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Sakatti-FutureSmart Mining

Anglo American highlights next FutureSmart Mining advances at Woodsmith, Sakatti

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Anglo American has provided its latest sustainability performance update, highlighting a number of technological advancements the company is looking to take at its in-development Woodsmith polyhalite mine in the UK and its exploration asset, Sakatti, in Finland.

Anglo American says it has an integrated approach to sustainability in project development, helping secure its ability to deliver responsible long-term growth in future-enabling metals and minerals.

The company is moving towards its goal of carbon neutral operations by 2040, evolving its pathways as it progresses, learns and as technologies develop.

At the end of 2022, its Scope 1 and 2 emissions were 21% below the peak levels of 2019 – a significant reduction that, Anglo American says, reflects its transition to 100% renewable electricity supply across its South America operations, with Australia to follow in 2025.

In southern Africa, it is working in partnership with EDF Renewables to build a 3-5 GW renewable energy ecosystem of wind and solar generation capacity, designed to tackle its largest remaining source of Scope 2 emissions and support energy reliability and grid resilience while catalysing broad socio-economic opportunities.

While Scope 3 emissions reduction is largely dependent on the decarbonisation of Anglo American’s value chains and the steel industry, in particular, it is progressing towards its ambition to halve these emissions by 2040.

Tom McCulley, CEO of Anglo American’s Crop Nutrients business, provided several references to Quellaveco, Anglo American’s most technologically-advanced mine that uses automation, a remote operations centre and high levels of digitalisation, when looking at its FutureSmart Mining™ plans at Woodsmith, a 5 Mt/y operation that could ramp up to 13 Mt/y.

McCulley, who also led development of Quellaveco, said Woodsmith will be developed as a benchmark for sustainable mining. This includes plans for the mine to be a low carbon, low water and low waste operation, with no tailings generation and with a minimum impact design.

“We hope this can show a way of how mining can be done in the future,” McCulley said of this approach at Woodsmith.

When it comes to Sakatti, Alison Atkinson, Projects & Development Director, said the development could end up being “our next greenfield project”.

The project is a rich multi-metal deposit with not only copper, nickel and cobalt resources, but also platinum, palladium, gold and silver.

“High concentrations of metal combined with consistency of the mineralisation between the boreholes make Sakatti a unique deposit,” Anglo American says of the project. Its resources are estimated to be sufficient for mining operations to last more than 20 years.

Atkinson said Sakatti is being designed as the next generation of FutureSmart Mining, building on what it has learned from Quellaveco and Woodsmith, particularly when it comes to ensuring there is minimal surface footprint and “using technology and innovations to deliver even better sustainability outcomes”.

She added: “Sakatti is set to be a remotely operated, low carbon-underground mine with an electric mining fleet using technology and mining methods that will create zero waste and enable high degrees of water recycling, contributing to a sustainable supply of critical minerals.”

The company also sees the potential to use sorting technologies for coarse particle rejection and material recovery opportunities.

Woodsmith-MTS-Anglo

Anglo American lays out 5 Mt/y Woodsmith polyhalite plan ahead of full design review

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This week, Anglo American hosted an investor and analyst day at its in-development Woodsmith project, in the UK, with several key technology takeaways cropping up from an in-depth presentation from Tom McCulley, CEO, Crop Nutrients.

In reviewing progress and the past, McCulley stated that Anglo has decided to start Woodsmith as a 5 Mt/y operation, with a staged ramp-up planned to the 13 Mt/y rate. The plan to sink 1,600 m production and service shafts, establish a mechanised mine, construct the 37-km-long underground tunnel and build a materials handling facility with priority access export facilities remain part of this. The potential to phase ventilation & production level development within the underground mine, potential to phase conveyor upgrades in the underground tunnel and the potential to carry out a phased expansion as required for the export facilities are all options for the 13 Mt/y blueprint.

This change has required some of the scope to go back to study phase – hence the reason why Anglo has been mooting detailed design reviews and non-critical path studies – looking at how to optimise investment and modularise the construction to get maximum value from each phase, McCulley said.

“I feel far more comfortable today about how we are setting up the project for the long-term success but managing in a capital efficient way,” McCulley said during his presentation.

Some of the elements keen observers have been watching at Woodsmith are related to mechanised underground development – both vertical (via shaft sinking) and horizontally (via tunnel boring machines (TBMs) for the 37-km-long tunnel).

TBM-led tunnel transformation

In terms of the latter, Anglo American is soon expecting to set a World Record for the longest TBM tunnel developed by a single TBM. This is currently set at 25.8 km, with the Woodsmith team having already reached the 25-km (25.3 km) mark.

“Beyond this we will pass our next intermediate shaft at Ladycross, where we will take a 3-4 month maintenance pause as we set up the TBM for the final push to 37 km, and we expect to reach the Woodsmith mine in late 2026,” McCulley said.

The machine used at Woodsmith is a Herrenknecht hard-rock TBM that, McCulley says, works similarly to the Shaft Boring Roadheaders (SBRs) being used for shaft sinking (more on that soon) in that it cuts the soils, without blasting, and the material is transported through the machine and out of the tunnel via a conveyor that is part of the TBM.

“In addition to excavating the material, the TBM also simultaneously lines the tunnel via pre-cast concrete segments (six segments make up a ring around the circumference of the tunnel); these concrete segments are fabricated at the Teesside port by a project dedicated facility,” McCulley said.

He said in every measure the tunnelling on the project to date has been an amazing success, aided by a solid team performance. This team is made up of contractors from Strabag, Herrenknecht and Anglo’s in-house personnel.

Progress has been aided by consistent ground conditions across the tunnel within what is called Mudstone strata, McCulley said.

“These conditions are very predictable and cutting is easy for the machine which minimises the bearing wear, which is a key risk area for the TBM,” he said. “This consistent strata has allowed us to switch our strategy from three TBMs to one TBM for the entire 37 km, which means we will not only pass the World Record, but we will also smash it when we reach Woodsmith in late 2026. This reduction in TBMs had a knock-on impact of saving significant capital over what was originally planned.”

Anglo is consistently seeing average rates increase to over 20 m/d and trending closer to 25 m/d, which compares favourably with about 16-17 m/d in late 2021.

Tom McCulley-Anglo American
Tom McCulley, CEO, Crop Nutrients

SBRs on the up

Mine development via TBMs is relatively proven when compared with the use of Herrenknecht SBRs for shaft sinking in mining, with Woodsmith representing only the third deployment of the technology in mining following Jansen (BHP) and Nezhinsky (Slavkaliy).

Anglo has two SBRs on site at Woodsmith, sinking the production and service shafts at the project. Redpath, which carried out the shaft sinking work at Nezhinsky, is steering developments at these two shafts, in addition to the material transport system shaft. Only the much deeper production and service shafts are being sunk via mechanised means with the SBRs.

Overseeing this and all developments at the operation is Worley as an engineering, procurement and construction management contractor.

Sinking of the service shaft began in September-October 2022, followed some six months later with activities at the production shaft. McCulley said these two were now around 550-m deep and 340-m deep, respectively.

“We typically see more daily meters from the production shaft due to the service shaft lessons being applied to the production shaft, so I’m excited as I think we may have a race to polyhalite!” he said. “We are very pleased with the progress made on both shafts since Redpath started sinking in 2022.”

On the advantages associated with using SBRs, McCulley said: “Some of the primary benefits of these machines is they are inherently safer than traditional sinking. They also eliminate the need for explosives, which is a huge benefit to us with the community as we don’t encounter noise complaints experienced in other mines. I expect these machines to be the future of shaft sinking. They are just safer, quicker and more predictable.”

The SBR is generally working in autonomous mode for most of the time following a program with pre-set parameters for cutting, according to McCulley, who said the company is expecting an average rate of 1 m/d in each shaft over the full 1,600-m length of the shafts.

“This 1 m/d includes all routine maintenance and what we call non-routine work, like installing water cubbies for pumping water out of the shafts, probe drilling, tubbing and grouting,” he said.

“Ultimately, this is the right machine for the job at Woodsmith and the cutting rates we achieve are 1.5-2 times what we would do with traditional methods.”

Looking at current sinking progress and plans to hit the orebody in 2027 in the service shaft (with the production shaft being six months behind that), McCulley pointed out a 250-m section of sinking in Sherwood Sandstone, which the company expects to reach next year.

“This 250 m of strata will see our rates reduced from our 1 m/d to something between 0.5 m and 0.75 m a day, and this will impact us for most of next year and early 2025,” McCulley said. “Once through that strata, we do not expect any further issues with the ground conditions significantly impacting production.”

The Sherwood Sandstone is characterised as a strata of highly competent rock, about 120 Mpa, according to McCulley, which is at the top end of the SBR rock hardness capacity given by Herrenknecht.

In addition to the hardness, this strata has the potential for some water fissures (ie cracks in the rock with high pressure water), according to McCulley.

“The good news for us is we hit a 2.5-m layer of this material a few weeks ago and we learned from this that we need to make some adjustments to our cutter heads and cutting picks, and now we are far more prepared than we would have been otherwise,” he said. “We are also prepared with alternative plans, including potential use of lasers, plasma blasting and/or microwaves if needed, but we expect our updated cutter head and next generation picks, developed by Element 6 of De Beers, will cut through the rock at the rates I previously mentioned. In addition, to the hard rock, this strata has a risk of high-water flows in small sections of the strata so we will need to seal the shaft via grout from the shaft. This means as we come across water, we will inject chemical grout into the fractures to block water bearing cavities and control water inflow.”

Adding to McCulley’s confidence is the fact that the nearby Boulby mine encountered the same strata some time ago, which that team progressed through via the same exact grouting technique Woodsmith is planning today.

In terms of priorities for 2023, McCulley said the team expected the service shaft to be between 650-700 m at the end of the year, versus the current circa-550 metres today, whereas the production shaft could reach 450 m by this point.

“Both shafts, if they hit the numbers noted will exceed our planned targets for the year,” he said.

“The MTS shaft and Ladycross shafts are both sunk, and we are working to fit them out during the remainder of the year. In the tunnel we have driven 4.3 km this year, we are at 25.3 km and we expect to reach 27 km, which is our stretch target for the year.”

For 2024, while Anglo continues to work through the studies, it doesn’t see any changes to its plans right now and still expects to be around the $1 billon capex number for the next few years.

McCulley added: “Our vision at Woodsmith with regards to technology is to ultimately develop a peopleless underground mine, where operations and maintenance are all controlled from the surface. This is a journey, but many technologies are already out there, we just need to put the system in place and the wherewithal to help the vendors take the next step. This will not happen from the start, but with our vision and with the team we have in place, I have no doubt that in the future this vision will become a reality.”

When at full production, Woodsmith will be a FutureSmart Mine with all the modern technologies, according to McCulley, with these characteristics ensuring the company has a low cost, high volume mine for many years to come. Continuous miners are expected to be used in a room & pillar mining application, combined with mine cars, shuttle cars or conveyors.

“On top of the mining/processing technology, I see some interesting parallels with the farming industry. They are rapidly adopting technologies, and we are very well placed to support this transition in areas like sensing, scanning, AI, etc. I think with our Anglo American Woodsmith project experience in technology we are uniquely positioned to help support this transition in farming and this is something that will have added value to our product for years to come.”

Anglo American increases Woodsmith polyhalite scale as shaft sinking progresses

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Anglo American is upping the ante at its Woodsmith polyhalite project in the UK, increasing its planned spend while expanding its production scope following detailed design reviews and non-critical path studies.

In the company’s 2022 results release today, it said these reviews and studies had led to a number of areas being modified to align with Anglo American’s standards and its aim to optimise value for the long term.

The outcome is an enhanced project configuration to ensure the company delivers maximum commercial returns from Woodsmith over the expected multi-decade asset life, Anglo said. Included within this is an increase in the capacity of the shafts and other infrastructure to accommodate higher production volumes and more efficient and scalable mining methods over time.

More specifically, this has seen the company plan for a circa-13 Mt/y operation instead of the previous 10 Mt/y operation it had endorsed, subject to studies and approval.

“In light of these changes, Anglo now expects first product to market in 2027, with an annual capital investment of around $1 billion,” the company said.

Spending of $800 million is approved for 2023, with the bulk of initial spend on the shaft sinking and tunnel boring activities. As usual in developing underground mines, the schedule will largely be determined by the ground conditions encountered as sinking activities progress.

The Woodsmith project is located on the North Yorkshire coast, just south of Whitby, where polyhalite ore will be extracted via 1.6-km-deep mine shafts and transported to Teesside via an underground conveyor belt in a 37 km tunnel, thereby minimising any environmental impact on the surface. It will then be granulated at a materials handling facility to produce a low carbon fertiliser – known as POLY4 – that will then be exported from its port facility, where it has priority access, to a network of customers around the world.

During 2022, as part of the mentioned construction review, contracts were awarded for the shaft sinking operations, program management services and construction management to ensure the project can be executed in line with Anglo American’s stringent requirements. These contracts were awarded to Redpath (shaft sinking) and Worley (program management services and construction management).

With the award of these contracts and other infrastructure improvements, activities at the deep shafts have progressed. The service shaft is now more than 360 m deep, while shaft sinking began 120 m below the surface for the production shaft in January 2023, as planned. Both of these shafts are being sunk using Herrenknecht’s Shaft Boring Roadheader technology.

Three intermediate shafts will provide both ventilation and additional access to the mineral transport system (MTS) tunnel. The Lockwood Beck intermediate access shaft was successfully completed in 2022 and is fully lined and connected to the tunnel. Work on the MTS shaft at the mine head progressed through 2022 and is 85% complete, and the excavation at the final intermediate access shaft at the Ladycross site commenced in early 2023.

Following a planned maintenance pause in mid-2022 to refurbish the tunnel boring machine and allow the connection with the Lockwood Beck shaft, the MTS tunnel is now past the 21-km point and is more than 56% complete, progressing at rates not seen since the start of the tunnelling activities, Anglo said.

Anglo American concluded: “We believe that the changes we have made to the project have had a materially positive impact on the project’s long-term attractiveness and prospects. However, for accounting purposes at this early stage of the project’s development, we have recognised an impairment of $1.7 billion to the carrying value of the asset within special items and remeasurements, reflecting the extension of the development schedule and capital budget.”

Anglo American continues SBR-led shaft sinking progress at Woodsmith

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While Anglo American continues with its detailed technical review of the Woodsmith polyhalite project in the UK, shaft sinking activities at the asset continue to progress, the company confirmed in an investor update today.

The project was acquired by Anglo American in 2020 with the purchase of Sirius Minerals. Since then, Anglo American has been working on refining the development pathway and overall production potential of the asset.

In an investor presentation today, the company outlined physical progress on the site, explaining that shaft sinking for the circa-1.6-km deep service shaft had progressed to the circa-265-m level. It also said the mineral transport shaft, which it is working on with Redpath Group as sinking contractor, had reached the circa-230-m level of a planned 321-m depth.

Regarding horizontal development, it added that the 37-km mineral transport tunnel – which will connect to the mineral transport shaft – had reached the 20-km development mark with tunnel boring machine technology.

The Woodsmith project overview includes the sinking of production and service shafts with 6.75-m diameters – having depths of 1,594 m and 1,565 m, respectively – and the 37-km-long concrete-lined tunnel containing a conveyor belt, which transports the polyhalite ore from Woodsmith mine, near Whitby, to the Mineral Handling Facility, on Teesside, for processing and shipping.

Both the service shaft and production shaft at Woodsmith are being sunk using Herrenknecht’s Shaft Boring Roadheader technology, which has previously featured on the Jansen potash project in Saskatchewan, Canada, where it excavated two 8-11 m diameter blind shafts down to circa-1,000-m-depth and the Slavkaliy-owned Nezhinsky potash project, where it ended up breaking shaft sinking records under the guidance of contractor Redpath Deilmann on a project to sink two 8-m diameter shafts (one to 750-m depth and one to 697-m depth).

The first cut for the service shaft was made in July 2021, with Anglo American and Redpath Deilmann – which is now leading the sinking project as shaft sinking contractor – restarting sinking activities on this shaft earlier this year.

In the same investor presentation issued today, Anglo American said it planned to start sinking in the production shaft in the March quarter of 2023.

While the ongoing review takes place, Anglo American confirmed it had approved $800 million of capital expenditure for Woodsmith next year, focused on shaft sinking and other critical infrastructure as part of its phased approach to the asset.

Stephen Pearce, Finance Director of Anglo American, said on Woodsmith: “As we have said for some time, we are improving the project’s configuration to ensure we realise the full commercial value over the expected multi-decade asset life. This will extend the development schedule and the capital budget, compared to what was anticipated prior to our ownership, and so potentially impact our carrying value of Woodsmith for accounting purposes at the year end.

“Looking ahead, we are even more positive today about the prospects for Woodsmith and its potential to become a high margin, major contributor to our diversified product portfolio given the outstanding nature of the resource and the premium pricing upside we expect to realise for Poly4 – the highly effective, low carbon fertiliser we will produce.”

Worley receives PM & EPCM work at Anglo American’s Woodsmith mine

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Engineering firm Worley has been awarded a contract for program management services and engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) to support Anglo American’s Woodsmith project in the UK, the mining company has confirmed.

Worley, in tandem with other contractors, is being tasked with delivering a polyhalite mine for its client Anglo American.

The project includes the sinking of production and service shafts with 6.75-m diameters – having depths of 1,594 m and 1,565 m, respectively – and a 37-km-long concrete-lined tunnel containing a conveyor belt, which transports the polyhalite ore from Woodsmith mine, near Whitby, to the Mineral Handling Facility, on Teesside, for processing and shipping.

In Anglo American’s half-year results, released earlier this year, the company outlined that major critical path components had continued to progress to its updated plan at Woodsmith.

“[Our] ongoing technical review confirmed there are several improvements to modify design to bring it up to Anglo American’s safety and operating integrity standards and optimise value for the long term,” it said.

The company acquired Woodsmith when it took over Sirius Minerals in 2020.

Woodsmith Shaft Boring Roadheaders about to re-start cutting process

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One of the most-watched shaft sinking projects in the sector right now is located in the UK, with the Woodsmith project in north Yorkshire having been on the radar for a number of reasons.

First off, it is a project that has changed hands recently.

Originally guided by Sirius Minerals, the 10 Mt/y project was acquired by Anglo American in 2020, a transaction that came with a fresh look at the whole project execution phase.

The change in ownership and re-assessment of plans drawn up by Sirius – a much smaller company guided by different investor pressures and operating procedures – led to Anglo American relieving DMC Mining, the lead shaft sinking contractor, of its duties.

Another reason for watching the project is the planned use of Shaft Boring Roadheader (SBR) technology from Herrenknecht.

After debuting at the Jansen potash project in Saskatchewan, Canada, where it excavated two 8-11 m diameter blind shafts down to circa-1,000-m-depth with the help of DMC as the contractor, SBR 2.0 – the second generation of the technology – was put to the test in Belarus at the Slavkaliy-owned Nezhinsky potash project. It ended up breaking shaft sinking records under the guidance of contractor Redpath Deilmann on a project to sink two 8-m diameter shafts (one to 750-m depth and one to 697-m depth).

Herrenknecht, with its experience in mechanised tunnelling, developed the SBR for the mechanised sinking of blind shafts in soft-to-medium rock. Based on the proven technology of the Herrenknecht Vertical Shaft Sinking Machine, the SBR offers improved safety performance compared with conventional shaft sinking methods while also achieving higher advance rates, according to the company.

The SBR is a 60-m tall, suspended shaft sinking machine, with 12 work decks and two service platforms. A telescopic, boom-mounted cutting head is used to precisely excavate rock via a partial-face cutting method. The cutting head works in a cycle, starting each cut from shaft centre to shaft wall, repeating until a layer of material is removed. Excavation proceeds in 1-m increments, followed by SBR lowering sequences.

The SBR was chosen for Woodsmith by Sirius over the conventional drill and blasting method due to its advantages in improving safety and schedule. This methodology, Sirius said, would allow the company to satisfy several operational objectives, moving away from the use of explosives and providing a safer, more predictable work method. Instead of a linear process, the SBR allows work to be completed concurrently as the shaft is sunk, as well as minimising damage to exposed host rock, and further improving safety while minimising downtime. Work decks above the cutting head allow workers to install shaft lining and tubbing as excavation continues, while a pneumatic mucking system removes waste rock.

The third generation of technology – which builds on the first two deployments with, among other things, the addition of two retractable robotic probes to test and grout the ground ahead for safer excavation and an additional control cabin on surface for more remote operation – is due to sink production and service shafts with 6.75-m diameters to depths of 1,594 m and 1,565 m, respectively, at Woodsmith based on the Sirius plan.

These SBRs are being supported by four triple sheaved winches from SMS SIEMAG and conveyors from Herrenknecht-owned H + E Logistik GmbH, among other support equipment.

Work on the service shaft commenced in 2021 with former Anglo American Chief Executive, Mark Cutifani, confirming in July of that year that the “first cut” with the SBR had taken place in the service shaft.

This progress was made while the company was still completing a detailed technical review on Woodsmith to ensure the technical and commercial integrity of the full scope of its design. This review has a particular focus on the sinking of the two main shafts, the development of the underground mining area, and the changes required to accommodate both increased production capacity and the more efficient and scalable mining method of using only continuous miners, Anglo American said.

Since the first cut was made in July 2021, however, Anglo American and Redpath Deilmann – which is now leading the sinking project as shaft sinking contractor – have been reviewing the existing plans for sinking with the SBRs, carrying out minor hardware changes on the machines and ensuring all staff have the appropriate training to facilitate the completion of the shaft sinking process. The Redpath Group is also involved in the drill-and-blast-based sinking for the materials transport system (MTS) shaft.

Various shaft sinking rates have been mooted in the past at Woodsmith, and Anglo American is currently working to develop the optimal solution for the facility based on technical standards.

The sinking at Woodsmith represents a different challenge to the two previous SBR projects conducted to this point.

For starters, there is no ground freezing expected to take place at Woodsmith – unlike what happened in Canada and Belarus. This process, while time consuming and only used to freeze unstable water-bearing strata around the shaft, can create more rock uniformity to aide consistent cutting rates.

There is also the MTS level to consider at Woodsmith, with plans to carry out lateral development work around the 360-m-level to join up the production shaft with this level where polyhalite ore will be transported along a 37-km tunnel to Wilton near the port. This means vertical cutting and loading may be halted while the MTS level connection is established.

All these factors, along with the performance of previous SBR work, will be incorporated into the engineering work Anglo American is carrying out at Woodsmith, but, in terms of the SBR, signs are that work on the service shaft could recommence shortly, with plans to start sinking in the production shaft by the end of the year.

Anglo American leveraging NatureMetrics ‘eDNA’ solution to improve biodiversity knowledge at Woodsmith

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Cutting-edge biotechnology, implemented by Anglo American to radically change the way biodiversity risks are evaluated and monitored at operations, has delivered the “best invertebrate data produced to date, using eDNA”, says Dr Vere Ross-Gillespie, Head of Extractives at NatureMetrics.

NatureMetrics’ environmental DNA (eDNA) tools were first piloted by Anglo American in South Africa, with, NatureMetrics says, impressive early results.

And now more recent research at the Woodsmith polyhalite project in the UK has produced one of the “most comprehensive invertebrate datasets to date”, Vere says.

Warwick Mostert, Principal Biodiversity at Anglo American, added: “We knew that eDNA can deliver big data and this just goes to show what can be done with such a quick, safe and simple sampling approach. We can’t wait to see the results from other sites.”

The eDNA technology works by identifying genetic material – a fingerprint specific to each species – left behind by animals and organisms as they interact with their environment. Samples taken from water, sediment or soil are sequenced and compared with reference libraries, through a process called metabarcoding, identifying which species they come from.

Unlike conventional methods of surveying biodiversity on a site, eDNA can identify hundreds of species from different taxonomic groups from a single sample, while being quicker and safer to undertake in the field, the company claims.

The technology is already helping Anglo American, across business units globally, to measure the journey to delivering positive biodiversity outcomes and achieve the target of net positive impact on diversity, as outlined in its Sustainable Mining Plan, according to NatureMetrics.

In partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature and NatureMetrics, the data collected from Woodsmith and other selected sites will be fed into the eBioAtlas program, creating a global database to support conservation efforts and inform international biodiversity policy.

Katie Critchlow, NatureMetrics CEO, said: “Anglo American is one of the first of our clients to roll out our DNA-based biodiversity monitoring solutions across multiple global operations. We are delighted to be working with a company that has made a public commitment to having a net positive impact on biodiversity and to be working with them to back that up with a meaningful measurement program.

“Our cutting-edge environmental DNA technology will provide the comprehensive biodiversity data that will help Anglo American on their journey to improving, measuring and reporting their nature impacts.”

NatureMetrics says the samples from Woodsmith – including those first taken by Mark Cutifani, Chief Executive, and Siobhan Grafton, Group Head of Sustainable Development – identified a staggering 522 distinct taxa representing 100 families of invertebrates. Of these close to 58% were identified to species level.

The vertebrate data set is also impressive, with more than 67 taxa detected of which approximately 62% were identified to species level, NatureMetrics said.

More than 500 aquatic insect species were mapped, giving an important and sensitive baseline measure of biodiversity and ecosystem condition, from which change can be monitored in future years.

Vere says the baseline “will help to inform Anglo American’s water quality and biodiversity monitoring at the site, while also contributing to efforts to achieve overall net positive impact moving forward”.

Sampling at the pilot sites will continue into 2022 and results will help paint a more comprehensive picture to drive Anglo American’s biodiversity decision making, according to NatureMetrics.

Cutifani said: “This is wonderful news; the sheer breadth of data which has been provided by these few samples we took at Woodsmith are precisely why we take our responsibility to the environment and biodiversity very seriously. Only by understanding the wildlife which thrives around our operations can we ensure that not only do we minimise impact on existing areas of biodiversity, but that we nurture and attract new species to make a positive contribution to the planet.”

Anglo American signals design changes at Woodsmith polyhalite project

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Anglo American has outlined plans to change elements of the design at its Woodsmith polyhalite project in the UK, which will have a bearing on both the sinking of the two main shafts and development of the underground mining area at the project.

The company has been running a detailed technical review on Woodsmith since mid-2020 to ensure the technical and commercial integrity of the full scope of its design. This followed the acquisition of the asset as part of a takeover of Sirius Minerals earlier that year.

“Now largely complete, the review has confirmed the findings of Anglo American’s due diligence that a number of elements of the project’s design would benefit from modification to bring it up to Anglo American’s safety and operating integrity standards and to optimise the value of the asset for the long term,” the company said.

Anglo is also making a change to the leadership at Woodsmith following its integration into Anglo American and ahead of the full project execution phase. Tom McCulley, who has led the development of the Quellaveco copper project in Peru, will take over from Chris Fraser as CEO of Crop Nutrients. This will see Fraser step aside and take on a strategic projects role for Anglo.

“The Woodsmith team is further developing the engineering to optimise the configuration of the project, recognising the multi-decade life of the mine,” Anglo said.

Particular attention is on the aspects identified at the outset of Anglo American’s ownership – namely, the sinking of the two main shafts, the development of the underground mining area, and the changes required to accommodate both increased production capacity and the more efficient and scalable mining method of using only continuous miners, it said.

The sinking of the two main shafts is due to be carried out using Herrenknecht’s Shaft Boring Roadheader (SBR) technology. DMC Mining, a company familiar with the technology thanks to its work sinking shafts at Jansen in Saskatchewan, Canada, was previously tasked with sinking the production and service shaft, each around 1,500 m deep, and two smaller shafts associated with the materials transport system, each approximately 350 m deep. Its contract was ended in 2020.

These improvements will, the company said, require the installation of additional ventilation earlier in the development of the underground mining area.

“Anglo American expects that these changes to the design of the mine infrastructure – which will result in a different, enhanced configuration and therefore a different construction and production ramp-up schedule – will ensure that its exacting standards are met and the full commercial value of the asset is realised,” the company said.

Mark Cutifani, Chief Executive of Anglo American, said: “We are very happy with the high quality and exciting potential of Woodsmith, with the scale and quality of the polyhalite orebody pointing to a quartile one operating cost position and strong margins. This is a very long-life asset and we are going to take the necessary time to get every aspect of the design right to match our long-term vision and value aspirations.

“We have said from the outset that we expect to make improvements and that we will execute certain elements of the construction differently and with a more conservative schedule. We expect to have completed our design engineering, capital budget and schedule at the end of 2022, with a fully optimised value case that recognises the upside potential we see in Woodsmith, and we will then submit the full project to the board.”

In the meantime, construction of the major critical path elements of the project, principally the two main shafts and the mineral transport tunnel, is progressing, with approximately $700 million of capital expected to be invested in 2022, Anglo said.

The plan at Woodsmith under previous owners Sirius was to extract polyhalite via two mine shafts and transport this outside of the National Park to Teesside on a conveyer belt system in an underground tunnel. It would then be granulated at a materials handling facility, with the majority being exported to overseas markets. The company was previously aiming to achieve first product from the mine by the end of 2021, ramping up to an initial production capacity of 10 Mt/y and then full production of 20 Mt/y.

The changes to McCulley’s and Fraser’s roles are effective January 1, 2022. Anglo American has appointed Adolfo Heeren as CEO of Anglo American in Peru, effective from the same date. Heeren will work together with McCulley during the first half of 2022 to ensure a smooth transition from the construction and commissioning phase of Quellaveco into operations, expecting first copper production in mid-2022.

Siltbuster delivers modular water treatment system to Anglo’s Woodsmith mine

Industrial minerals, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services, Sustainable mining, Water management, , , , , , , , , ,

Siltbuster, the water treatment specialist, says it has designed and installed a surface water treatment solution for Anglo American at its Woodsmith polyhalite mine on the North Yorkshire coast of England.

The polyhalite deposit can only be accessed from within the North York Moors National Park, so extensive steps have been taken to limit the environmental impact of the mine, using innovative design solutions and engineering ingenuity, Siltbuster says.

The mine infrastructure has been designed to be sympathetic to its location: the number and size of the buildings has been reduced to a minimum, which, together with extensive landscaping and planting, will ensure the site is screened and blends in with the surrounding area. At the same time, mined ore will only be transported underground, in recognition of the sensitivity of the area, in a 37 km tunnel to the materials handling facility on Teesside, eliminating the need for surface transportation.

“This careful stewardship and protection of the surrounding environment has also extended to water management on site,” Siltbuster said. “During construction, the collected surface rainwater via the on-site collection drainage system can contain an elevated level of suspended solid particles which require removal prior to discharge back into the natural water courses to ensure there is no environment impact. The collected surface water passes through a series of lagoons to remove the gross solids, but the water can still contain elevated level of suspended clay particles that do not settle under natural gravity.”

Anglo American has, therefore, invested in a treatment system, with a high degree of system automation, located within a structure that blends in with the surrounding scenery, in line with the overall project design, the company says.

With the new modular treatment system in place, including 2no. HB200R Lamella Clarifiers with Mix Tanks, over 5.7 million litres of water can be treated each day. Continuous online monitoring of flow, pH and suspended solids of the treated surface water ensure discharge criteria are being met consistently before releasing back into the natural water course, Siltbuster explained. If any of the monitoring parameters are above the trigger level, the system will shut down automatically with an instant text alert submitted to the site operators.

Rob Staniland, Manager for Environment and Permitting at the Woodsmith Project, said: “It is essential that we have robust, reliable systems and partners to help us meet our stringent planning conditions and environmental safety targets. Siltbuster have proven to be just that, providing us with a great solution to helps us deliver on the minimal impact ethos of the whole project.”

Louis Pang, Project Manager, at Siltbuster, added: “The new treatment plant has not only provided an effective and easy-to-operate system, with the system design being modular and built off-site, the on-site construction and installation time was kept to a minimum, thereby minimising the environmental impact, an important environmental criteria set by Anglo American.”

Anglo American pledges further investment in Woodsmith polyhalite project

Energy minerals, Mine shafts and equipment, Mineral project development, Mining finance, , , , , , , , ,

Anglo American is to invest more money in the construction of its Woodsmith polyhalite mine in Yorkshire, UK, in 2021, following sound progress on the development in 2020.

In an investor presentation this week, Chief Executive, Mark Cutifani, announced the company will invest $500 million in Woodsmith next year, an increase on the $300 million it had previously committed to spending.

The improved funding commitment was, he said, a reflection of the good progress that was “ahead of expectations” and “to ensure that the critical path elements continue to proceed at the optimal pace and sequence”.

It was also revealed that the first drive of the 37 km tunnel from Wilton on Teesside was nearing the 12 km mark and that good progress was being made on preparing for further mineshaft sinking operations at the Woodsmith Mine site near Whitby, which are expected to begin in the new year.

Simon Carter, Chief Development Officer on the Woodsmith Project, said: “It’s been an incredibly challenging and busy time on the project recently, not least because of the adaptations and safety measures we’ve introduced to make sure that we can work safely during COVID-19. But, I am incredibly proud that the whole team has pulled together and enabled us to make such good progress. I’m delighted that we have been able to buck the trend of many businesses and expanded our workforce, providing important opportunities for people in the region in these difficult times.”

Anglo American has hired around 150 new people since it launched a recruitment drive in the autumn, with around 60 more expected to be hired in the coming weeks. Almost three quarters of these new workers have been hired from areas local to the project in North Yorkshire and Teesside.

The announcement of increased funding is expected to allow the project to recruit an additional 130 construction workers and dozens of additional management and administration roles next year, which will increase the size of the workforce to around 1,400.

The project involves the sinking of two mineshafts with Herrenknecht’s Shaft Boring Roadheader technology into the polyhalite ore over 1.6 km beneath the surface near Whitby, and the construction of a 37 km long tunnel to a new processing and shipping facility on Teesside.

When the mine is complete, extracted polyhalite ore will be hoisted up the mineshaft and transported underground on a conveyor belt, avoiding any impact on the countryside above, the company says. From there, it will be shipped around the world and sold to farmers as a natural low carbon fertiliser, certified for organic use.