Founder and Publisher John Chadwick B. Sc. Min Eng Email: john @ im-mining. com
Editor Paul Moore B. Sc( Hons), M. Sc. Email: paul @ im-mining. com
Editorial Board Professor Malcolm Scoble Robert E. Hallbauer Chair in Mining Engineering., University of BC, Vancouver
Peter Knights BMA Chair & Prof. of Mining Engineering University of Queensland
Stephen Stone West One Management Perth, Western Australia
Dr. Andrew M. Robertson President, Robertson GeoConsultants Vancouver, Canada.
Ed McCord Project Consultant Caterpillar Global Mining, USA
Jason Nitz Fleet Management & Dispatch Superintendent Newmont Mining Corporation, USA
Dr Terry Mudder Managing Director, TIMES Ltd, USA
Simon Tarbutt Consultant, Santiago, Chile
Dr. Mike Daniel Comminution Process Consultant CMD Consulting Pty Ltd
Editorial Enquiries: Tel: + 44( 0) 1442 870 829 Fax + 44( 0) 1442 870 617
Advertising Sales: Phil Playle Email: phil @ im-mining. com + 44 1442 87 77 77
Advertising Production Lynne Lane Email: lynne @ im-mining. com
Design & Production Trevor Sheldon Email: sheldonmann @ gmail. com
Circulation Enquiries circulation @ im-mining. com
Website: www. im-mining. com
Annual Subscription Enquiries: Emma Smith Email: emma @ im-mining. com
Annual Subscription UK and Europe £ 160, € 230 Rest of the world US $ 270
International Mining( ISSN No: 1747-146X) is published monthly by Team Publishing Ltd, GBR and is distributed in the USA by Asendia USA, 17B South Middlesex Avenue, Monroe NJ 08831 and additional mailing offices. Periodicals postage paid at New Brunswick NJ. POSTMASTER: send address changes to International Mining, 17B South Middlesex Avenue, Monroe NJ 08831
Printed by The Manson Group, St Albans © Team Publishing Ltd 2016
ISSN 1747-146X
IM uses, as preference, SI units throughout, so, for example, all tonnes are metric unless otherwise stated. All dollars are US unless otherwise stated
THE LEADER VOLUME 11 • NUMBER 6
Uzbekistan’ s road to riches
Central Asia is well known as a mining hub, through operations such as the Kumtor gold mine in Kyrgyzstan, the Vasilkovskoye gold mine in Kazakhstan, the copper operations of Kazakhmys and the iron ore mines of SSGPO and ENRC. However, Uzbekistan is often overlooked, yet the country is moving up the rankings in uranium production and has employed a series of innovations at its gold operations, which are notable as the state miner has led their development itself without having to rely solely on external input.
Uzbekistan state mining company Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Combinat( NMMC) is the only company in Uzbekistan engaged in uranium mining and production of finished products for export in the form of triuranium octoxide. According to the World Nuclear Association and IAEA, Uzbekistan is in seventh place in the world in uranium reserves and in fifth place in its production. About 40 deposits with uranium reserves have been explored in the country so far, with 27 in production or planned for development.
According to the Information Centre of the State Committee for Geology and Mineral Resources, explored and estimated uranium reserves amount to 185,800 t. Uranium mining is carried out by the ecofriendly method of in situ leaching( ISL) through systems of geotechnical wells constructed on the surface. This technology has increased the resource base by bringing into production low grade sandstonetype deposits, processing of which was previously considered uneconomic. Today NMMC produces uranium at 20 fields. Another 10 are considered to be promising. It should be noted that the uranium mining in Uzbekistan has increased by almost 50 % over the last ten years.
During 2008-2012, Uzbekistan invested $ 165 million in the expansion and improvement of the uranium industry. In 2013, NMMC spent about $ 125 million on technological modernisation and completion of six mines. In the next five years, new uranium deposits are going to be put into operation. New mining methods are also being developed that will increase uranium resources by thousands of tonnes.
But in the gold industry too, NMMC has employed key innovations. Among the most notable is the the HAC-270 high angle conveyor in the Muruntau pit, which entered into industrial operation in June 2011, and lifts rock 270 m at an angle of 37 °, at a rate of 3,500 t / h, with an annual capacity of 13 Mt. This is one of the few high angle conveyors working at this production rate and on this scale. The transportation distance on average has been reduced by 3.6 km, with operating expenses in a single year reduced by about $ 1 million.
Research carried out by NMMC together with INTEGRA, the VNIPIPROM Technology Institute and others has optimised development of mining facilities and put into operation new computer aided technologies. The result, a System for Computer-Aided Design of Mining Works( SCAD MW), which works together with the“ ORE” Computer-Based System( CBS), provides the mine with geological survey data and uses it to plan the deposit development. Owing to the application of this system, a 6 % increase in economic ore output without ore deterioration was reached.
The technology also makes it possible to obtain a determination of the open pit borders with prescribed angles of pit slopes and berms, within which all profitable reserves will occur as well as to draw up a schedule of development taking into account restrictions on the speed of pit deepening.
The system also makes it possible to determine the position( with high accuracy) of every mobile or stationary vehicle and object in the pit using radio signals from communication satellite. The Automated Control System for Vehicle Routing Inside an Open Pit( ACS VROP) interacts with SCAD MW and with the Automated System for Mined Ore Quality Control( AS MOQC). Information about equipment position and movement as well as mined ore quantities data are transmitted to the control point and to the server in a form acceptable for use in SCAD MW programs. Information from some SCAD MW subsystems( grade plan, surveyor data, drilling plan) is also transmitted to AS MOQC and then to ACS VROP. Efficiency of the applied system is based on 8-10 % increase of the effectiveness of the vehicle and excavator complex operation at the mine.
AS MOQC makes it possible to sort waste rock, which NMMC says has resulted in a 2-3 % loss decrease, 5-6 % dilution reduction and therefore about a 1-3 % mined ore grade increase. It has also allowed a 10-15 % increase in economic ore output owing to allowing for more mining from sub-economic blocks. Finally, technology for preliminary upgrading of sulphide gold ores( the patent holder is INTEGRA) was accepted by NMMC for commercial use and uses X- Ray / radiometric separators. Usage of the technology for preliminary ore upgrading makes it possible to significantly improve quality of the feed ore delivered for hydro-metallurgical processing at the plant, as much as doubling the gold concentration. NMMC has also developed sorting routes to better process Muruntau ore containing“ free” gold.
Paul Moore Editor paul @ im-mining. com
JUNE 2016 | International Mining 3