Tag Archives: shovel

New Cat 6040 hydraulic shovel receives added engine configuration, new undercarriage

Caterpillar has revamped its 6040 hydraulic mining shovel with an added engine configuration to meet US EPA Tier 4 Final and EU Stage V emission standards, new heavy-duty undercarriage, as well as enhanced integration to improve servicing efficiency and parts sourcing.

The new engine configuration includes two Cat C32 engines, offering a total gross power rating of 1,550 kW. The engine package includes maintenance-free diesel oxidation catalysts and does not require diesel exhaust fluid/AdBlue or diesel particulate filters.

The new engine option joins the twin C32 configuration with optimised fuel efficiency settings to meet China Nonroad Stage III emission standards, equivalent to US EPA Tier 2, as well as China Smoke Category III limits. An engine oil extension option, plus new Cat Type 4 filters for both engine configurations, help to further reduce maintenance costs.

Connecting to Cat MineStar™ Solutions’ suite of integrated technology, new Product Link Elite comes standard on the 6040 shovel.

Product Link Elite delivers enhanced communication through a dual data path, allowing data transfer to both the local server and cloud simultaneously. Caterpillar’s next generation of on-board hardware, Product Link Elite features an easily configurable interface and customisable data-push frequency, Cat says. Information transfer from the equipment can be configured via cellular, satellite or mine network connection to meet the mine site’s needs.

The new 6040 shovel delivers increased uptime with its heavy-duty undercarriage, Cat claims. Improved heavy-duty load rollers and idlers now feature duo cone seals, steel-back bronze bearings and fixed axle technology to increase service life and eliminate overheating during travel. Track pad, tensioning and wear updates deliver a higher level of durability and reliability to lower operating costs. Retrofit kits for the heavy-duty rollers are available for field units to improve existing fleet reliability.

Like previous series, the new 6040 shovel can be equipped with backhoe or Cat TriPower™ Face Shovel front end designs. To deliver high machine reliability in harsh mining conditions, the rugged front attachments feature high-strength steel and castings, joined and thermally stressed-relieved, to extend service life and achieve production targets. With its 39.6 t bucket payload, the 6040 shovel offers an optimal four-pass match with the Cat 785 haul truck, five-pass match with Cat 789 and six-pass match with Cat 793 mining trucks, Cat says.

For the first time, the new Cat 6040 hydraulic mining shovel fully integrates the undercarriage, engine module, superstructure main frame, carbody and crawler frames, hydraulic lines and motors, and counterweight into Caterpillar systems to improve servicing efficiency and parts sourcing.

Bluestone widens production plans with Cerro Blanco open-pit mining PEA

Bluestone Resources has come out with a new open-pit mining plan for its Cerro Blanco project in south-eastern Guatemala that effectively doubles production and triples the potential investor returns from the gold-silver asset.

The preliminary economic assessment on Cerro Blanco, which comes just under 11 months after entering into an agreement with G Mining Services covering basic engineering and overall project optimisation efforts for the project, outlines a project able to produce 231,000 oz of gold at an all-in sustaining cost of $642/oz Au over the 11-year life of mine. This is based on a 15,000 t/d operation with a $548 million initial capital expenditure bill.

Using a base case gold price of $1,550/oz and silver price of $20/oz, an after-tax net present value (5% discount) of $907 million was calculated.

The numbers are significantly different from what the company outlined in a previous feasibility study on Cerro Blanco, completed by a consortium of independent consultants led by JDS Energy & Mining. This showed an average output of 113,000 oz/y of gold at an all-in sustaining cost of $579/oz and a capital cost of $196 million (including contingency).

Using a base case of $1,250/oz gold and $18/oz silver, this underground project was estimated to generate a post-tax net present value (5% discount) of $241 million.

Bluestone said on the PEA publication: “The recent completion of advanced engineering and optimisation work has significantly enhanced the understanding of the project and presented an opportunity to capitalise on its near-surface, high-grade mineralisation through an open-pit development scenario. This is a major change to Bluestone’s corporate strategy that will fully maximise the value of the Cerro Blanco gold project for all stakeholders.”

David Cass, Vice President of Exploration, added: “The pivot to surface mining is a culmination of our increased understanding of the geology and grade distribution that will realise the full potential of the Cerro Blanco low-sulphidation mineralisation. The inverted wedge shape of the deposit with its upper half forming the Cerro Blanco hill lends itself to surface mining with a low strip ratio.”

The project currently hosts 3 Moz of gold in the measured and indicated resource category and 250,000 oz of gold in the inferred mineral resource category.

The open-pit mining scenario envisages an owner-operated mining fleet using 65-t trucks matched with 7 cu.m hydraulic shovels supported by 8.2 cu.m wheel loaders. Mill feed will be trucked to a primary crusher located to the east of the main pit. Waste totalling 123.5 Mt will be placed in a waste storage facility.

In terms of processing, the PEA looks at treating 5.04 Mt/y of mineralised material at an average feed grade of 1.6 g/t Au and 7.26 g/t Ag through a conventional cyanide leach process plant to produce doré. The flowsheet is very similar to the previous underground mine option and includes primary crushing, single train SAG mill and ball mill to produce a target grind size of 80% passing 53 microns, atmospheric pre-oxidation, 48-hour cyanide leach, carbon-in-pulp carousel adsorption circuit, Zadra elution circuit, gold room and filtered tailings. Based on PEA metallurgical test work, the expected recoveries are 91% for gold and 85% for silver.

Filtered tailings will be configured in a dry-stack facility and eliminate the need for the construction and operation of a traditional tailings impoundment, the company says.

“The adoption of this technology (dry stacking) puts the Cerro Blanco project at the forefront of responsible mining practices being adopted for the future of sustainable mining globally,” it added.