Global projects and exploration
of the arrangement, including the Rio Grande and
Aguas Calientes projects, among others.
Australia
New drills for Dawson’s coal mine
Anglo American has delivered a first for its
metallurgical coal division, following completion of a
drill hole using a remote-operated, semi-autonomous
drill at the Dawson coal mine in Queensland.
The OD14 overburden semi-autonomous drill was
controlled by an operator over four kilometres from
the site, allowing for safe and efficient completion of
the hole, with a reduction in shift change times.
The Anglo met coal team received advice from
counterparts at the company’s copper business in
Chile and the Kumba Iron Ore business in South
Africa, which were familiar with the technology
already.
The maintenance and engineering team from
Dawson and electrical supplier Flanders also got
involved to help upgrade the drill’s onboard computer,
sensors, and safety technology.
Nicaragua
B2Gold’s expansion project looks positive
Canadian-headquartered B2Gold announced that
it has received positive results of an expansion study
carried out at the El Limon gold mine in Nicaragua.
The expansion study was conducted to evaluate the
life-of-mine options for combining the remaining
underground inferred mineral resources with the new
El Limon Central zone opencast inferred mineral
resource. According to a statement by B2Gold, the
results of this study recommend the expansion of the
existing plant from 485 000 tonnes per annum (tpa)
to 600 000 tpa and the addition of a third stage of
milling to achieve a fine grind. The result would be a
much longer mine life with significantly higher gold
production, as well as lower cash operating costs and
all-in sustaining costs.
The third stage of milling also allows for the
reprocessing of old tailings at the end of the mine
life. According to the study, the projected annual
processing rate would increase to 600 000 tpa, while
the life of mine is expected to be extended over 10
years, based on inferred mineral resources from the
open pit and underground sources, with an additional
11 years by processing historical mine tailings.
Chile
Lithium lures Montero
Exploration specialists Montero Mining and
Exploration has entered into an agreement with a
private geological consortium known as the Founders.
The Founders has developed concepts, ideas, plans,
and techniques for the exploration of unique lithium
deposits over certain target areas in the Atacama
region of Chile.
Montero has 15 months to make application for the
prospective target areas, and once awarded, complete a
due diligence sampling programme. The terms of the
agreement provide that upon successful granting of
exploration licenses and satisfactory due diligence, the
Founders shall be granted a 1.5% net smelter royalty
Thailand
Technology to improve mine efficiency
International engineering company
thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions has
signed a contract to supply a large-scale
continuous mining system to Italian-
Thai Development (ITD) PLC.
The mining system, including two
newly developed barracuda bucket
wheel excavators, will be used to
remove overburden at the Mae Moh
coal mine in Northern Thailand. It is
due to go into operation in 2020.
According to Torsten Gerlach,
CEO of the Mining Technologies
business unit at thyssenkrupp
Industrial Solutions, the barracuda
compact bucket wheel excavator
is one of the company’s recent
innovations for the mining industry.
“We are pleased to see this new
technology supporting ITD’s future
opencast operations, contributing
to a more efficient and cost-saving
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environment. As with all our mining
solutions, this builds customer value
by increasing yields while minimising
impacts,” says Gerlach.
Mae Moh Mine is the largest
opencast lignite mine in Southeast
Asia. It is approximately 600km from
Bangkok, in the Lampang province
in the north of Thailand. The new
mining equipment, with capacities
of up to 18 000 tons per hour (tph),
will be used to remove, convey, and
dump overburden. Two barracuda
compact bucket wheel excavators with
belt wagons and hopper cars will be
supplied by thyssenkrupp, as well as
two spreaders with tripper cars.
Within the scope of the order,
thyssenkrupp will take care
of engineering, procurement,
construction, and commissioning of
the continuous mining system.
JANUARY 2019 MINING MIRROR
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