Tag Archives: zinc

Boliden invests $160 million in leaching plant, underground repository at Rönnskär

Base metals, Environmental, Mineral processing, Precious metals, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , ,

Boliden has opened a new leaching plant and underground repository at its Rönnskär operations in Sweden as it looks to extract additional metal from residual materials at the smelter and store any remaining waste in a sustainable way.

For many years, residual materials from smelting processes containing copper, zinc and lead, among other elements, have been stored temporarily at the Rönnskär site.

These residual materials, together with future residues from production, will from this point pass through the newly built leaching plant where further metal extraction will take place. The remaining material will then be transported straight down to the underground repository, which is located about 350 m below the site.

This will see Rönnskär become the only copper smelter in the world with a long-term, sustainable on-site storage solution, according to Boliden.

Investments in the two facilities have amounted to SEK 1.4 billion ($160 million), Boliden says.

Daniel Peltonen, President Boliden Smelters, says: “Our aim is to extract as much metal as possible from our raw materials while ensuring the best achievable environmental and climate performance. The investments we have now made represent a new chapter in Rönnskär’s history in both of these areas.”

Rönnskär produced 226,000 t of copper, along with 33,000 of zinc clinker, 28,000 t of lead, 506,000 t of sulphuric acid, 524,000 kg of silver and 14,000 kg of gold last year, according to Boliden.

GR Engineering captures A$90 million of EPC contracts from Galena Mining

Base metals, Mineral processing, Mineral project development, Mining services, , , , , , , ,

GR Engineering Services has been given the notice to proceed with the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of a 1.2 Mt/y lead sulphide flotation processing plant at Galena Mining Limited’s majority-owned Abra base metals project in Western Australia.

The contract, which follows a conditional agreement from February 2020, comes with a value of A$79.5 million ($59 million) to be realised predominantly in GR Engineering’s 2022 financial year.

In addition, Abra Mining has also awarded GR Engineering an EPC contract to relocate, refurbish and commission the Abra Mining-owned Higginsville paste plant. The value of this contract is a further A$10 million.

Geoff Jones, Managing Director, said: “GR Engineering looks forward to continuing its solid working relationship with the Abra Mining team on the delivery of the project and supporting Abra Mining as it becomes the next Australian base metals producer.”

New Century Resources and Senex Energy agree on natural gas supply pact

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

Senex Energy Ltd has announced a sales agreement involving around 7 PJ of natural gas over three years with New Century Resources Ltd.

New Century, which owns and operates the Century zinc mine in Queensland, Australia, will receive this natural gas supply from the Diamantina Power Station in Mount Isa (owned and operated by APA Group), with the 7 PJ being enough to operate the mine, it said.

Under the three-year agreement starting January 1, 2022, Senex will provide around 7 PJ of natural gas to support New Century’s processing operations at a fixed price, in line with current market levels. Senex will further supply around 1 PJ of additional natural gas at New Century’s election by mid-2022 in support of material increases in production levels associated with the potential development of existing in-situ deposits at Century.

Senex Managing Director and CEO, Ian Davies, said: “Century Mine generates significant state royalties and export earnings and is a critical project in the Queensland Government’s Strategic Blueprint for the North West Minerals Province.

“Senex also acknowledges APA as an important part of the value chain delivering energy to Mount Isa.”

Mastermyne looks for hard-rock exposure with PYBAR Mining buy

Automation, Base metals, Mining mergers and acquisitions, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , , ,

Mastermyne has accelerated its hard-rock mining strategy with an agreement to acquire PYBAR Mining Services in a cash and share deal that comes with an expected equity purchase price of A$47 million ($35 million).

The acquisition for PYBAR Holdings, owner of PYBAR Mining Services, will see Mastermyne, a metallurgical coal-focused contractor, exposed to PYBAR’s gold, copper, zinc and lead-related revenues, it said.

The deal is expected to create a leading Australia-based diversified mining services business with material scale, it said, adding that the combined group will have a A$1.7 billion-plus order book and an active tender pipeline of A$2.7 billion-plus after completion.

To reflect the changing make up of revenues, Mastermyne is proposing to change its name to Metarock Group Ltd.

Mastermyne MD and CEO, Tony Caruso, said: “The PYBAR acquisition is highly complementary to Mastermyne’s existing underground business and expands the combined group’s addressable markets to support ongoing growth, in addition to increasing the earnings resilience of the group by diversifying our commodity exposure.”

PYBAR Mining Services was established in 1993 and has gone on to become one of Australia’s largest underground mining contractors, serving the likes of Glencore (Black Rock mine), Diversified Minerals (Dargues gold mine), Gold Fields (Hamlet North mine), Evolution Mining (Cowal gold mine), OZ Minerals (Carrapateena) and more.

It has a large fleet of equipment, which includes Sandvik DD421 and DD421i series drills, a fleet of Cat R1300, R1700, R2900 and Sandvik LH621i LHDs, Cat AD45V-AD60 sized trucks and several Sandvik TH663s haul trucks. It provides services such as mine development, raiseboring, mine production, shotcreting, cable bolting and production drilling.

Mastermyne says PYBAR will continue to operate as an independent business unit within the group with the existing management team should the deal go through.

Subject to Mastermyne shareholder approval and the satisfaction or waiver of other conditions associated with the transaction, Mastermyne anticipates the deal completing by the end of the year.

Mine cooling solution set for 2022 start up at MMG’s Dugald River zinc mine

Base metals, Environmental, Mine operation news, Mine ventilation, Mining services, , , , , , , , ,

MMG’s Dugald River mine, in Queensland, Australia, is designing, supplying and installing a A$20 million ($14.7 million) cooling solution that, it says, will bring 9.5 MW of bulk air underground to facilitate ongoing zinc extraction.

MMG Dugald River General Manager, Tim Akroyd, said consistent temperature control is critical for the safety of the mine’s employees and contractors working in northwest Queensland’s hot climate.

“MMG has sourced a long-term refrigeration plant and ventilation system designed to deliver a safe work environment for our teams,” he said.

“To sustain mine production at a depth of 500 m below ground, cooling is essential and dramatically improves air quality. Mine ventilation firm, BBE Consulting, helped to scope options that are now spearheading MMG’s cooling works that are well underway, planned for completion by early 2022. The cooling system will be operational for the life of the mine, a period of up to 20-plus years.”

The scope of work covers the installation of 9.5 MW bulk air-cooling capacity, with a centralised refrigerative plant with distributing water circuits to the south and north mine. Water-cooled custom mine chillers, bulk air coolers, cooling towers and ancillary equipment are being deployed.

Water-cooled refrigeration machines have a lower capital project cost and use less power over a 20-year project life, when compared with air-cooled refrigeration machines, MMG said.

Suppliers and local contractors include CivilPlus Constructions, GNH Engineering, Bell Rural Contracting and Total Generators in Cloncurry to name just a few.

Aggreko ups the mine cooling ante with modular BAC10000s

Base metals, Environmental, Mine ventilation, Mining equipment, Mining services, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Twenty years after establishing modular mine cooling solutions in Australia, Aggreko has released an offering for mines going deeper with its latest modular bulk air coolers (BACs).

These 40 ft (12.19 m) mobile BAC10000s coolers are “unique” and relatively new to the mine cooling market, according to Aggreko Australia-Pacific Managing Director, George Whyte.

“They are scalable, portable and boast three times the cooling capacity of our previous largest offering – the 20 ft long (about 6.09 m) containers,” he said.

Aggreko has delivered more than 50 mine cooling projects globally, and always draws on the experience of its engineering, procurement, construction and maintenance teams to stay at the forefront of technology, according to Whyte.

“Aggreko’s mining services pioneered mine cooling as a rental service 20 years ago as a result of mines looking for alternatives to capital refrigeration plants,” he said. “Previously mining companies would need to use capital to install built-in cooling systems which were not scalable, modular or as effective.

“In the past two decades we have witnessed mines becoming deeper and this has resulted in the need for larger cooling capacities and innovation. The need for deeper mines in increasingly remote locations, coupled with rising global temperatures, is forcing operation managers to seek affordable alternatives to cooling and ventilation systems.”

Aggreko Underground Cooling Sector Manager, Mitch Bevan, said the BAC10000s were used at a Western Australia mine last year and will soon arrive at a mine in New South Wales, Australia.

Bevan said part of the new modular BACs appeal were their simplicity and convenience when compared with purpose-built on-site cooling plants. The new BACs used a simple design involving pipes, chilled water and three axial fans – all comprised in a modular shipping container. He expected more mines globally would become interested in the company’s new product offering, particularly in regions such as Africa, Latin America and North America.

“The unit is more suited for larger installations and offers improved efficiency rather than using a large number of smaller BACs,” Bevan said.

“Capital refrigeration plants take a long time for mines to prepare for financially, as well as to install, whereas we can mobilise on relatively short notice. A rental option also provides a great deal of flexibility, which is often crucial for underground vent systems where it is difficult to predict the requirement year on year.”

Bevan said Aggreko re-engineered their cooling towers to come up with the 40 ft modular BAC10000s after anticipating there would be global demand for such an offering.

“Long running mines have continued to grow and their refrigeration requirement grows with the mine, so BACs are appealing as they can be scaled up or easily moved on-site,” he said.

“While mines are expanding, our clients are also focused on energy efficiency, and safer operation – such as more environmentally friendly refrigerants – and we are constantly working on new developments in these areas.

“The water-cooled BACs have less of an environmental impact seeing as the modular container sits on the ground’s surface and requires no serious ground modifications, such as concrete.

“The units only require water and power and, while some mines use diesel-generated power, as time goes on, that will shift to renewable energy. Our company has made major commitments to greener energy to help miners achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. That is why we are constantly exploring and investing in new technologies. Currently, our water-cooled chillers use half as much power as air-cooled options, which is part of their appeal, and we are the only rental company to provide such modular and scalable products.”

The BAC10000s have been successfully used at 29Metals’ Golden Grove mine – a high grade copper, zinc and precious metals mine, about 450 km northeast of Perth, which mills about 1.44 Mt/y.

When the mine underwent an expansion, which required almost two years to up-scale its permanent cooling plant, a quick and effective solution was needed in time for the 2020-21 summer, according to Aggreko. The power specialist was able to quickly supply the BAC10000s to install a 4.5 MWr water-cooled plant.

As well as water cooled refrigeration plants such as Aggreko’s 20 ft and 40 ft BACs, Aggreko also offers air cooled refrigeration plants (with power provided, if required) and underground spot cooling solutions.

“Newer mines are also continuing to come online in Australia and around the world,” Bevan said. “We are supplying modular cooling solutions throughout the entire mining lifecycle.

“We are constantly looking for opportunities to improve on our strengths to assist our clients further into the future. We provide flexible energy solutions and services to the mining sector and provide high standards regardless of a mine’s location in the world.”

PYBAR sets records at Glencore’s Black Rock mine with Sandvik DL432i longhole drill

Automation, Base metals, Mine operation news, Mining equipment, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , , , , , , , ,

The introduction of PYBAR’s new Sandvik DL432i longhole drill in October 2020 has led to month-on-month improvements in drilling productivity at the Black Rock copper-lead-zinc mine, in Queensland, Australia.

Versatile and compact, the Sandvik DL432i is a fully mechanised electro-hydraulic top hammer longhole drill, designed for large-scale mining. The Sandvik iSOLO drilling control system allows the client (Glencore in this case) to provide electronic drill plans on a USB, which is plugged straight into the drill. The operator then lines the drill up on the survey markings and selects the required drill design, with the remainder of the drilling taken care of by the iSOLO software.

Since arriving on site, a specialised pump has been installed on the DL432i, allowing AMC (a subsidiary of IMDEX) to add a Bore Hole Stabiliser™ to the water circuit while drilling to improve hole integrity in the soft ground conditions. This technology, combined with Sandvik’s iSOLO drilling control software, has been key to PYBAR’s production success at Black Rock to date, the contractor said.

“The ground conditions at Black Rock have put Sandvik’s iSOLO drilling control system to the test, and the technology has proven itself with flying colours,” PYBAR said. “After several months of on-site refinement of the automated drilling system, the drill can now operate with minimal operator input.”

This has led to month-on-month increases in production drilling rates with a record month in March, closely matched in April, according to PYBAR. This, in turn, has meant a significant increase in available production fronts resulting in increased tonnes and improved overall project performance.

Trials of automated drilling for complete firing patterns will begin shortly at Black Rock to enable drilling to take place during firing and shift change, as well as free up the operator to assist with other tasks around the mine, PYBAR said.

The transition to further automation has the potential to significantly maximise both productive drilling time and overall performance for the project, it added.

SENET wins EPCM gig at AMAK’s Moyeath copper-zinc project in Saudi Arabia

Base metals, Mineral processing, Mineral project development, Mining services, Power supply for mines, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Al Masane Al Kobra Mining Co (AMAK) has awarded SENET, a wholly owned subsidiary of DRA Global, the engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) contract for the design and execution of the Moyeath copper-zinc project in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, SENET says.

AMAK has been producing copper, zinc in concentrate and gold and silver in doré from its operations in the country since 2012.

Moyeath is a third major orebody (together with Saadah and Al Houra) discovered in the immediate vicinity to the AMAK underground mines. The Moyeath orebody is a high-grade copper-zinc volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit, SENET says.

The planned 400,000 t/y run of mine flotation process plant will produce copper and zinc concentrates, while filtered tailings will be trucked to an existing dry stacking area operated by AMAK, which handles tailings from its Al Masane (pictured) and Guyan process plants.

Preliminary test works shows it is possible to produce saleable copper and zinc concentrates, with most of the gold and silver reporting to flotation concentrates, SENET noted. The mineralogy of the Moyeath orebody is complex and requires a similarly complex approach to produce copper and zinc concentrates at favourable recoveries and saleable concentrate grades.

Trevali to test out FLSmidth’s Rapid Oxidative Leach tech on Caribou material

Base metals, Metallurgy, Mine operation news, Mineral processing, Mining services, Precious metals, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Trevali Mining has announced the commencement of a pilot plant testing program using Caribou run-of-mine and milled material at FLSmidth’s Rapid Oxidative Leach (ROL) process testing facility in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The program expands on previous laboratory test work and is aimed at demonstrating the potential to recover zinc, lead, copper, gold and silver as a precipitate or metal and additional zinc and lead from Caribou ore and mill tailings.

The leach test program is targeting an improvement to zinc, lead, copper, gold and silver metal recoveries, the potential to produce a precipitate or metal on site replacing the current ore concentrate that is produced at Caribou – which, if implemented, would lead to savings on transport costs and offsite treatment costs – and the opportunity to process historic mill tailings, which include gold and copper metals, in addition to run of mine ore. The latter would increase revenues and reduce closure liabilities, Trevali said.

Trevali says the use of FLSmidth’s ROL technology also provides the potential to reduce Trevali’s carbon footprint at Caribou and extend Caribou’s mine life and treat lower-grade deposits in the Bathurst camp of Canada.

FLSmidth says ROL leaches 97-99% of copper directly on-site in six to eight hours, from concentrates as low as 5% Cu. In gold, ROL has the potential to unlock the value of undeveloped refractory gold deposits with less than 3 g/t gold head grade, it says.

Unlike other refractory processing techniques, the ROL process uses the application of mechanical energy coupled with oxidation under atmospheric conditions. The process relies on stirred media reactors to accelerate the oxidation of sulphide minerals. This eliminates the need for ultrafine grinding, high temperatures and high pressure which makes it energy saving and very cost-effective, according to the mining OEM.

Trevali said a successful pilot plant test program using ROL may allow Trevali to replace the existing flotation circuit at Caribou with atmospheric leach vessels and potentially an SX/EW train, introducing the possibility of producing base and precious metals on-site and thereby save transport costs and offsite treatment costs.

Conceptual objectives of the program include:

  • Recovery of metals/minerals that are not recoverable using the current technology at Caribou (precious metals and magnetite); and
  • Improved payables/selectivity of the traditional flotation process using new and emerging technologies.

Ricus Grimbeek, President and Chief Executive Officer of Trevali, said: “FLSmidth’s ROL metallurgical technology has the potential to transform the Caribou mine and the wider Bathurst Mining Camp.

“This next phase of the testing program is an essential step in evaluating the suitability and economic viability of a processing solution with the potential to enhance the value of the in-situ material and tailings at Caribou as well as the surrounding deposits in the Bathurst region. The positive results to date support further study and analysis given the potential implications for the Bathurst Mining Camp in general and Trevali in particular.”

Beyond quantifying the ability to recover additional metal values, the objective for the pilot plant test program is to determine the various kinetic factors, mass and energy balance and engineering data to support future engineering on a preliminary economic assessment for potential processing of the Trevali mill feed and mill tailings and produce metal on site.

Continuous pilot plant trials commenced in June 2021 (Phase 1) to tune the pilot plant and provide material for precious metal leach tests in late July, followed by a test program at the Caribou Mine site that is planned for September 2021 (Phase 2). Leach data and results are expected to verify that batch testing results can be achieved in a continuous operation.

ANDRITZ ups the filtration ante with new ME2500 filter press

Environmental, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services, Water management, , , , , , , , , , , ,

ANDRITZ has introduced a new filter press, the ME2500, to complete its range of “proven” A4F and the SE series filter presses for the mining and minerals industry.

The ME2500 is the best-fit for fast processing of tailings (also with high clay content) or mining concentrates like iron, copper, lead or zinc, the company says. The new model has an hourly processing capacity of up to 450 kg/sq.m, a filtration area of up to 840 sq.m, and features chained plates for faster filter cake discharge. These attributes enable the highest throughputs without compromising on safety, while reflecting a customer focus on saving water, ANDRITZ says.

The innovative closure system on the ME2500 largely replaces hydraulic components with electrical ones and further reduces cycle times, thus increasing capacity and operating availability.

“The increased use of electrical components enables highly sustainable operation of the filter press by reducing the amount of hydraulic oil needed, as well as improving safety thanks to more precise control and less reliance on high-pressure lines that are susceptible to leaks,” the company said.

In addition, and to further optimise the productivity of single machines or plants with multiple filter presses, all modules of the ANDRITZ intelligent filter press – controlled by the Metris addIQ control system – are also available for the ME2500 filter press and can be provided with the full range of options. This draws on smart sensors, data analytics and augmented reality, including multiple sensors to allow for online safety monitoring of the plate package and moveable parts.

The company concluded: “The safe disposal of tailings generated by the mining and minerals sector is a significant cost factor for the industry. ANDRITZ is known for its innovative range of overhead and sidebar filter presses that meet the industry’s most stringent requirements with regard to fast cake discharge and saving water and costs. The maintenance-friendly equipment from ANDRITZ is easily upgradeable, with a modular design for customised process solutions.”