Global
Brazil: Tucano plant
upgrade ahead of schedule
Tucano gold mine’s plant upgrade in Brazil is advancing better than
anticipated. E
dited by Leon Louw
[8] MINING MIRROR NOVEMBER 2018
T
Beadell Resources began operating the Tucano gold mine in December 2012.
he installation of a new ball mill,
which is part of a plant
upgrade at Beadell Resources’
Tucano gold mine in Brazil, was
recently completed ahead of schedule.
According to Ed Swarts, Tucano plant
maintenance specialist, the installation
and commissioning of the ball mill
was done two weeks earlier than what
management initially expected.
The Tucano plant upgrade encompasses
four key areas: the installation of a ball
mill, a pre-leach thickener, a carbon-in-
leach (CIL) tank, and an oxygen plant.
The oxygen plant will increase the mine’s
sulphide ore processing capacity.
Swarts says the most important of
these upgrades is the addition of the ball
mill, as sulphide ore requires an optimal
grind size of P80 of 75 microns for gold
liberation. The Tucano processing plant
is now ramping up to increase sulphide
ore content from ~30% to ~80% of total
ore processed. Recoveries are forecast
to remain at ~88% until the completion
of the pre-leach thickener in early
November 2018.
Completion of the additional CIL tank
and oxygen plant remains on track for late
October and early November, respectively.
The project is being managed by Swarts.
The ball mill was commissioned after a
96-hour shutdown. The sulphide blend
through the plant has already increased
from ~30% pre-shutdown to ~40% over
a 24-hour period. The ball mill was
briefly stopped on 3 September 2018 to
perform a re-torque and hot alignment
of the drive train.
Swarts commented: “We are pleased to
have de-risked the project by completion
of the ball mill ahead of schedule. This
achievement is due to the combined
efforts of our team on site, who possess
a unique skill set involving multiple
disciplines that were able to adapt to
roles outside of their normal scope —
exceeding tight time frames.”
Beadell Resources is upgrading its processing plant
at the Tucano gold mine in Brazil.
“Ed and his team have worked tirelessly to
deliver a ball mill that is already processing
~40% sulphide. This achievement will
provide complete ore type processing
flexibility for the first time in the history
of Tucano, allowing us to mine for grade
rather than ore type,” says Dr Nicole
Adshead-Bell, CEO and MD at Beadell.
The Tucano gold mine is located in Amapá
State in northern Brazil. It covers about
2 500km² of mostly contiguous exploration
licences and a mining concession with
district-scale exploration potential. The
nearest major populated centre to the
Tucano site is Macapá, situated on the
northern bank of the Amazon River.
Beadell began operating the Tucano gold
mine in December 2012. b
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