WORLD PROSPECTS
800xA, as well as three gearless mill drive
systems, and a high pressure grinding roll to
grind the increased amount of ore that will be
processed in this expansion. The delivery also
includes distribution transformers and
substations, motor control centres, medium and
low voltage drives, mineral processing specific
applications, and other automation and electrical
equipment. Furthermore, ABB will provide project
engineering, installation and commissioning
services, and ongoing remote monitoring and
diagnostic services.
The ABB Ability MineOptimize solution will
deliver numerous operational and safety benefits
for this project. It will monitor, control and
manage all aspects of production, access critical
information from system devices and provide
detailed data analytics to determine process
efficiency and identify opportunities for
improvement. It will also monitor and manage
Cobre Panama’s massive scale
n a recent Cobre Panama project update that
coincided with an investor site tour, First
Quantum Minerals has provided further detail
on the mining technology being used and the fleet
that is in place. The project has a strip ratio waste
to ore of 1:1, with a 40+ year mine life and M&I
Resources of 3,695 Mt at 0.37% Cu and P&P
Reserves of 3,182 Mt at 0.38% Cu. The total project
capital cost is $6.3 billion and has been 72%
completed. It will have an 85 Mt/y throughput,
using an in-pit crushing and conveying system of
four semi-mobile primary crushing stations and a
diesel-electric truck, shovel and large wheel loader
fleet. Power is via a dedicated 300 MW power
plant.
This year sees the first generation from the
power plant, complete pit
prestripping – exposing of
ore, development of terrace
mining, and deployment of
the ultraclass fleet as well
as commencement of
commissioning of the
process plant. Next year
sees the commencement of
ore feed from the mine to
process plant and the ramp
up of the process plant to
annualised 74 Mt/y mill
feed with a target of
150,000 t Cu in concentrate
I
production. Finally, 2020 sees the ramp up of
the process plant to annualised 85 Mt/y mill
feed and a target of 270-300,000 t Cu in
concentrate production with the 350,000 t Cu
reached in 2021.
In the main Botija pit, 46.5 MBCM material
movement was complete end April 2018 out of
68 MBCM total prestrip. Pre-strip progress is on
track for January 2019 first ore. Electric shovel
assembly is underway and the primary crusher
boxcuts are well underway. The company gives
the mine plan rationale for the use of terrace
mining “to manage pit waters and make best
use of ultra class mining equipment; maximise
electrification with rope shovels, trolley assist
with the T 284 fleet and electric drills and IPCC
Zhengzhou longwall for Indonesia
gritrade Resources Ltd recently announced
that Agritrade Mine Holdings Ltd, a direct
wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, had
entered into an equipment supply contract to acquire
a complete longwall system from
Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machinery (Group)
Co Ltd, a leading comprehensive coal
mining and excavating equipment
manufacturer in the People’s Republic of
China at a consideration of
RMB139,400,000 for the group’s mining
operation at the groups’s Merge mining
operation in Indonesia.
After the acquisition, the Merge mine
will be operated with two longwall
systems. The company expects that the
production capacity of the Merge mine
will be increased by approximately 2.5
Mt annually following the acquisition,
A
6 International Mining | JUNE 2017
reaching a total annual production capacity of
approximate 3.5 Mt.
The Merge mine is the only large-scale,
mechanised longwall underground coal mine in
energy distribution and consumption at this and
other KAZ Minerals sites.
“This project demonstrates how best practices
have been efficiently re-used at three of KAZ
Minerals’ sites, and how this approach will
enable fast track delivery so that our customer
can start up quickly” said Roger Bailey, Managing
Director of ABB’s Process Industries business
unit. The new plant is scheduled for first production
in late 2021. www.new.abb.com/mining
for efficient movement of low grade/high
volume ore.” The working Botija pit floor will be
mined in multiple pit benches (three to four of
50-100 m width) or terraces to allow pit floor
flexibility and efficiency. The inter-ramp slope
will be 45-60 degrees with typical pushback or
phased bench development of 140-180 m width
with multiple shovel deployment. Interphase
slopes will either be at interramp angle or
reduced to 40 degrees to manage spillage.
This is the first time details have been given
on the IPCC set-up, which include four box cuts
with semi-mobile primary crushers, two per
conveyor line, feeding two in-pit conveyor lines
feeding two overland conveyors after a transfer
station to the secondary crushing and the main
process plant. In terms of the open pit fleet, the
ultraclass trucks have achieved over 1,000
operating hours; OEM support
contracts have been finalised; and
critical spares identified and held in
country; while the site has been
transferring and training current pre-
strip personnel to the ultra class fleet.
The final fleet details are as
follows: four Komatsu Mining P&H
4100XPC electric shovels; 30 363 t
Liebherr T 284C trucks, three
Komatsu Mining Le Tourneau L2350
large wheel loaders (with SR drive),
three Liebherr R 9350 hydraulic
excavators and 20 Cat 777G 100 t
trucks. www.first-quantum.com
Indonesia. Additionally, the Merge mine has
significant JORC compliant proved and probable coal
reserves of 97.1 Mt and produces run-of-mine coal
with low inherent moisture, low sulphur content and
high calorific value of approximately 6,426 kcal/kg
on air-dried basis, which is similar in quality to
benchmark Newcastle coal of 6,300 kcal/kg.
Ng Xinwei, Chief Executive Officer and
Executive Director said: “The fully
retreating mechanised longwall mining is
a proven and accepted mining method
that reduces operating cost. The longwall
operations also allow the group to
economically extract high quality coal. I
believe taking a second longwall to our
flagship will further enhance the group’s
capability to tap into the underground
coal mining opportunities present in
Indonesia and ultimately help us achieve
our goal in becoming an integrated energy
solutions provider.”
www.zzmj.com