Tag Archives: MATSA

Swick signs BHP, MATSA drilling contracts and inks first Orexplore commercial pact

14th August 2020Base metals, Mine operation news, Mineral exploration, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining services, Precious metalsBHP, drill core analysis, drilling contractor, GeoCore X10, Gwalia, Kent Swick, MATSA, Mineral Technology Business, Olympic Dam, Orexplore, Spain, St Barbara, Swick Mining Services, Western AustraliaDaniel Gleeson

Swick Mining Services Limited has secured new drilling contracts with BHP’s Olympic Dam mine and MATSA’s copper operation in Spain at the same time as confirming the first commercial agreement for its Mineral Technology Business.

In what will be Swick’s second largest project, the company has been awarded a five-year contract to provide underground drilling services at Olympic Dam mine in South Australia.

Swick has been working with up to five rigs at Olympic Dam since 2017 when an initial trial of its underground mobile diamond drills commenced.

The new contract will see Swick increase its rig volume at site, with the first year’s scope requiring an initial eight rigs, with five to be added to the three currently operating at site. Of the five additional rigs, three are at site already and the remainder will be mobilised from Swick’s existing fleet, according to Swick.

Swick has also been awarded a five-year contract from Minas de Aguas Teñidas SAU (MATSA) at its copper operations in Spain, where two rigs are currently deployed.

These projects, combined with Swick’s existing work in hand, has expanded Swick’s order book to A$363 million ($260 million), it said.

Swick’s Mineral Technology Business, Orexplore, has also been awarded its first infield commercial agreement, the company said.

Under the agreement with St Barbara Ltd, some 1,500 m of core will be scanned per month over a six-month period at the Gwalia mine in Leonora, Western Australia.

Swick will conduct technical assessment over a number of potential benefits of the detailed core analysis and high volume of quality data generated by the GeoCore X10 instrument, it said. The agreement has a value of around A$700,000 over the six-month period.

“Orexplore will be working with world-class subject matter experts to ensure maximum value for the client is derived from the data obtained to develop a compelling justification for ongoing services beyond the initial six-month period,” it said.

Swick expects a formal contract to be signed in the coming weeks and mobilisation of GeoCore X10 instruments housed in a custom-built mobile laboratory to site in September 2020.

The GeoCore X10 analyses the element concentrations and minerals contained in a drill core, as well as providing a visualisation of the rock’s internal structure in 3D. This speeds up the chemical laboratory analysis process, enabling miners to accelerate their own decision making.

Swick Managing Director, Kent Swick, said the company was delighted to be awarded a long-term contract with BHP at Olympic Dam.

“Credit goes to our operational team who have delivered outstanding safety performance, and high quality and productive drilling that enabled Swick to secure this long term, high volume work,” he said.

“In addition, securing a five-year agreement with a large copper miner MATSA, in Spain, adds to our ongoing work with Somincor in Portugal along the historic Iberian Pyrite Belt. Our local workforce in that region is highly skilled and they are to be commended for converting a trial into a long-term contract in Spain.”

He concluded: “In the Mineral Technology Business, it is very exciting that we have taken a significant step forward with the award of Orexplore’s first infield commercial agreement. We look forward to ensuring the value is extracted from this rich 3D data set and I am confident we can add significant long-term value to the Gwalia mine and the wider brownfield market.”

New name and new speakers for MMH mining event in Seville

12th September 2019Base metals, Communications in mining, Environmental, Industrial minerals, Mineral exploration, Mineral project development, Mining equipment, Mining events, Mining policy, Mining safety, Mining services, Precious metals, Sustainable mining, Water managementAndalusia, Atalaya Mining, Atlantic Copper, Cobre Las Cruces, COMINROC, Epiroc, Euromines, FIBES, Horizon 2020, Javier Targhetta, MATSA, MAXAM, Mining and Minerals Hall, MMH, Riotinto, Seville, SpainDaniel Gleeson

The international Mining and Minerals Hall (MMH), in Seville, Spain, has more than 70 speakers lined up for its next edition, taking place on October 15-17.

MMH 2019, taking place at the Seville Conference and Exhibition Centre (FIBES), is the third edition of the meeting. While it will keep the same format as the previous two events, this year’s MMH has changed focus. Previously named Metallic Mining Hall, the change is aimed at creating an inclusive meeting for the entire mining sector embracing sectors such as industrial minerals this time around.

The King, Don Felipe VI, Pedro Sánchez, President of the Government, and Juan Manuel Moreno, President of Junta de Andalucía, will be leading MMH’s Honorary Committee, which has devised an event that will attract participation from the main mining industries and representation from ancillary service companies. The exhibition area, which has been expanded since the last event in 2017, is to host more than 100 companies.

MMH has attracted a stellar list of speakers this time around, who will analyse the latest industry trends and share their experiences in the regional industry, which has recovered its role as one of the most important engines of the Andalusia economy.

As Javier Targhetta, CEO of the metallurgy company Atlantic Copper, and Commissioner of this new edition of MMH, said: “This evolution of the Hall can only be explained by the recovery of a sector which, in the last few years, has striven to find new ways and procedures to develop its activity efficiently and sustainably.”

Targhetta is right. In the two years since the last edition of MMH, the Riotinto copper mine has expanded, MATSA has ramped up its operations and, more recently, Cobre Las Cruces is considering a significant mine life extension through a new underground and pyrometallurgical project.

Targetta continued: “This is shown by the increase in the number of professionals from the different fields of mining who will participate in the scientific conference and will also enrich the knowledge of the conference attendants with their work, their experience and their innovative spirit.”

Sustainability and achieving a more sustainable, environmentally friendly mining industry will be a key theme of the conference, with roundtables such as ‘Competitiveness, sustainability and security of energy supply for mining and industry’ looking to confront the issue head on. This panel will see José Luis del Valle Doblado take on the chairman’s role, drawing on his experience as President of the MMH Scientific Committee and Chair of LAR ESPAÑA and WiZink.

The panel, ‘Circular economy opportunities for the mining industry’, meanwhile, will be moderated by Vicente Gutiérrez Peinador, General Manager of CONFEDEM, the National Mining Association of Spain. He will, no doubt, also have some thoughts to share on the sustainability panel given CONFEDEM recently became the fifth national mining association outside of Canada to adopt the Mining Association of Canada’s Towards Sustainable Mining® initiative.

Luis Montoto Rojo, Communications Director of Junta de Andalucía’s Taxation, Industry and Energy Department, will have his work cut out as moderator of a session titled, ‘Social licence to operate: mining industry management and its connection with society’. Miners in Andalucia, in recent years, have done well to win back the trust of local and regional communities following a tailings dam failure at the Los Frailes lead-zinc mine, in 1998, that damaged the two’s relationship. Expect to hear some examples of this positive engagement during the panel.

This is not all. The event program also includes presentations by José F Sánchez-Junco, CEO of explosives and blasting expert MAXAM, speaking on the subject, ‘Innovation and energetic materials in the mining operation’.

The Confederation of Rock and Industrial Mineral Extractive Industries (COMINROC) has played an integral role in organising the third edition of MMH, having signed an alliance with MMH and Congresos y Turismo de Sevilla (CONTURSA), the company managing the MMH venue, FIBES, back in March. Representing 10 sectors of the extractive industry, namely aggregates, lime, cement, industrial minerals, ornamental rock, clay, slate, magnesite, siliceous sand and gypsum, COMINROC’s participation was key in ensuring miners from these segments participated in this third edition. César Luaces Frades, Technical General Secretary of COMINROC, will present, ‘Extractive industry strategy for biodiversity: a key actor’, at the event.

Meanwhile, Glenn Orveillon, an expert in the circular economy and industrial leadership of the European Commission, will share his experience of working in the institution in a session titled, ‘Circular economy in the European Union’.

Atlantic Copper’s Targhetta will moderate a panel titled, ‘Present situation, threats and opportunities of metallic mining’, steering a stellar lineup of participants including Alberto Lavandeira, CEO of Atalaya Mining – the owner of the historic Riotinto copper mine – Audra Walsh, CEO of MATSA – the owner of three base and precious metal mines in Andalucia – Isabel Suárez Díaz, Secretary General of the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain, IGME; Juan Pedro Soler, CEO of Cobre Las Cruces – the only hydrometallurgical copper producer in Europe; and Mark Rachovides, President of Euromines.

The ‘Mining policies and investments’ panel will be moderated by Antonio García Muñoz, Managing Partner of Lener’s Mining Sector area; and ‘Biodiversity management in the extractive industry’ will be chaired by Lafarge Holcim España’s Pilar Gegúndez Cámara.

The following talks will also be given: ‘Raw materials and geopolitics’ by Isaac Querub, Co-Founder and Partner of Moka Consulting; and ‘Premises for the new Mining Strategy in Andalusia, starting point’, by Natalia González Herrera, Junta de Andalucía’s General Secretary of Industry, Energy and Mines.

Finally, several round tables will take a future view on the mining sector of Andalucia.

‘Challenges and opportunities in the rock and industrial mineral sector’ will be moderated by Aniceto Zaragoza Ramírez, General Manager of The Spanish Cement Association, OFICEMEN. Mining original equipment manufacturer Epiroc will be represented up on stage by José Manuel Sánchez Blanes, President of Drilling Solutions. He will moderate a panel titled, ‘Innovation and development in the mining industry: mining as a forward-looking project’. Given Epiroc’s investments in battery-electric and automated equipment for underground mines, he will have much to add here.

Horizon 2020, the European Union’s biggest research and innovation program ever with nearly €80 billion ($88 billion) of funding available over seven years (2014 to 2020), will also be discussed during the conference. Lydia González, Spain’s representative in the program’s committee, CDTI, will present, ‘Research and innovation on raw materials in Horizon Europe, UE’s 9th Framework Programme 2021-2027’.

There will also be a series of workshops at the event to suit all participants needs.

To hear more about the event, visit the website here.

International Mining is a media sponsor of the third edition of MMH in Seville

MATSA wins quick payback from Weir Cavex hydrocylone installation

16th July 2019Base metals, Comminution of minerals, Mine operation news, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services, Precious metalsAguas Teñidas, Antonio Gamiz, Cavex, Comminution, hydrocyclones, Magdalena, MATSA, Seda Kahraman, Sotiel, Spain, ultrafine grinding, Weir MineralsDaniel Gleeson

Weir Minerals says the introduction of a Cavex® hydrocyclone cluster at MATSA’s processing plant, in Spain, has delivered payback in just three days.

MATSA is a modern Spanish mining company based in the north of the Iberian Pyrite Belt, a mining district that has been active for more than 2,500 years. The company, owned 50:50 by Trafigura and Mubadala Investment Company, owns and operates three mines in the province of Huelva, Spain: Aguas Teñidas and Magdalena, located in Almonaster la Real, and the Sotiel mine, in Calañas.

The processing plant, in Almonaster, recently went through a €236 million ($266 million) expansion that saw capacity go from 2.2 Mt/y to 4.4-4.7 Mt/y through the addition of a second plant. The plant now has the capacity to treat copper and polymetallic ores through three grinding lines.

Weir Minerals says it has been working with MATSA to optimise its minerals treatment plant’s primary and secondary grinding circuits.

Seda Kahraman, Regional Process Engineer Manager for Weir Minerals, said: “We have been working with MATSA for 12 years and our service team has built a solid partnership with them. We opened a service site close to MATSA and employed a full-time Service Engineer on site to provide adequate support.

“Their success is our success, and working on this particular project was both very challenging and very rewarding. They needed to increase their grinding circuit capacity from 275 t/h to 307 t/h, whilst reducing the quantity of ultrafines in the final overflow of the second hydrocyclone cluster.”

Antonio Gamiz, MATSA Plant Technical Director, said: “To maximise our plant productivity we needed a Cavex hydrocyclone cluster that was specifically designed to our application. This was achieved without an extension of the plant area and with minimal capital expenditure.”

Weir Minerals took a holistic approach to this challenge by first creating a simulation of the entire primary and secondary grinding circuit. This enabled it to visualise how the process should be running, and the most appropriate way to deliver this.

Following the simulation, the best operating conditions were calculated to support the required capacity increase and elimination of slimes, Weir said. This included the ball mills, mill liners and hydrocyclones. Using 3D laser scanner technology, the team at Weir Minerals developed a suitable layout for the equipment, including modification and steel structures.

Kahraman said:“This truly was a turnkey solution; the team had to pull together all their smarts, capabilities and tools to ensure MATSA’s grinding capacity was raised, whilst simultaneously reducing the quantity of ultrafines from their overflow. We achieved this with a range of tools and techniques including engineer design, subcontract management, and manufacturing of steel.”

To deliver the solutions MATSA required, Weir Minerals replaced the primary hydrocyclone cluster, as well as the spare parts on the secondary hydrocyclone cluster; redesigned the steel structure and walkways; installed new hydrocyclone feed pumps and piping configurations, installing and commissioning the entire project, Weir said.

The modification to the steelwork and piping, as well as the assembly of the new three-way Cavex 650CVX hydrocyclone cluster were completed in less than four days without any production interruptions, according to Weir.

Upon analysing samples from various points in the grinding circuit, it was confirmed the feed capacity had successfully increased to 300-307 t/h.

Kahraman said: “In addition to the desired increase in grinding capacity, we also improved circulating load in the primary ball mill and restored the feed pressure to the Cavex hydrocyclones to 85 kPa. We are thrilled that MATSA achieved payback in just three days due to the increase in production by 500 t/d, and achieved additional revenue of €2,751/h.”

RCT brings automation to MATSA underground operations in Spain

2nd May 2019Automation, Base metals, Communications in mining, IoT, Mine operation news, Mining equipment, Mining safety, Mining services, Mining softwareAguas Teñidas, automation, Automation Centre Surface Control Station, Cat, Caterpillar, ControlMaster, copper, Guidance Automation, Huelva, lead, LH621, Magdalena, MATSA, Mubadala Investment Co, polymetallic, R2900G, RCT, Sandvik, Shane Smith, Spain, teleremote, Trafigura, zincDaniel Gleeson

RCT says it has finalised a major automation project at MATSA’s Aguas Teñidas and Magdalena mines in the Huelva province of Spain.

The project involved installing ControlMaster® Guidance Automation on four CAT R2900G underground LHDs and one Automation Centre Surface Control Station at MATSA’s Aguas Teñidas copper-lead-zinc mine.

MATSA is a jointly-owned company by Mubadala Investment Co and Trafigura. It owns and operates three mines in the Huelva, including Aguas Teñidas, Magdalena and Sotiel, on top of a 4.4 Mt/y copper and polymetallic processing plant.

RCT’s automation centre at Aguas Teñidas is fitted out with RCT’s Multiple Machine Control feature enabling a single operator to remotely control multiple machines at the same time via the mine’s digital communications network.

RCT also commissioned two Sandvik LH621 underground LHDs with ControlMaster Guidance Automation at the nearby Magdalena copper mine. These Sandvik LHDs can operate on a digital network via RCT’s Area Access Cabinets which act as an extension of the automation centre and interfaces between the work areas and the machines.

This instalment builds on a previous project to mount ControlMaster Teleremote and Guidance Automation solutions on three of the site’s CAT R2900G LHDs, which operated on an analogue network via two surface control stations, according to RCT.

Guidance Automation allows machines to tram between two predetermined points on a mine site with the push of a button by operators who also receive real-time information including machine speed, rpm, direction, pitch and roll, RCT said.

“The automation centre consists of an ergonomically designed operators chair facing up from screens, which feed real-time information from sensors and machine-mounted cameras to the operator,” the company added. Teleremote, meanwhile, enables the operator to remotely manage the machine from a control station in real time.

A MATSA spokesperson said: “This system not only allows us to operate in hazardous conditions safely from the surface, but also increases productivity by permitting us to operate during shift change and smoke clearing. We also have the capability to simultaneously operate more than one piece of equipment with the same teleremote operator.”

RCT Account Manager, Shane Smith, said the Guidance Automation products would provide solid benefits for MATSA. “ControlMaster Guidance Automation has a proven track record of improving operator safety in a traditionally hazardous working environment by removing them from the mine face,” he said.

“The faster tramming speeds will also help to boost site productivity on site and limit unplanned machine downtime due to repairs from machinery accidents while the new automation centre will reduce operator fatigue due to improved comfort and ease-of-access on the mine’s surface.”