 t/d capacity forms “Stage 1 of production”, with capacity to be expanded materially after two to three years of production. Its delivery reduces the order time of this key long lead item by 12 months, fast tracking La India project into production. Condor said there is the possibility of increasing throughput by 22% to 2,850 t/d by installing a 4,100 kW motor (currently a 3,330 kW motor).

Mark Child, Chairman and CEO, said: “The key message is Condor has purchased and sized the mill at 2,300 t/d, significantly shortened the mill delivery time, set a trajectory for detailed project design and an accelerated path to production. What’s more, Condor has acquired a state-of-the-art, complete new SAG mill package with warrantees, manufactured and supplied by Metso Outotec, the premier manufacturer of grinding mills and entire grinding systems for the global mining industry.”

Condor plans to commence gold production at La India in 24 months.

The SAG mill agreement has come about as First Majestic ordered a complete new SAG mill package, which, Condor says, is now superfluous to its requirements.

The SAG mill has a mill diameter of 24 ft (7.3 m) and an effective grinding length of 18.5 ft and a structural charge mass of 315 t, Condor Gold said. The structural design ball charge is 11% with a structural design load volume of 35%. Specific gravity of the material is 2.55. The structural steel liner mass is 240 t; however, with the use of lighter composite liners, the weight and corresponding power requirement can be reduced significantly to 120 t.

The complete SAG mill package manufactured and supplied by Metso Outotec includes:

  • Mill shell fabricated in 8 x 90° segments;
  • Mill heads cast in 4 x 90° segments with demountable trunnions;
  • Ductile ring gear and carbonized pinion shaft;
  • Pinion shaft assembly equipment;
  • Erection cradles;
  • Bracket, coupling and guard;
  • Pinion bearings-2-pad polymer hydrostatic bearings;
  • Transformer for the mill;
  • Gear unit, steel guard and fasteners;
  • Allen Bradley variable speed drive;
  • Allen Bradley PLC mill local panel;
  • 3,300 kW WEG SCIM (motor);
  • Bearing housing;
  • Torque limiter and hubs;
  • Complete feed assembly. ‘Rock box’ feed chute with replaceable steel wear liners;
  • Complete discharge assembly. Fabricated discharge cone (no trommel screen) with replaceable rubber wear liners;
  • Discharge trunnion liner with replaceable rubber wear liners;
  • Installation materials and some spares;
  • Trunnion bearing;
  • Hydraulic torque wrench kit;
  • Liner handler; and
  • Howard Marten lubrication systems (trunnion oil lube, reducer/pinion oil lube, gear spray grease lube).

It is assumed that a pebble crusher will be used in the comminution circuit to provide some additional grinding power and to manage critical size fraction material, Condor said. The SAG mill is equipped with a variable speed drive to allow the mill to operate between 1,500 t/d and 2,300 t/d. Furthermore, it is possible to increase the daily throughput by increasing the motor size, as previously indicated. The 22% boost in throughput could potentially allow gold production to increase by a similar amount, the company said.

The SRK 2017 Technical Report on La India outlined an overall process flowsheet based on a single stage SAG comminution and conventional carbon-in-leach circuit.

Agnico Eagle talks LTE, automation and ore sorting in Q1 results

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Agnico Eagle Mines highlighed a number of initiatives in its March quarter results as the company continues its ambitious growth plan to hit the 2 Moz production milestone in 2020.

The headline numbers might have disappointed investors – net income dropped to $37 million from $44.9 million a year earlier, on the back of lower gold sales volumes, realised gold prices and by-product revenue – but there was plenty to be excited about for the future.

Group output of 398,217 oz in the first three months of the year puts the company on track to achieve 2019 production of 1.75 Moz of gold (1.63 Moz in 2018), Agnico Eagle said, while the company’s Meliadine gold mine in Nunavut, Canada, was due to achieve commercial production next month. This is expected to be followed by the company’s nearby Amaruq project producing first gold in the September quarter.

On the technology front, Agnico reported on its communication infrastructure efforts at its deep LaRonde gold mine in the Abitibi region of Quebec, Canada.

Following the successful deployment of its LTE network at LaRonde Zone 5, the company deployed an LTE network at the LaRonde mine below level 269 in 2018. Extension of the network in the ramp area from level 269 to surface and at LaRonde 3 will take place throughout 2019, Agnico said.

“The LTE network facilitates the integration of automation technologies currently being tested at LaRonde Zone 5, which are expected to allow the company to maintain similar productivity levels at LaRonde 3 as it historically achieved in the shallower portions of the mine,” the company said.

And, on those automation trials at LaRonde Zone 5, Agnico said: “Integration and pilot testing of automated mining equipment (two trucks and one scooptram) continued in the first (March) quarter of 2019 and will be ongoing over the balance of the year.”

Last year, Agnico Eagle confirmed its ore sorting plans at its Pinos Altos operation in Mexico. This included the installation of a pilot plant at the mine.

The company said, in its March quarter results, samples will be processed from all of the orebodies at Pinos Altos and La India in 2019 to determine the merits of implementing the technology at its Mexican operations.

“To-date, sorting of open-pit ore from the Sinter deposit has yielded favourable preliminary results,” it said, adding that similar ore sorting pilot testing is being considered at the company’s other operating regions.