Magazine
On the cover
Goldcorp:
In this issue: • Newmont Mining: Page 66
All American gold
• Water management: Page 52
Goldcorp is a leading gold producer focused on responsible mining practices with safe, low-cost production throughout the Americas. Page 6
• Eyes on lithium: Page 41
2016 Issue 12
World Mining
• Mining • Oil • Construction • Industrial
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• The Editor
Responsible mining: Setting the standard
Editor
The
M
ines used to be dangerous places that left a legacy of environmental damage, and disturbed and disadvantaged local populations. The past 30 years have seen great changes, however, as an enlightened breed of modern leaders has begun to embrace sustainability as good business, rather than a public relations exercise. The first official definition of sustainability was provided by the Brundtland Commission of the United Nations in 1987, formerly the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED). Its report, Our Common Future, contains the oft-quoted sentence, “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” We tend to use the word “responsible” rather than “sustainable” these days, which allows a broader panoply of issues under its umbrella, and there have been many more acronyms and initiatives, but never, until now, have we been close to a globally recognised international certification programme for mines. On 6 April this year, however, the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) released the second and revised
Martin Ashcroft
draft of its Standard for Responsible Mining for a sixty-day review and public comment period. The draft standard is the result of ten years of collaboration between groups from the mining industry, organized labour, nongovernmental organizations, impacted communities and businesses. The Standard will cover mine sites, not mining companies, and will include best practice requirements for health and safety, human rights, community engagement, pollution control, rights of indigenous peoples and land reclamation once mines have closed. In addition to the certification process for mines that meet the Standard, IRMA will offer a secondary “candidate” status for mine sites that meet a core set of threshold requirements, and a scoring tool to measure continuing improvement for mines at all levels. Stakeholders and the general public are invited to participate in this next round of feedback and input. We sincerely hope readers will take advantage of the opportunity to shape the future of your industry by participating in this groundbreaking global initiative. http://www.responsiblemining.net/irma-standard/ •
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Contents.......... Page 6 Goldcorp: All American gold
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The Editor: Responsible mining
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Goldcorp: All American gold
News 35. News in Brief / Richmont Mines 37. Bacteria help locate platinum deposits 41. Eyes on lithium ions 43. Heavy duty belt cleaners 45. Gahcho KuĂŠ diamond mine 45. Eagle Mountain first gold 47. Standard for Responsible Mining released for review 49. South Australia copper 51. ABB to provide hoists / Allison Transmission
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Dos Santos International: Partnering in innovation
52
Water management: Improving efficiency
56
High tech drill core library could release secrets
58
Economics: Trusting in trade
78
Doran Manufacturing: Tire pressure data
62
Expander System: Solution to pivot wear
80
De Beers: From discovery to desire
66
Newmont Mining Corp: Gold star
92
Soldata: From data to information
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........................... News & Features Editor:
Martin Ashcroft martin@ogsmag.com
Page 26:
Editor
Dos Santos: Partnering in innovation
Vanessa Ward editor@ogsmag.com Sales
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Simon Ward
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Double Page £4250.00 Full Page £2995.00 Half Page £1695.00 Quarter Page £995.00 Full Page (inside cover) £5000.00 Lead Article + Front Cover £14,500.00 All advertisement rates include design free of charge. The magazine is printed in A4 format on 250gsm gloss laminated cover and 170gsm matt internal pages. The magazine is both a printed hard copy magazine and distributed electronically. Currently our global readership is approximately 93,000.
World Mining Magazine 2016
Page 66:
Newmont Mining: Gold star
World Mining Magazine is published by Worldwide Business Media Limited, London, EC1V 2NX United Kingdom. Registered No. 6809417 England/ Wales. VAT No. 972 7492 76. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or any part without written permission is strictly prohibited. Liability: while every care has been taken in the preperation of this magazine, the publishers cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of the information herein, or any consequence arising from it. All paper used in this production comes from well managed sources.
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Goldcorp all american gold Goldcorp is a leading gold producer focused on responsible mining practices with safe, lowcost production throughout the Americas. A portfolio of long-lived, high-quality assets positions the company to deliver long-term value. •
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Canadian company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Goldcorp employs more than 15,000 people worldwide, all sharing the companywide commitment to responsible mining that is at the core of every business decision. Everyone, from senior management to the work crews at each of the company’s operations, strives to conduct their business to ensure lasting social progress and economic growth for all stakeholders throughout the life of a Goldcorp mine, and well beyond. 8
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• Goldcorp Red Lake, Ontarion, Canada
Goldcorp designs, constructs and operates all its facilities in accordance with the highest applicable health, safety and environmental standards, providing its employees with the tools and training required to minimize the effects of its activities on the environment. The company actively seeks partnerships based on open, transparent communication, with the aim of being responsible, respected and welcomed, everywhere it does business.
“Goldcorp’s assets include four mines in Canada, three mines in Mexico, and four in Central and South America” Alongside responsible mining, Goldcorp remains focused on five key attributes: quality growth; low cash costs; cost management; maintaining a peer-leading balance sheet; and operating in regions with low political risk. With this in mind, Goldcorp’s operating assets include four mines in Canada, three mines in Mexico, and four in Central and South America. Goldcorp also has a pipeline of projects, the Cochenour project in Ontario, Canada, and the El Morro project in Chile.
Operations in North America Red Lake, Ontario, Canada
A Canadian company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Goldcorp employs more than 15,000 people worldwide, all sharing the company-wide commitment to responsible mining that is at the core of every business decision. Everyone, from senior management to the work crews at each of the company’s operations, strives to conduct their business to ensure lasting social progress and economic growth for all stakeholders throughout the life of a Goldcorp mine, and well beyond. Goldcorp is committed to being a responsible steward of the environment and to maintaining the highest health and safety standards possible. It is a tireless advocate of human rights and maintains a principled, conscientious approach to corporate citizenship. Goldcorp refers to its approach as ‘Together, Creating Sustainable Value’. Its programs are designed as catalysts for positive, lasting contributions in the communities where it does business, while working in partnership with host governments, indigenous groups, non-governmental organizations, contractors and suppliers.
The Red Lake Mine is one of the largest gold mines in Canada, and indeed the world. Located in one of the world’s most prolific gold districts, approximately 230 kilometres northwest of Dryden, Ontario, Goldcorp’s active mining operation covers approximately 2,335 hectares and is accessible by Highway 105, which heads north from the Trans-Canada Highway. Daily commercial air services connect the numerous local communities to both Thunder Bay and Winnipeg. Gold was first discovered in the Red Lake area in 1926. In 1995 Goldcorp discovered the world’s richest grade gold ore (two troy ounces of gold per metric ton) at its Red Lake Mine. In 2015, gold production weighed in at 375,700 ounces. Recent investments in infrastructure and development have positioned this renowned mine for many more years of long-term sustainable production. Underground mining at Red Lake uses three mining methods for maximum ore extraction: overhand cut and fill (OCF), underhand cut and fill (UFC), and long hole (LH). The highgrade zone, which primarily consists of a narrow vein system, is mined at the rate of 450 tonnes per day with an average grade of over 45 grams per tonne (1.3 ounces per tonne). The high-grade mineralization and complex geometry of the ore body require specialized operations expertise. Innovative mining techniques have improved efficiency, such as a wet shotcrete system, the use of larger trucks, use of electric man carriers and a portable diamond drill mounted on a jumbo carrier. The operation is supported by two mill-processing facilities, providing a total milling capacity of 3,100 tonnes per day, including crushing, processing and pastefill plants. The processing plant’s operations consist of grinding, gravity concentrating, leaching, carbon-in-pulp (CIP), carbon elution •
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“Gold was first discovered in the Red Lake area in 1926. In 1995 Goldcorp discovered the world’s richest grade gold ore (two troy ounces of gold per metric ton) at its Red Lake Mine”
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and reactivation, electrowinning, bullion smelting/refining and cyanide destruction, flotation and concentrate handling —all of which are required to recover the gold in Red Lake’s ore types. The Cochenour/Bruce Channel deposit is key to plans for future consolidation. The work on enlarging and upgrading the existing Cochenour shaft has been completed and a 6.0-kilometre haulage drift now connects the existing Red Lake underground infrastructure with Cochenour. The haulage drift will enable the efficient hauling of Cochenour/Bruce Channel ore to the Campbell mine for processing at the existing mill. The drift also opens up exploration of over six kilometers of untested ground in one of the world’s richest gold districts. The focus at Red Lake in 2016 is on asset optimization and cost reduction efforts. Continued transition to mechanized mining, bulk mining and material movement automation is expected to result in lower grades and lower mining costs.
“Éléonore is a major new mine located in an exciting goldproducing district: the James Bay region of Québec” Exploration in 2016 will continue to focus on the highgrade HG Young deposit. A key priority is the evaluation of underground development options to better assess the continuity of the mineralization at depth. Exploration will also continue in the HGZ at depth and on further testing of high grade zone deep offsets. Gold mining is the primary industry in the municipality of Red Lake, and Goldcorp is central to many local developments and initiatives. The mining operation and its local workforce have an enormous economic effect on the area and its businesses, and Goldcorp supports a wide range of local activities related to education, health, community development, arts and culture.
Éléonore, Quebec, Canada
Éléonore is a major new mine located in an exciting goldproducing district: the northeast corner of the Opinaca Reservoir in the James Bay region of Québec, Canada.
ÉléonoreProduction shaft head frame
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Commercial production was declared on 1 April 2015, and by the end of the year, gold production totalled 268,100 ounces. Through 2016, a conservative ramp-up schedule at Éléonore is expected to lead to gold production of between 250,000 and 280,000 ounces. Mine throughput is expected to average 4,900 tonnes per day from four production horizons following the depletion of the pre-production stockpile at the end of 2015. The focus in 2016 is on increasing underground mining rates, mill throughput and improved dilution through adjustment of stope design. The production shaft is expected to be operational by the end of 2016, eliminating the need to truck or hoist ore through the exploration shaft. Drilling in 2016 will continue to target the 494 zone for reserve replacement and test the deep projection of the centre and southern ore bodies and the 494 zone. Following several years of constructive discussions, the Cree Nation of Wemindji, the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) and the Cree Regional Authority entered into a binding collaboration agreement with the Éléonore project.
• Goldcorp 250,000 and 275,000 ounces. The focus at Porcupine in 2016 is on asset optimization and cost reduction efforts. Current market conditions and operational challenges associated with aging infrastructure have led to the permanent closure of the Dome underground mine, effective in mid-2016. Mining operations at the Hollinger open pit, Hoyle Pond underground mine and processing plant will be optimized in order to sustain lowercost, profitable production. The Hoyle Pond underground mine is accessed by decline and by a shaft. Mining methods currently employed are mechanized cut and fill and longhole. Extracted ore is transported via trucks and orepasses to the winze for hoisting. The winze configuration allows for mining to approximately the 2,600m horizon, currently the mining horizon is 1,540m. Gold is recovered using a combination of gravity concentration and cyanidation techniques. The circuit consists of primary, secondary and tertiary crushing, rod/ball mill grinding, gravity concentration, cyanide leaching, carbon-in-pulp gold recovery, stripping, electro winning and refining. A key target of 2016 drilling is on the extensions of the S vein and of the newly-discovered XMS Vein near the 1600-meter level at Hoyle Pond.
“Musselwhite mine is a fly-in/fly-out operation in northwestern Ontario, 480 kilometres north of Thunder Bay” Musselwhite, Ontario, Canada
Musselwhite- underground The agreement was completed through partnership-building and extensive discussions. It aligns the various interests in the project’s success and seeks to ensure that the Crees will receive fair and equitable financial benefits. It protects the environment while supporting the Crees’ social and cultural practices in a spirit of continued collaboration, and establishes shared responsibilities in critical issues of environmental stewardship, community development, local employment and small business development. Goldcorp hopes to use this agreement as a template for similar collaborations with indigenous communities.
Musselwhite mine is a fly-in/fly-out operation on the southern shore of Opapimiskan Lake in northwestern Ontario, Canada, 480 kilometres north of Thunder Bay. The nearest town is Pickle Lake, 103 kilometres by air to the south. The property comprises a combination of leases and mining claim units covering a total area of 17,548 hectares, entirely on traditional First Nations land. Since achieving its first commercial production in April of 1997, Musselwhite mine has produced over three million ounces of gold. For 2015, gold production was 270,300 ounces. Gold production for 2016 is expected to be between 240,000 and 260,000 ounces.
Porcupine, Ontario, Canada
The Porcupine operation is located in Timmins, Ontario, one of the world’s great gold producing camps. In 2015, Porcupine marked its 105th year of continuous mine and mill operations and has produced more than 67 million ounces of gold since production began. For 2015, gold production totaled 274,300 ounces. Production during 2016 is expected to be between
A Porcupine employee •
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“Porcupine marked its 105th year of continuous mine and mill operations in 2015, and has produced more than 67 million ounces of gold since production began”
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Porcupine Dome Mine
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• Goldcorp “A company-wide commitment to responsible mining is at the core of every business decision. The company aims to be responsible, respected and welcomed, everywhere it does business”
RLGM Water Testing
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McELROY McELROY
CONTACT JOSEPH PIMENTEL
Los Filos Plant Site
Operations in Latin America
decrease to between 520,000 and 580,000 ounces as a result of mining in a lower-grade portion of the pit; production of silver is expected to total 22 to 24 million ounces; zinc production is expected to total 375 to 400 million pounds and lead production is expected to total 145 to 155 million pounds. Peñasquito is Mexico’s largest gold producer, consisting of two open pits - Peñasco and Chile Colorado - containing gold, silver, lead and zinc. The pyrite leach plant (“PLP”) project at Peñasquito envisages leaching a pyrite concentrate from the zinc flotation circuit tails to recover gold and silver that would otherwise report to the tailings facility at Peñasquito. An investment decision on PLP is expected by mid-2016, which if approved, is expected to be in production by the end of 2018. Peñasquito is an open-pit mine that employs flotationand-grinding processing, in two 50,000-tonne/day sulphide processing lines and a 30,000-tonne/day, high pressure grinding roll (HPGR) circuit.
Peñasquito, Mexico
Los Filos – Mexico
Ore is extracted from two main zones in the mine: the PQ Deeps and the Lynx zone, with minor input from the Esker and Moose zones. Exploration drilling continues to expand the northern extent of the PQ Deeps and explore the Upper Lynx area, while looking for new ore sources to the west of the existing workings. Musselwhite’s processing includes crushing, grinding, leaching by cyanidation, carbon in pulp recovery and electrowinning, to achieve an overall recovery of approximately 96 percent. A key target of 2016 exploration efforts will be extending the West Limb, where six mineralized horizons have been established. Exploration in 2016 will also follow-up on the Upper Lynx zone where two mineral horizons are both open to the north for further expansion.
The Peñasquito mine in 2015 delivered record gold production of 860,300 ounces. Gold production for 2016 is expected to
Musselwhite control room 18
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The Los Filos operation consists of two open-pit mines – Los Filos and El Bermejal – and one underground mine. The openpit operation began commercial production in January 2008. Gold production at Los Filos in 2015 totaled 272,900 ounces. During 2015, Los Filos commenced a study to perform a detailed assessment of its operating options, including the update of the block model with additional drill data. The study was completed in the fourth quarter of 2015 and the findings were incorporated into an updated Los Filos life of mine plan. As a result of these findings and the change in long-term metal price assumptions, recoverable ounces and the associated future after-tax cash flows decreased which resulted in a reduction of the estimated recoverable value of Los Filos and a shortened mine life. The open-pit and underground mines share processing
• Goldcorp facilities, and the ore is processed with Static Heap Leaching. The mine production capacity is in the average of 70,000 tonnes of ore per day, with a throughput capacity of 80,000 cubic meters of pregnant solution at the process facilities.
Los Filos Pit High Wall
Marlin – Guatemala
Marlin mine has been in production since late 2005, operating as both an open pit and underground mine. The mine produced its one-millionth ounce of gold in 2010. Open pit operations ceased in early 2012 as the final, higher-grade portion of the open pit was mined, and the mine is now an underground operation only, but successful exploration activities in the area indicate the potential for extending the life of this highly productive mine. In 2015, the mine produced 168,600 ounces of gold. Until 2012, Marlin’s open pit operation employed a conventional loader/truck cycle, producing approximately 25,000 total tonnes per day. Underground operations employ mechanized cut-and-fill and long hole stoping mining, with underground loading equipment feeding haul trucks that transport the ore to the surface via ramps. Production from underground operations is now roughly 3,200 ore tonnes per day. Ore is processed in a conventional crushing, grinding and milling circuit. Marlin also has a tailing storage facility, a waste rock storage area and various ancillary installations. Since 2012, a filter plant was commissioned to dry the tailings from the mill. The dry tailings are being used to backfill the pit. Any kind of mining carries with it risk, financial and human. Goldcorp recently experienced a serious accident at its Marlin mine, when a worker became trapped underground after an unexpected fall-of-rock. Goldcorp immediately dispatched
first responders, but tragically, rescue efforts were unsuccessful. The company is fully cooperating with relevant authorities and mining operations at Marlin remain suspended while the investigation is underway. The company is committed to reviewing safety procedures to ensure safety remains the highest priority across all of its operations.
Pueblo Viejo, Dominican Republic
One of the world’s largest gold mines, Pueblo Viejo is located in the Dominican Republic, approximately 100 kilometres northwest of the capital city of Santo Domingo. Goldcorp holds a 40% interest, with the mine operator Barrick Gold Corporation owning the larger 60% interest. Pueblo Viejo is one of the largest gold assets in the world. With proven and probable gold reserves of 14.93 million
Marlin Spillway
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“One of Goldcorp’s newest mines, Cerro Negro poured first gold on 25 July 2014 and achieved commercial production on 1 January 2015”
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Inside the Eureka vein- Cerro Negro
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Miners inside Eureka vein- Cerro Negro
ounces, Goldcorp’s interest represents 5.97 million ounces (as of 31 December 2015). First gold production was achieved in August 2012 with commercial production declared in January 2013. Production to Goldcorp’s account for 2015 totalled 381,700 ounces of gold and estimated production for 2016 is forecasted between 400,000 and 440,000 ounces of gold.
Cerro Negro, Argentina
One of Goldcorp’s newest mines, Cerro Negro poured first gold on 25 July 2014 with commercial production achieved on 1 January 2015. Gold production for 2015 totalled 507,400 ounces and for 2016 is expected to be between 475,000 and 525,000 ounces. Cerro Negro is a high-grade gold mine located in the Santa Cruz province of Argentina. It contains several high-grade vein structures, including the Mariana Central, Mariana Norte, San Marcos and Eureka. Cerro Negro was acquired in 2010 and since then the gold reserves and resources have nearly doubled, and new discoveries support expectations that Cerro Negro will be a long-lived, high quality asset with low production costs. Cerro Negro’s ideal physical setting and easily accessible veins will result in near-term, cash flow-accretive gold production. The property contains a large, very prospective land package, with a rich network of near-surface gold veins.
in the modern era. The operation’s ownership structure is 50% Glencore Xstrata (the operator), 37.5% Goldcorp, and 12.5% Yamana. During 2015, the mine plan for Alumbrera was revised which eliminated the planned stripping of phases 13 and 14 in the Alumbrera pit in the fourth quarter of 2015. This allowed the operation to focus on the higher grade ore mined in phase 11 and the Bajo el Duazno open pit. Completion of mining in the Bajo el Duazno pit is anticipated by the end of 2016, with the mine entering care and maintenance in 2017.
Alumbrera, Argentina
A 37.5% owned project, the Alumbrera mining operation is one of the world’s largest and lowest-cost gold and copper operations. Since commercial production began in February 1998, Alumbrera has been an important operation during Goldcorp’s growth. For 2015, gold production totalled 73,700 ounces. Located in northwestern Argentina, in an area that has been renowned for its veins of copper and gold since at least the 19th century, Alumbrera has been the country’s largest mining development 22
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Coke shackCerro Negro
Goldcorp Cerro Negro employees installing plant structure.
• Goldcorp Development projects in Latin America Camino Rojo – Mexico
The Camino Rojo gold/silver project is an advanced-stage district project near the Peñasquito mine. An ongoing prefeasibility study is evaluating Camino Rojo as a supplemental source of feed to the existing Peñasquito facility. The study is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Project Corridor, Chile
Development projects, North America Borden Gold, Canada
The Borden project near Chapleau in Ontario is approximately 160 kilometres west of Goldcorp’s Porcupine mine. The project has the potential to further enhance the long-term economics of Porcupine. A pre-feasibility study is underway to determine the optimization of a combined Borden-Porcupine operation and is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2017.
“As an advanced exploration project, Cochenour is an important part of Goldcorp’s future plans in the Red Lake district” An advance exploration permit is expected to be received by late 2016. The permit would allow for the construction of a ramp into the deposit and the extraction of a 30,000 tonne bulk sample and provide an underground platform for exploration drilling of a deposit that still remains open at depth and laterally.
On 24 November 2015, Goldcorp and Teck Resources Limited announced the completion of the previously announced agreement to combine their respective El Morro and Relincho projects into a 50/50 joint venture with the interim name of Project Corridor. “Combining these two neighbouring assets is a common sense approach that allows us to consolidate infrastructure to reduce costs, reduce the environmental footprint and provide greater returns over either standalone project,” said Don Lindsay, President and CEO of Teck. “Through Project Corridor, we will work to establish meaningful relationships with the community, indigenous peoples and other stakeholders that will help guide the project’s development and create greater value for all parties.” “The combination of El Morro and Relincho is consistent with our focus on maximizing value from our asset portfolio,” said Chuck Jeannes, President and CEO of Goldcorp. “We now have an improved development approach that we expect to significantly decrease initial capital requirements and increase financial returns, while ensuring the project is developed in partnership with our neighbours, creating lasting benefits for residents in the region and our shareholders.” The impact of mining continues long after a mine closes, and as mentioned above, so, too does the commitment of Goldcorp to the lives it affects. The San Martin mine in Central Honduras, approximately 90 kilometres north of the capital city of Tegucigalpa, is witness to that. San Martin commenced reclamation and closure activities following the last full year of commercial production in 2007. In 2008, Goldcorp donated the mine camp to the San Martin Foundation. Today, chickens, pigs and cattle are farmed on the 1,500 hectare former mine site, providing functioning ecosystems, sustainable jobs and skills training to the people of the Valle de Siria. The former camp facilities have been remodelled to become a hotel for ecotourism, complete with a pool, sports field, nature trails and a training centre for the community: a sustainable business that has created local jobs and new investment in the area.
Cochenour, Canada
An advanced exploration project, Cochenour is an important part of Goldcorp’s future plans in the Red Lake district. The focus during 2015 was on drilling and development to increase the level of confidence in the interpretation of the deposit. Initial development since 2015 has shown deviations of the geology and structures from the initial interpretation. The primary target of 2016 exploration is gaining comfort in the Upper Main zone primary shoot through tight spaced drilling, ramping and development. A new program of drilling, sampling and test mining is expected to be designed by the middle of 2016. •
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Dos Santos International has over 35 years of experience in the material handling industry. The Dos Santos flagship system and invention, the Sandwich Belt High Angle Conveyor, is the most proven, reliable and economical high angle conveying system, transporting material at the highest of rates. Dos Santos International also offers the in-house conveyor analysis software, ExConTec, which reflects the philosophy of going beyond the perceived limits of conventional conveying. DSI is the ideal supplier and consultant for a wide range of conveyor projects.
Dos Santos International 531 Roselane Street NW Suite 810 Marietta, Georgia 30060 USA Phone: +1 770 423 9895 Text: +1 916 US SNAKE http://www.dossantosintl.com
Dos Santos International Goldcorp and Dos Santos International Partnering in Innovation at Los Filos Located in the Nukay mining district of central Guerrero State, Mexico, the Los Filos gold mining project is one of the largest openpit gold mines in the country. Los Filos is a heap leach operation. The ore size is reduced at the crushing plant and then hauled to the valley where it is stacked on engineered pads. The ore is sprayed with a chemical solution that extracts and absorbs the gold as it trickles through the ore. To regulate seepage rate, an agglomerate (cement) is mixed into the ore to optimize ore exposure to the leaching solution. Ultimately, the solution is directed to the plant where the gold is precipitated out. 26
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Figure 5: Looking down the Overland Path: From the tail of TB27, the agglomerating conveyor
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• Dos Santos International
n 2008, the Los Filos mine began operation of a new conveyor line from the mine crusher to the leach pads. The haulage path went down a mountain side to the leach pads that were built in the valley below. Rather than confronting the steep slope of the mountainside, a glory hole ore pass from the hill top was connected with a tunnel from the toe of the hill. The glory hole served to store the ore. A feeder at the bottom then metered the material onto the tunnel conveyor that led to a rotary agglomerating drum. The agglomerating drum mixed the ore with the special powder. The ore mix was then conveyed to a spreading system on the leach pads. That conveying system experienced material flow problems right from the start, especially during heavy rains. The sticky ore tended to plug up the ore pass. Geological instability ultimately collapsed the ore pass, putting the transport system out of service only four months into its operation. This required a return to ore haulage entirely by trucks at a tremendous cost premium. At that time M3 Engineering of Tucson, AZ, USA, was contracted to develop a new conveying path to the leach pads. As they were aware of DSI Sandwich Belt High Angle Conveyors from previous exchanges, M3 found the perfect solution – a downhill DSI Sandwich Belt High Angle Conveyor that would begin at the top of the collapsed ore pass, then run down the hill to the toe at the tunnel exit. This would allow continued use of the other existing conveyors. After the Goldcorp professionals did their due diligence, including a visit to the Dos Santos Sandwich Belt High Angle conveyors at Empire Mine, in Palmer Michigan, USA, they decided to buy a DSI downhill high angle conveyor. The order was booked in February of 2009. That system, depicted in figure 1, was to have impressive characteristics – 1000 t/h design rate with a vertical drop distance of 113 meters. The 1220 mm (48”) wide belts would travel 311 meters at 2.5 m/s along the 37 degrees inclined slope to discharge over an ore storage pile at the bottom of the hill. Twin 200 horsepower drives would operate as generators under load, feeding power into the mine grid. Concerns with geological instability along the high angle path remained. While DSI was beginning the engineering of the new downhill Sandwich Belt Conveyor, Goldcorp geologists continued investigations into the stability of the mountain-side. After less than a month in engineering, Goldcorp declared that the hill was not sufficiently stable and they cancelled the DSI high angle conveyor order. M3 immediately began work on developing an overland conveying path to the leach pads by following the already developed truck haulage ramps. Because DSI already had the high angle conveyor order, they petitioned Goldcorp to convert that into an order for a DSI overland conveyor system. Goldcorp insisted that the new haulage system must go out to competitive bidding as it was required by company policy. They encouraged Dos Santos International to make their best offering for the new overland conveyor system. After the path was developed, an inquiry was sent out for bid to qualified companies. The inquiry concept included ten conveyor flights. The first three were elevating flights and the remainder were downhill and decisively regenerative. Whereas all other conveyors were of 914mm (36”) belt width the first downhill flight was a slow moving 1220mm (48”) wide conveyor with five trips along the length. This was a Goldcorp innovation that made the wide, slow, tripped conveyor an agglomerator, eliminating the need for an agglomerating drum. The special powder would be added to the ore at the end of the last elevating conveyor. Then, the mix would tumble through the •
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Figure 3: Looking up the Overland Path: From TB25 to TB26
multiple trips and transfers en route to the leach pads. Dos Santos International made its best effort in proposing the DSI overland conveying system including improvements to the overland concept in the inquiry. A modular system of terminals and table type modular intermediate structure was developed for best economics and versatility. Additionally, the possibility of further improvements was considered by amalgamating sequential flights with horizontal curves. Because time did not allow development of this additional advantage in the short time allowed for quoting, the proposal was submitted for the ten flight system. The Dos Santos International proposal included two important commitments solely for the customer’s benefit: 1. DSI would maximize use of the conveying equipment and structure, already at the mine, from the collapsed and abandoned through-the-hill conveying system. 2. DSI would investigate the amalgamation of sequential flights with horizontal curves as the first order of business in engineering. The favorable findings would be implemented and the savings credited to Goldcorp. In June, Dos Santos International was awarded the overland conveyor system as a ten flight system. Both commitments were fulfilled, reaping substantial cost savings to Goldcorp. In the former case, the first conveyor (TB25 shown in figures 2 and 3) was engineered to use all existing conveyor equipment and structure. Though the arrangement is entirely new, the equipment and support steel are reused from the previous system. The head drive terminal is the only portion of TB25 that contains new equipment. New steel at the support bents, minor framing, and a new discharge chute make up only a small portion of the total structure. In the latter case, investigation over the first two weeks determined that three sets of two sequential flights could be 30
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Figure 1: What could have been – Original design for the DSI GPS
amalgamated for a significant savings to the customer. The last two elevating flights were thus amalgamated into one horizontally curving conveyor (TB26 shown in figures 2, 3 and the cover image) and the four downhill flights after the agglomerating conveyor were amalgamated into two horizontally curving conveyors (TB28 shown in figures 2 and 6 and TB29 shown in figure 2). Thus the system was reduced to a seven flight system and a credit of US$180,000.00 was issued to Goldcorp, reflecting the savings in the DSI engineering and supply. Of course, this generated additional capital savings in construction and recurring savings in both power consumption and wear and tear. The overland conveying path is predominantly downhill. While this presents the normal controlled starting and stopping problems, it also presents great savings opportunities. The downhill flights are decisively regenerative. The drive motors, now generators when running loaded, feed electrical
• Dos Santos International
Figure 2: Conveying on the Edge: From left to right, the multi-flight overland system follows the haul road on the edge of a steep drop-off
Figure 6: Looking Down TB28
power back into the grid which powers other mine equipment. These carefully engineered conveyors are equipped with variable frequency drives to ensure operation at maximum efficiency. The Los Filos mine has been Mexico’s largest gold producer since 2009, with 5,470,000 ounces of proven and probable reserves, 2,200,000 ounces measured and 3,820,000 ounces inferred as of December 2010. The Dos Santos International overland conveyor system went into operation in 2009. This innovative and productive system has operated reliably and efficiently for the last seven years delivering significant savings to Goldcorp when compared to the previous truck-only haulage system. It will continue to deliver success for many years to come. Dos Santos International is pleased to be a part of the success of Goldcorp at the Los Filos Mine.
For more information on Dos Santos International, visit www.dossantosintl.com
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Level Measurement Difficulties? We Can Help.
Experience maintenance free operation with HAWK’s advanced measurement technologies! Our sales and support team are here to help. Contact us to learn how we can provide solutions for your level measurement needs at 978-304-3000 or info@hawkmeasure.com.
Hawk Measurement I 96 Glenn Street, Lawrence, MA 01843, USA I www.hawkmeasure.com
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News in Brief South African based APT
(Appropriate Process Technologies) is looking for distributors to help expand its territory. APT designs and builds modular mineral process plants, catering for a bouquet of minerals. The objective is to offer small, easy to locate and run, high efficiency machines and plant that can be placed on high grade resources. APT welcomes enquiries from active, enthusiastic distributors for its small scale equipment range. www.aptprocessing.com * * *
Timetric surveyed 100 mine
managers in Australia about their spending plans for 2016. Iron ore respondents unanimously predicted expenditure to rise or stay the same, while many from the coal sector (38%) and precious metals (25%) predicted a reduction. Only 8% of surface operations plan to cut their spending, while 31% expect to increase their investment in 2016. In contrast, 35% of underground mines expect no changes in expenditure over the next year, with the majority expecting it to be stable. * * *
Australian technology company RCT has launched the ControlMaster
Independent Guidance system, for all types of underground loaders and trucks. Steering, braking and speed are automatically controlled by the system, and laser technology keeps the machine on the centre path of the drive, avoiding walls and other major obstacles. Independent Guidance has been deployed on several mine sites for trials, becoming a permanent solution after evident gains in productivity. * * *
The race to harvest minerals from
asteroids has already begun after the United States Congress passed the Space Resource Exploration and Utilization Act, allowing space firms to keep any resources they obtain from outer space. A major concern is that only countries with the capabilities of launching mining missions will reap the benefits, contravening a number of treaties and international laws.
Richmont Mines reports record quarter at Island Gold R ichmont Mines reports that its Island Gold Mine in Ontario has delivered a record quarter that contributed to a strong consolidated first quarter production of 32,369 gold ounces and cash costs of C$806 per ounce (US$587 per ounce). Production from the Island Gold Mine was a record 26,589 ounces of gold, an increase of 147% over the same period in 2015 and an 87% increase over the prior quarter. Cash costs for the first quarter were C$674 per ounce (US$491 per ounce), significantly below guidance estimates and a 52% decrease over the prior year period and a 34% decrease over the prior quarter. Underground productivity for the quarter averaged 853 tonnes per day. The development of the main ramp continues as planned reaching a vertical depth of 770 metres at quarter end. “We are pleased to report another record quarter, which was driven by higher grades and improving productivity from the Island Gold Mine, “said Renaud Adams, President and CEO. “As we continue to better understand this asset at depth, we are increasingly confident that there remains significant potential for
expansion. “We are currently reviewing the remaining 2016 mine plan, which includes development and stope mining in lower-grade zones and a 3 week mill shutdown in the second half of the year at Island Gold for a planned electrical upgrade, as previously disclosed in the February 11, 2016 press release.” Updates on the exploration drilling program continue to demonstrate the significant potential to grow production and increase mine life both laterally above the 860 metre level, which could support an upgrade to 1,150 tonnes per day, as well as the vertical extension below the 1,000 metre level. One additional directional drill (for a total of 4 drills) has been added to support the deep exploration program below 1,000 metre level but also to expand the drilling program in order to test the structure to the west of the current target between the 1,000 metre and 1,500 metre levels. It is expected that the exploration drilling program will be completed by June 2016, at which time the corporation will review all drilling results and subsequently provide an update on additional drilling programs planned for the second half of the year.
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• News
Bacteria provide clue to locating platinum deposits
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The discovery of the role played by bacteria in the formation of platinum in surface environments could have major implications for the future exploration of the highly prized metal
ustralian scientists, led by the University of Adelaide in South Australia, have linked specialised bacterial communities found in biofilms on grains of platinum group minerals at three separate locations around the world. Dr Frank Reith, senior lecturer in the University of Adelaide’s School of Biological Sciences and visiting researcher at CSIRO Land and Water said finding new deposits of platinum group metals was becoming increasingly difficult due to a limited understanding of the processes that affected the way they were cycled through surface environments. “This research reveals the key role of bacteria in these processes. This improved bio geochemical understanding is not only important from a scientific perspective but we hope will also lead to new and better ways of exploring for these metals,” said lead researcher Dr Reith. “One of the difficulties with finding deposits of platinum is that we need to understand the exploration signals that we get and we don’t know exactly how platinum travels in earth surface environments and what the mechanisms are that are involved. What we were trying to understand in this study is that biological mechanisms can be involved in the transformation of that platinum in certain environments.” Dr Reith said the research could allow the development of a different style of exploration using biological entities and a technique known as next generation sequencing. He said searching for specific micro-organisms associated with platinum group metals could lead exploration companies directly to new deposits under the surface. “It is very similar to when police look for a suspect. They find a cigarette butt somewhere and extract the DNA and then they
get a fingerprint and they can match it to the suspect. In very simple terms we can do the same with microbial communities in soil sediments,” Dr Reith said. “If there’s interest from industry we can then extend that research into finding tools for exploration.” The study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, investigated platinum group elements from Brazil, Colombia and the Australian state of Tasmania. The researchers, including groups from Monash University, Mineral Resources Tasmania, University of Queensland, University of Western Australia, RMIT and the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, Germany, found live bacterial biofilms on mineral grains from all three sites using scanning electron microscopy. These biofilms had been suggested previously but were never before shown to exist. They also showed that the mineral grains found at the Brazil site were bio-organic in origin, further supporting the role of the bacteria in the secondary formation of platinum grains. The work builds on more than 10 years of research in gold, which has uncovered the role of micro-organisms in driving the Earth’s gold cycle Platinum group metals, especially platinum and palladium, are highly prized noble metals used in a wide range of industrial processes. South Africa and Russia are the two biggest platinum producing nations. Ensuring adequate supplies is challenging and enhanced exploration is considered a global priority. Platinum is among the rarest and most expensive metals in the world, regularly topping US$1000 an ounce and at times is pricier than gold. •
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What can United Mining Rentals offer your company? At a time when fiscal responsibility is becoming exponentially more important, in an industry where the highest safety standards and productivity must be maintained, providing your operation with the best fleet at a minimal cost is fundamental to any successful and profitable business. United Mining Rentals (UMR) has over 30 years of experience in the Mining & Tunnelling Industry and we are proud to offer rental and ownership opportunities for the full range of new Sandvik and Normet equipment. We trust you will find the product that suits your Mining or Tunnelling operation, backed by the numerous advantages associated with theUMR rental, or rent with an option to purchase models that will reduce cost of ownership and help maintain productivity.
Our full range of new Sandvik and Normet products are backed with full Factory Warranty, Technical Support, OEM Parts and a global network of local and regional OEM service centres. With such a robust range of support services, renting with UMR reduces maintenance costs and guarantees availability hence improving productivity for our customers whilst also eliminating rebuild down time. Striving to provide quality at a reasonable price, UMR offers an innovative model of flexible rental or rental/purchase options tailored to suit every kind of end user in the Tunnelling and Mining industries, allowing customers to avoid tying up capital and invest it in the future purchase of rented equipment. Our rental/purchase option offers an attractive allowance for paid rentals against pre-agreed purchase price easing upfront capital spending and is a way of investing in the ownership of the Equipment at a pre-determined date.
For all mining equipment rentals visit www.unitedminingrentals.com
EUROPE United Mining Rentals Ltd. Coolfore Road, Ardbraccan, Navan, Co. Meath, C15 KXY3, Ireland.
NORTH AMERICA United Mining Rentals Ltd. Suite 1200, 220 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5J 2W4, Canada.
Tel: +353 87 1491945 Tel: +1 647 267 8193 Email: info@unitedminingrentals.com www.unitedminingrentals.com Our philosophy at UMR is simple – Downtime costs money. This philosophy inspired our aim to provide solutions to one of the major contributors of downtime in the mining and tunnelling industries: low availability of equipment. To ensure our customers don’t experience any downtime, we offer rentals and rent to purchase plans for new Sandvik and Normet equipment on a global basis, making use of the vast network of Worldwide Service Centres provided by two of the world leaders in Mining and Tunnelling Equipment. We also offer the option of bridging units to keep our customer’s operations running smoothly until their new rental unit arrives. We recognise that each customer has different requirements so we offer very flexible terms. Our first option is rent to purchase which allows for purchase of the equipment following a minimum one year rental period with a percentage of the rental payments deductible from the pre-agreed purchase price. Another option we offer is variable term rental from a minimum of 1 year upwards allowing the customer long term rental, consisting of 2-3 years allowing the customer to return the equipment with no commitment to purchase. We also offer a “Rolling Replacement” option, which allows the customer to return equipment to UMR following a 3 year rental and replace with new equipment for another 3 year term or pre-agreed period.
RENTALS AVAILABLE: Trucks and Loaders Underground Drilling & Bolting Roadheaders Exploration & Surface Drilling Lifting & Installations Scaling & Charging Underground Logistics Spraying
Our business model is designed with Mining Companies & Tunnelling Contractors in mind, who often have short or long term contracts, as well as Start-up mining operations which may wish to defer spending capital on expensive equipment for use in another area until positive cash flow is realized. Fixed rental payments simplify budget planning, and can be 100% Tax deductible against business income. By using a reliable rental provider such as UMR for a long term rental the costs of acquiring, running and maintaining the right equipment for the job can be greatly reduced, as renting equipment can generate significant savings by avoiding depreciation, the total cost of the purchase price, and unnecessary unit and component rebuild costs. UMR Equipment comes with a managed service tailored to each customer’s requirements covering bridging units, full technical support and immediate reaction to warranty issues ensuring availability at all times. Making that vital decision whether to buy or rent is not just a matter of budget, but of business strategy. So weigh up the numbers, and make the right decision for your business.
For all mining equipment rentals visit www.unitedminingrentals.com
• News
Eyes on lithium ions
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evada Energy Metals Inc has announced the acquisition of 60 claims (approximately 1200 acres/484 hectares) in Clayton Valley, Esmeralda County, Nevada. The southern boundary of the Clayton Valley BFF1 Lithium Project lies 250 meters from Albemarle Corporation’s Silver Peak lithium mine and brine processing operations. The mine has been in operation since 1967 and remains the only brine based lithium producer in North America. It is also the location of Pure Energy Minerals’ 816,000 metric tonne Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) Inferred Resource NI 43-101 announced in July 2015. Clayton Valley’s centralized location between Las Vegas and Reno and its highways, access to power, water and labour provide excellent infrastructure for mineral exploration and development. The Clayton Valley BFF-1 Lithium Project is approximately 3.5 hours away from Tesla’s Gigafactory, which has a planned annual lithiumion battery production capacity of 35 gigawatt-hours per year by 2020. Clayton Valley is one of the few locations in the world known to contain commercial-grade lithium-enriched brine. The Valley is an internally drained closed-basin and is surrounded by mountains, hills and ridges on all sides. It contains an underground unconsolidated water bearing system (or aquifer system) which is host to lithiumenriched brines and is contained by the surrounding rock.
According to a new report by Allied Market Research
titled World Lithium-Ion Battery Market: Opportunities and Forecasts, 2015-2022 - the global lithium-ion battery market is expected to generate revenue of $46.21 billion by 2022. The automotive sector is expected to witness the highest growth during the forecast period owing to rising demand for electric/hybrid vehicles. Today’s active companies in the lithium space with current developments of importance are Nevada Energy Metals Inc, Chemical & Mining Co. of Chile Inc, Tesla Motors Inc, Albemarle Corporation and FMC Corporation.
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ypress Development Corp has acquired a 100% interest in the 1280 acre Clayton Valley Lithium Brine Project in Esmeralda County, Nevada. The project is located on the south flank of Angel Island, immediately southeast of the Albemarle Silver Peak lithium brine mine. The acquired claims share their western boundary with placer claims controlled by Pure Energy Minerals. The Albemarle Silver Peak Mine is the only operating brine based lithium mine in North America. The Silver Peak area is one of the oldest mining areas in Nevada, having produced substantial amounts of silver, gold and other minerals. The Silver Peak Mine began operations in 1967 to mine lithium by low cost evaporation ponds and has produced lithium continuously since then. Given the high grade nature of the lithium contained in these claystones, Cypress has begun initial bench scale testing of the feasibility of extracting the lithium directly from the claystones. Its Phase 1 January 2016 initial sampling program returned the highest reported assay result for lithium in claystone known by the company to be publicly reported in Clayton Valley, Nevada. A Phase 2 surface sampling program is underway which will better define the extent of the near surface lithium mineralization. The first sample group has been submitted to ALS Chemex in Reno, Nevada and Cypress is awaiting the assay results.
Chilean chemicals firm Chemical & Mining Co. of Chile has entered into a joint venture with Canadian junior miner Lithium Americas to develop a lithium project in Argentina, at a time when demand and prices for the key battery ingredient are rocketing. The JV will immediately move forward with an updated feasibility study for the CauchariOlaroz lithium project near the Chilean and Bolivian borders. The study will examine the economic feasibility of a project with annual output of 40,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent, they said. •
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Reduce fatigue & distraction events. Save lives.
Seeing Machines’ Driver Safety System (DSS) is proven to dramatically reduce driver fatigue & distraction events. Today, in over 3,000 mine-site vehicles around the world, costly downtime is minimised while safe operations are maximised. DSS supports your fatigue management plans, improving productivity and keeping your vehicle operators safe. Supported globally through the CaterpillarŽ Dealer Network, the Seeing Machines DSS will protect your people and save lives. Learn more at www.seeingmachines.com
saves lives
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• News
Heavy-duty belt cleaners solve gold mine’s carryback issues A global leader in conveyor technology has resolved excessive carryback problems on the conveyor systems of the largest gold mine in the Dominican Republic by installing several heavy duty belt cleaning systems. The Pueblo Viejo Dominicana Corporation (PVDC) – newly updated and reopened by Barrick Gold – realized the conveyor systems’ existing belt cleaners were unable to adequately address the area’s overburden. Operators observed large amounts of carryback at discharge points, causing expensive equipment failures and unscheduled downtime. Martin Engineering replaced the existing equipment with primary and secondary belt cleaners at sixteen discharge points, which increased production, reduced downtime and lowered the cost of operation. “We lost nearly $250,000 in revenue due to clogged pulleys and headers from abrasive dust and belt fouling in the first year,” explained Ed Power, general process maintenance superintendent
“The curved scraper is designed in sections, adjusted individually to conform to the belt, assuring continuous contact across the belt profile,” said Alfonso Granata, general manager of PeGran, the local dealer and service agent for Martin Engineering products. “Martin Engineering manufactures a wide range of different cleaning blades, which specifically address the chemical make-up of almost all types of conveyed bulk materials.” Sixteen Martin DT2H secondary belt cleaners accompanied the primary units to mitigate belt fouling. Attached two to three feet behind the header, the units were equipped with tungsten tipped urethane blades suited for heavy-duty applications. To avoid product loss due to fugitive material, the Martin Engineering team also installed 300 feet of ApronSeal™ Skirting. Both PeGran employees and select PVDC employees were trained by Martin Engineering on its Walk the Belt program, which takes a holistic view of the entire conveyor system.
at PVDC. “We decided to invite a team of experts from Martin Engineering to assess the problem.” Production is 365 days a year, but between April and October the area can receive as much as 72 inches (183 cm) of rain. Moisture can cause cohesion in fine clay particulates, causing it to stick to the contact surface. According to Mike Lenart, mechanical general supervisor for PVDC, “The substance had the consistency of thick toothpaste, which was also able to adhere small chunks of aggregate to the belt, causing a destructive carryback that wreaked havoc on our pulleys and headers. It was a mess.” In just two weeks, Martin Engineering replaced the existing belt scrapers with Martin QC1™ Cleaner XHD primary cleaners and DT2H™ secondary cleaners. Installers fitted them with low-adhesion urethane blades specifically designed for sticky and tacky material. The blades can endure high summer temperatures and constant production schedules with more time between replacements.
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• News
First gold pour at Eagle Mountain
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oldsource Mines Inc. completed its first gold pour on 6 March 2016 at its Eagle Mountain Gold Mine in Guyana, on the Caribbean coast of South America. Commercial production is anticipated in the second quarter of 2016, which requires achieving 80% of nameplate capacity (1,000 tonnes per day). Tailings are being retained as inventory for future reprocessing. Phase I calls for a 1,000 tonnes per day open pit gravity plant with postcommissioning and ramp up cash operating costs of US$500 to US$600 per ounce of gold. “Our first gold pour is an extraordinary and historic milestone for Goldsource,” said company president Yannis Tsitos. “This important achievement was only possible through the dedicated and experienced construction, mining and processing teams and management in both Guyana and Canada. Our immediate focus over the next several months will be to ramp up production to the designed nameplate capacity and to demonstrate that the economic
Gahcho Kué diamond mine on track for first production
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he Gahcho Kué diamond mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories is on track for first production during H2 2016. According to an update statement from JV partner Mountain Province Diamonds, the overall project is more than 87 percent complete. “We continue to make excellent progress at Gahcho Kué,” said Patrick Evans, Mountain Province President and CEO. “Key areas of focus are remaining earthworks, commissioning of the primary crusher and diamond plant, pre-stripping and stockpiling of kimberlite as well as preparations for operational readiness.” Mountain Province also announced that the Gahcho Kué Joint Venture has appointed Allan Rodel as mine general manager. Mr. Rodel joined the De Beers Group in 1997 and has held a number of senior management positions, including that of Gahcho Kué project manager since 2013.
In addition to Mr. Rodel, nine senior operational appointments have been made at Gahcho Kué, including mining manager, engineering and maintenance manager, ore processing manager and technical services manager. Evans added that the ice road deliveries to Gahcho Kué had also proceeded to plan. Mountain Province Diamonds is a 49% participant with De Beers Canada in the Gahcho Kué diamond mine, the world’s largest new diamond mine and projected to be amongst the highest margin diamond mines due to its high grade and open-pit operation. Gahcho Kué consists of a cluster of four diamondiferous kimberlites, three of which have a probable mineral reserve of 35.4 million tonnes grading 1.57 carats per tonne, for total diamond content of 55.5 million carats. The mine is expected to produce an average of 4.5 million carats a year over a 12 year mine life.
viability outlined in the PEA (effective date June 15, 2014) is achievable.” Guyana (formerly British Guiana) contains one of the most prospective, yet under-explored, gold regions in the world. It has a long history of alluvial gold production, but only recently declared itself open to foreign investment and mineral exploration after enacting the Land Tenure Act in 2004. •
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Our ambition is simple - to fundamentally change the way our industry explores for its resources. Because we believe our technology is a game changer. We invented the innovative Atomic Dielectric Resonance (ADR) scanner - a breakthrough in the exploration industry. Sending a narrow beam of energy into the ground using micro and radio waves, the beam reflected back has a fingerprint that positively identifies and maps hydrocarbons and minerals. This reduces the need for drilling lots of exploratory boreholes and can SAVE UP TO 90% OF THE COST of drilling projects. Our exploration projects have taken us around the globe in search of oil, gas, water, coal and other minerals. The company has expanded from our head office in Edinburgh in the UK to Houston in the US, Canada and Australia and we are continuing to grow our business worldwide. If you would like to talk to us about we can make your exploration projects greener, cheaper, faster, deeper and better please contact us at revolution@adrokgroup.com or visit www.adrokgroup.com
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Photo from Goldcorp
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Standard for Responsible Mining released for review
he Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) has released the second and revised draft Standard for Responsible Mining for a sixty-day review and public comment period ahead of the first-ever global certification program for industrial-scale mine sites, planned to begin in late 2016. This second draft reflects the input from over 1400 points of comment contributed by more than 70 organizations and individuals worldwide, including industry and technical experts. Additionally, in October 2015 and March 2016, IRMA conducted two field tests of the Standard for Responsible Mining to ground-truth the draft Standard through simulated mine audits in the United States and in Zimbabwe. Auditors hired by IRMA reviewed company documentation, made first-hand observations at the mine site, and conducted interviews with company representatives and other stakeholders to verify the requirements in the Standard are clear, practicable and measurable. With growing awareness and demand for ecologically and socially-responsible products, jewellers, electronics businesses and others have sought
assurances that the minerals they purchase are mined responsibly. The Standard seeks to emulate for industrialscale mine sites what has been done already with certification programmes in organic agriculture, responsible forestry and sustainable fisheries. The draft Standard for Responsible Mining is the result of ten years of collaboration between groups from the mining industry, organized labour, nongovernmental organizations, impacted communities and businesses.
“ArcelorMittal believes that, although challenging and rigorous, the Standard for Responsible Mining is possible to implement over time,” said Alan Knight, head of corporate responsibility at ArcelorMittal. “It serves as a credible multi-stakeholder tool to allow participating mines to differentiate themselves as leaders in environmental and social responsibility. We commend the addition of a scoring tool that allows mines at all levels to demonstrate continuing improvement in the areas of environmental and social responsibility.” The Standard for Responsible Mining’s best practice requirements for mining include elements such as health and safety for workers, human rights, community engagement, pollution control, mining in conflict-affected areas, rights of indigenous peoples, transparency in revenue payments from companies to governments and land reclamation once mining is done. Stakeholders and the general public are invited to participate in this next round of feedback and input. After the 5 June comment deadline, the steering committee will make another set of revisions to the draft Standard for Responsible Mining and release the final Standard in late 2016.
“IRMA’s progress represents a significant step toward a global standard in responsible mining” “We believe that using our brand to advocate for critical issues like responsible mining is one of the most important things we can do,” says Anisa Kamadoli Costa, chief sustainability officer at Tiffany & Co. “As a founding member of IRMA, working across sectors to strengthen mining standards, we believe IRMA’s progress represents a significant step toward a global standard in responsible mining.” •
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• News
BHP’s Olympic Dam
South Australia Copper Strategy aims to triple production
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he South Australian Government has launched its long-term Copper Strategy, aiming to produce and export more than $8 billion of copper a year and establish the state as one of the world’s major suppliers of the metal. South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill said the strategy set out clear pathways to help the industry triple its copper production to 1 million tonnes a year within the next two decades. “Currently South Australia hosts 68% of Australia’s copper resources within the Copper Belt – which is home to Olympic Dam, Prominent Hill, Kanmantoo and the world-class copper discovery at Carrapateena,” he said. In 2014, Australia produced around 970,000 tonnes of copper, making it the world’s sixth biggest producer behind Chile (5.75 million tonnes), China (1.76m tonnes), Peru (1.38m t), United States (1.36m t) and Congo (1.03m t). A little over a quarter of the copper mined in Australia in 2014 was sourced
Further Copper Strategy initiatives aim to: • Establish South Australia as an international copper technology and research hub, through leveraging existing copper research initiatives and programs • Identify infrastructure needs and develop innovative approaches including finding suitable water supplies and transport opportunities for current and future mines • Run copper strategy success seminars with the mining industry, researchers and service companies to share innovations, ideas, build skills and learn from experts in the field. • Develop regional approaches to changes in the copper mining industry to support transfer of skills and jobs and support new ventures in regional communities • Attract major international resource and service companies with deep mining expertise and technology.
from South Australia, helping it reach $1.9 billion in exports of the metal in 2014-15. Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis said the Government had already taken several
“South Australia hosts 68 per cent of Australia’s copper resources” early steps to implement the strategy including providing $20 million for the state’s PACE Copper initiative and $10 million towards a partnership with OZ Minerals to support innovative research into a process to improve copper-inconcentrate. “The $20 million PACE Copper initiative includes the world’s largest high-resolution airborne survey to unlock the underground riches in South Australia’s Copper Belt,” he said. •
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Have a news story or press release you would like to be considered for publication in the next Word Mining Magazine? Please contact Martin Ashcroft at martin@ogsmag.com
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ABB to supply hoists for South African diamond mine
BB is to provide four hoists for the underground expansion of De Beers’ Venetia Mine, South Africa’s largest producer of diamonds. ABB will supply one double drum hoist for personnel and material conveyance, two friction hoists for production, and one single drum hoist for service duty. ABB will provide the design, supply, manufacture, installation and commissioning of all four hoists, including hoist mechanicals, motors, and electrical drive and control, all certified to the highest safety integrity levels (SIL). This is the first time that multiple,
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turnkey large friction mine hoists are being delivered to the South African mining industry. The installation will commence in July 2018. All four hoists are due to become operational in April 2020. “With mineral deposits becoming increasingly difficult to access, increasing productivity while ensuring safety and reliability are key customer requirements,” said Roger Bailey, managing director of ABB’s Process Industries business. “ABB is the only supplier with the unique capability to design, supply, install and provide longterm service and support of entire mine
hoist systems.” Open pit mining is due to continue until 2022, and it is expected that underground mining will extend the site’s operational life into the 2040s, with the potential to deliver an estimated 94 million carats. De Beers, which is 85% owned by Anglo American, the balance by the Republic of Botswana, is sinking two new shafts adjacent to the existing open pit in order to access deeper ore reserves that cannot be reached through conventional surface mining techniques. The project represents De Beers’ biggest capital investment in South Africa.
Allison Transmission unveils new models at Bauma 2016
llison Transmission introduced its newest Off-Highway Series model, and highlighted new applications with Bell Equipment at Bauma 2016 in Munich, from 11 – 17 April. The 6630ORS fully automatic transmission is an evolution of the 6000 Off-Highway Series, offering increased durability and performance. It contains a new internal damper and updated torque converter turbine with improved vane geometry and anodized surface treatment.
the Allison 4800ORS model and B30E with the Allison 3500ORS with retarder. Allison’s booth also featured a MAN TGS 40.480 60W 6x6 mining truck with a 4500 model transmission, which was built for a construction end-user in Russia. Bauma 2016 attendees had the opportunity to see a number of Allisonequipped vehicles on display, including a Terex TR70 rigid hauler with the Allison 6620ORS and TA400 articulated hauler with the Allison 4500ORS.
With growing customer demand for articulated haulers with larger payloads, a 55-ton-capacity articulated dump truck has been developed incorporating the new Allison 6630ORS, which was also on display at Bauma 2016. Additionally, Bell Equipment showcased its first B45E with an Allison 4700ORS model, which along with its B40E and B50E models, has moved from a 6-speed to the 7-speed transmission. Bell also presented the new B60E articulated dump truck with •
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water management Improved mining efficiency through water treatment and reuse Karen Dobson, mining global business leader, Dow Energy & Water Solutions Matheus P. Paschoalino, PhD, Latin America customer application specialist, Dow Microbial Control •
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s we move toward a circular economy based on virtually no waste, with raw materials continually recycled and reused, the crucial role water plays is top of mind for corporate leaders across the globe. Shareholders expect companies to show they are pursuing strategies to minimize operational and environmental risk associated with their water usage. Balancing the increasing environmental, regulatory and social pressures with the high energy and water footprint of a mine operation is an ever-evolving challenge that directly impacts profitability. Through comprehensive water processing technologies that facilitate the reuse of mine water and promote asset protection of equipment and pipelines, companies can potentially capture more value from mining operations while striving to reduce their water footprint and reliance on freshwater resources. Comprehensive mine water operations can be categorized into three strategies—water treatment, asset protection and operations optimization—that work together to facilitate mine water reuse. Water treatment technologies, including filtration, reverse osmosis and ion exchange, allow mine water to be processed from some of the most challenging sources and can help reduce net water consumption and treat wastewater for reuse. The application of microbial control and antiscalants on assets like equipment and pipelines can help reduce downtime, lower maintenance and add longevity to these assets. These efforts can directly address the sustainability, compliance and efficiency challenges facing mining operations today.
Treating the water
Modern water treatment strategies depend on several factors including the type of ore being mined, the chemicals used in the mineral preparation and metal extraction processes, the climate, the life stage of the mine and its environmental management practices. Numerous technologies are available today to address all of the mining industry’s water management needs, including water quality, expanded water sourcing, water recycling and remediation, all while facilitating sustainable, cost-effective operations.
“Mining is ranked as the world’s second largest industrial user of water” Ion exchange, reverse osmosis (RO), nanofiltration and ultrafiltration (UF) serve as core technologies for purifying and recovering water to directly address increasing pressures from environmental regulations and sustainability goals. A coal mine in South Africa turned to Dow UF technology as a pretreatment to RO when conventional sand filters were found ineffective for treating wastewater for reuse. Dow’s UF and RO technologies help treat the coal mining wastewater for operational reuse, helping reduce overall costs and helping to avoid negative impact to nearby at-risk water sources. Dow UF technology and Dow FILMTEC™ RO elements reject particles, colloids, suspended solids, oxidized Fe/Mn and microorganisms from the wastewater, which is then transported to a nearby power station where it is demineralized with ion exchange resin technology and used as boiler feed makeup water. These technologies help provide higher and more consistent filtrate quality, increased feed and turbidity 54
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• Water Management tolerance, lower silt load and less frequent clean in place (CIP), directly lowering chemical use and extending the life of the RO membranes. This highly automated operation was found to lower maintenance and reduce the mine’s water footprint.
Protecting assets Pipes are susceptible to degradation from scale buildup as a result of mineral precipitate that forms as water flows. In mineral processing operations in particular, pipes and equipment are susceptible to the insoluble salts—calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, magnesium and silicate—that drop out of process water and solutions. These salts build up on equipment and pipes to create scale, which can restrict pipe flow and ultimately require downtime for cleaning. Antiscaling technologies can address both organic and inorganic flow assurance challenges—including prevention of build-up before it occurs and removing build-up when it does occur. Inhibitors and dispersants help prevent scale from forming, while chelating agents remove and inhibit scale deposits. In addition to scale build-up, microorganisms can grow just about anywhere water can be found. The resulting biofilm formation can then cause pipe and equipment corrosion due to microbiological induced corrosion (MIC), leading to leaks and impacting the flow of water. While microbial contamination is known to cause MIC in typical transmission pipelines of water and/or mineral slurries, most mining companies are unaware of how microbiological contamination hinders their operational efficiency, including product quality losses due to bacteria metabolites and impacts on mineral separation processes. To adhere to sustainability goals and regulations, it’s important that a microbial control program perform its job effectively, while doing no harm to people or the planet, and then ultimately go away - providing extended microbial control while resulting in minimal negative impact on the environment. Dow Microbial Control carries out advanced field diagnostics which identify contamination hot spots in a mining plant and recommends customized solutions using our Dow AQUCARTM Water Treatment Microbiocides portfolio, which can provide quick kill action as well as long term protection tailored to the needs of the process.
The power of ORE Mining is ranked as the second largest industrial user of water globally, and managing this use is critical for sustainability, and also efficiency. Dow Energy & Water Solutions’ rich history in the mining industry—coupled with its innovative advanced water treatment, antiscalant and microbial control technologies— helps increase water and energy efficiency to enable customers to extract more value. With the Power of ORE (Operational efficiency, Recovery enhancement, Environmental compliance), Dow brings a wide range of products and expertise to address a broad spectrum of mining, mineral processing and remediation challenges. Through integrated solutions, Dow can help deliver the right water quality to facilitate a reliable water supply while helping to maintain clear, efficient pipelines. By using filtration, ion exchange, and reverse osmosis technologies that can process even the most challenging mine water, integrating membrane installations that treat wastewater for reuse, and applying antiscalants and biocides that can help reduce downtime and add longevity to assets, a comprehensive water management program can increase mine efficiency and wastewater reuse, while decreasing downtime for cleaning and maintenance. •
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Hi-tech drill core library seeks to unearth discoveries O
ne of the world’s most advanced drill core reference libraries holding 130 years of mining samples has opened in South Australia. The $32.2 million South Australia Drill Core Reference Library in Adelaide holds 7.5 million metres of drill core samples from across South Australia and has the capacity to display up to 2km of cores for inspection on a series of automated conveyor belts in the main viewing area at any one time. It also features a 3D viewing room, which uses virtual reality technology to give geologists a worm’s-eye view of geology and mineral deposits under the earth’s surface. South Australian Chamber of Mines and Energy President Terry Burgess said the facility is one of the “unique core libraries in the world” and holds cores dating back more than 100 years. “When geologists drill a hole they will interpret it at the time, so the knowledge is based upon that moment and as knowledge increases some of that historical drilling can be re-addressed and reinterpreted … discoveries are going to be made in this building,” Burgess said. 56
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“It’s a huge storage of information that’s waiting to be tapped; there’s a discovery waiting to happen in the core library somewhere and it’s up to the geologists to work out what that is. It could be that there’s something that’s been drilled in the
“Discoveries are going to be made in this building” past with a core in the library that’s going to end up with a mine going forward because of a different interpretation. These analytical techniques are being developed all the time and like the 3D work that’s been done, I think we are going to get a lot of new ideas and new technologies that weren’t available before.” Exploration companies in South Australia are required by legislation to provide the Department of State Development
• Unearthing discoveries
representative samples of any core and cuttings taken during tenure. Core and cuttings are stored in the Drill Core Reference Library. The library brings together samples previously stored at four separate drill core libraries spread across South Australia. They are now kept in a massive storage warehouse featuring eight seemingly never-ending aisles that reach to the high ceiling. Hi-tech forklifts are used to fetch requested core samples to be brought to the main viewing area for inspection. The library is located in the Tonsley precinct, the site of a former Mitsubishi car manufacturing plant, which has been converted into a modern hub for high-value industries. The library is about two-thirds full with room for future samples for the next two decades. Hundreds of European-style wooden storage crates were specially manufactured at the nearby Bedford Phoenix factory for the core boxes to sit on, by workers with a disability. Burgess, who is also the Chairman of the Tonsley Steering Committee, thinks companies in the related geoscience area may relocate to Tonsley because of the library. “I’ve had some
discussions with companies that have expressed interest in relocating to Tonsley because of the proximity to the core library and they’ve got technologies that they want to use on core that may be introduced in the future,” he said. Burgess said successive South Australian governments since the 1950s had shown strong support for the mining industry in the state. “In a way this is the continuation of that support for both the mining and oil and gas sector and I think it’s appreciated by the resources sector.” South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill said drill core samples were instrumental in major mineral and energy discoveries in the state such as Olympic Dam and the Cooper Basin more than 40 years ago. “It is a one-stop-shop for industry and geoscience explorers seeking easy access to the state’s inventory of drill cores generated from historical and recent exploration efforts, enabling companies to better target potential discoveries,” he said. “It will boost exploration opportunities, unlocking the potential of South Australia’s resource wealth for many decades.” •
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TRUSTING IN TRADE Dr David Blond reflects on a lifetime in economics and observes how the same issues keep coming back to haunt us – like free trade and tariffs
I
wrote an essay for The Manufacturer magazine in July 2002, entitled In Trade We Trust or Should We Trust in Trade? Rereading it recently, I was struck by how some issues simply refuse to go away. Does this mean that we have failed to find satisfactory ways of dealing with them? If so, why? As the infamous cliché says, if you always do what you always did, you always get what you always got. Is that really where we are still, in terms of global trade and economic policy? With the United States building up to a Presidential election, and the UK holding a referendum on membership of the European Union, international trade is headline news again. ‘Trade policy’ is a term governments use to describe how they plan to interfere with the natural course of commerce, and it always has a political agenda. President Bush’s introduction of steel tariffs when I wrote the original essay continued a sequence of measures taken by previous presidents to protect key industries. We all know that economists are a rancorous bunch of academics and intellectuals who cannot even agree on the spelling of Adam Smith. Yet, a recent survey had more than 70% of economists agreeing that free trade is always better than trade protection. How so? Tariffs are supposed to be a remedy, but they rarely work as advertised. The North American market is too large for that, 58
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and it is also a global price setter. Unless the tax is high enough – 100% or more – most foreign sellers simply adjust their export prices to maintain their market share. Anti-dumping rules take too long to impose and require showing significant harm to the domestic industry, which after a few quarters of facing ruinous competition usually expires long before the President has the
“‘Trade policy’ is a term governments use to describe how they plan to interfere with the natural course of commerce” courage to impose the higher tariffs. Going to the WTO is an even more difficult task and often triggers retaliation against exports of the complaining country, sometimes in advance of the actual ruling. The WTO is actually the problem, as by design it is a body that blocks efforts by signatory governments to impose solutions unilaterally. Delays in decisions, often over years, mean that the damage to domestic companies is often fatal and the industry is lost
• Economics
forever. No wonder the world is turning against economists’ solutions for all things complicated – let free markets decide what’s best.
Is free trade always good?
Sometimes, trade friction makes better economic policy for companies and countries alike. When the yen started to appreciate in the 1980s, Japanese steel producers cut their yen based prices to maintain their dollar prices, so that exports were often loss leaders to maintain market position. Automobile manufacturers did the same. Cars sold in the US cost less than similar vehicles in Japan, but it was difficult to send a car sold in the US back to Japan because the Japanese drive on the left side of the road, meaning their domestic vehicles have right hand drive. Volkswagen was not able to protect the German car market as well as Japanese companies did theirs, so as the dollar devalued against the Deutschmark in the early 80s, VW exited the US market for nearly 10 years after finding the cost of subsidizing Americans’ purchase of Volkswagens too costly. In 1981 the US negotiated the Japanese-US auto agreement with Japanese companies, setting voluntary quotas on exports of finished vehicles of a certain size. Two things happened. Japanese companies built plants in North America (and later in Europe) and replaced their exports of smaller cars (now
built in US) with a new generation of luxury vehicles which earned higher gross margins, so the total value to Japanese exporters of the US market increased. Ultimately, Japanese parts manufacturers followed. Everyone won – US consumers and workers, and Japanese industry, too. In early 1980, US semi-conductor companies were being systematically excluded from the Japanese market through a series of non-tariff barriers and collusion. The Reagan Administration quietly imposed a series of tariffs on luxury products from Japan. The result was that Japan opened its market to American made electronics for the first time. The lesson here is that trade friction, caused by barriers rather than open markets, sometimes works to everyone’s advantage, forcing beneficial changes that may otherwise not have happened. Laissez-faire rarely works to resolve imbalances in trade and the unfair practices of trading partners. Sometimes, intervention is a better way, but it matters how it’s managed. The mining and extractive industries, including oil and gas, face perhaps the most daunting problems with respect to planning for the long term, while having to survive the short-term ups and downs caused by market failures. Unlike manufacturing companies, these two industries have certain advantages as the resources they sell can’t be duplicated everywhere. •
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ARTS CULTURE & PEOPLE
bne November 2015
Let me introduce you to QuERI How can we use QuERI? The mining and extractive industry faces challenges in light of current economic conditions worldwide, QuERI’s integrated approach to demand for primary products from coal to mining support activities and investment demand can provide the insights that only a globally integrated model of industrial activity can provide. Let us help with your forecasting and strategic insight needs. Drill down to the underlying factors driving demand for primary products. Let us develop a unique plan to provide the type of data useful for companies that need short, medium and long-term data in support of costly capital investments. Only QuERI’s integrated global model provides the links between industrial activity in one country and market demand (intermediate and final demand separately forecast) and international trade in commodities. ISIC3 Aggregates Coal Mining Metal Ore Mining Metal Ore Mining Metal Ore Mining Nonmetallic Minerals Mining Nonmetallic Minerals Mining Nonmetallic Minerals Mining Mining support activities Mining support activities Refined petroleum products Coke oven products Coke oven products Coke oven products Refined petroleum products Basic chemicals, except fertilizers Machinery for mining and construction Machinery for mining and construction
What does QuERI include? Standard packages offer access to complete databases covering more than 400 industries for 72 countries with updates quarterly. Databases cover production, market demand (intermediate, consumption, investment, and governments), imports and exports, prices, employment, and productivity. Given the complexity of the mining and extractive industry, specially developed company unique packages can be developed to provide more insightful analysis including drilling down to likely demand for key industry groups for single commodities using the integrated input-output models included in the forecasting model. Let us craft a package that meets your needs for both data and consulting.
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For further details please contact jmin@queridata.com
• Economics
All durable goods depend upon minerals extracted with prices largely determined, unlike drugs or manufactures, by available supplies and demand. Trade barriers against imports of these products are highly unlikely given their importance to the production process, but there are periodic bouts of booms and busts that make planning and investments risky. Extractive industries need good forecasts five to fifty years out, to plan investments especially for hard to reach deposits or difficult to develop oil fields.
“Minerals and oil extraction are the two most profitable or loss making industries in the world” The problem today comes from the misallocation (due to permissive trade policies encouraged by WTO rules against discrimination) of primary processing in a few centers that are prone to slowdown and over capacity. Companies selling extractive commodities assume that demand will remain strong because their sources of supply are so limited. Thus the over concentration of iron ore in Brazil and Australia, combined with the over concentration of iron and steel primary metals production in China, can lead to a bust in exports when this over capacity is recognized. Given the uneven nature of business collapse—usually sudden,
unexpected, and damaging to the region—markets tend to over react, as they did when they sent iron ore prices down and now back up, as traders start to assess the true nature of the boom and bust in the market for the ores. It is this boom and bust cycle, this shuttering and reopening of facilities, that makes minerals and oil extraction the two potentially most profitable or loss making industries in the world. Yet without continuous renewal of investments in this sector, despite changes in technologies and regulations, global economic growth would stagnate. In 1972 the Club of Rome, an international think-tank, published its Limits to Growth report, suggesting the world would run out of resources quicker than it could find them. Its second report was a bit more optimistic, suggesting the catastrophes envisioned in the first report could be avoided. All of these early studies assumed that we must eventually run out of physical resources – be it land for growing food or minerals and energy resources – limiting our long term potential for growth. Their pessimism was misplaced, as human invention is more powerful than limits to resources. New reserves can be tapped, but they will not be unless we can place the world on a more sure and even footing, to allow better planning. Until that time, then the extractive industries will remain some of the most risky ventures for companies and yet also the most essential to continuing human progress. There is no simple answer to the riddle posed by my original title. We are integrated with the world in ways that Adam Smith could not imagine. There is no going back, but there is also no need to go forward with a blind faith in the sanctity of economic theory over common sense. •
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Expander system The long term, cost-effective solution to pivot wear
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nybody who has owned or operated equipment will be aware of the problem of pivot wear. When a straight pin is installed in a pivot, no matter how close the initial tolerance is, there’s bound to be some movement between the pin and the lug ear hole. Over time, this movement causes wear, which commonly turns what was a round hole slightly oblong. Eventually, this pivot wear will compromise the functionality and safety of the equipment, necessitating repair. 62
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In the past, the only repair method available was welding and line boring to bring the hole in the pivot lug back to its original diameter and tolerance. The problem with welding and line boring, beyond the high cost and significant downtime, is that it’s only a temporary solution. The wear problem will repeat itself, meaning another weld and line bore will be required at some point. This is a pattern that will continue for the life of the machine.
“When you torque the fasteners, the tension washers push the expansion sleeves up the tapered part of the pin, thereby locking the system into the lug ears and eliminating the movement that causes pivot wear. Problem solved – once and for all.” The Expander® System is an alternative repair solution for pivot wear. It’s usually cheaper and faster than welding and line boring, but most importantly, it’s a permanent solution – not a stopgap measure. It’s a one-time repair that essentially lasts for
• Expander System
Compared to welding and line boring – the traditional method of dealing with pivot wear – Expander System is usually cheaper, faster and can be installed in the field, which minimizes downtime. More importantly, it’s also a permanent fix designed to last for the life of the machine.
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No More Line Boring
®
The Expander®System installs directly into worn pivots without the need for costly welding and line boring – even if holes are worn oval. Each assembly is designed to fit your specific machine make, model and position. The assembly pin-body is tapered at both ends, and when the fasteners are tightened, the tension washers force the expansion sleeves into the worn lug holes. The sleeves conform with the wear pattern to permanently eliminate the wear problem, so you get a perfect fit every time. Stop endlessly replacing pins, and opt for a long-term solution that will expand your bottom line – The Expander®System.
See how it works
Contact Expander today to find the perfect-size pins for your mining equipment.
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• Expander System
Expander System eliminates pivot wear by locking in place a tapered pin through the use of slotted expansion sleeves.
the life of the machine. “The standard expansion system consists of an assembly including a pin body that’s tapered at both ends, two slotted expansion sleeves, two tension washers and two fasteners,” explained company President Roger Svensson. “When you torque the fasteners, the tension washers push the expansion sleeves up the tapered part of the pin, thereby locking the system into the lug ears and eliminating the movement that causes pivot wear. Problem solved – once and for all.”
“To demonstrate our confidence in the product, we offer a 10-year, 10,000-hour warranty” Svensson founded Expander System in 1986. Soon after, the company was awarded the Nobel Prize for Innovation and Development. Expander System has been granted numerous
patents in the years since, as it continually works to improve the product. “To demonstrate our confidence in the product, we offer a 10-year, 10,000-hour warranty on the locking mechanism of Expander System,” says Svensson. “But based on years of field testing and results from end users, we fully expect it to last much longer than 10,000 hours, even in the most abrasive environments.” The Expander System is usually sold as an aftermarket part, but major machine manufacturers also use it as a factory “firstfit” OEM part for construction, mining, forestry and offshore oil and gas rig equipment. The products fit, or can be custommade to fit, every machine in the world – from the smallest to the largest, and any make, model or manufacturer.
For more information, a dealer locator or ordering instructions, visit www.ExpanderSystem.com •
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newmont mining corporation
gold star With a hundred year legacy, Newmont has become one of the world’s leading gold producers with operations on five continents, and also an industry leader in safety and sustainability.
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F
ounded in 1921, the company has been publicly traded since 1925. Adopting its current name in 1940, Newmont Mining Corporation is one of a select few companies to be listed continuously on the New York Stock Exchange since that time. Now headquartered in Colorado, Newmont has approximately 28,000 employees and contractors, with operations in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Peru, Indonesia and Ghana. 68
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• Newmont Mining “Colonel William Boyce Thompson named the company Newmont after New York and his home state Montana”
A century of growth
Newmont has grown over the past century into the industry giant it is today. When mine promoter and financier Colonel William Boyce Thompson decided to create a company in 1916 to handle his larger private acquisitions – including oil and gas and mining interests – he named it the Newmont Company after New York, where he made his money, and Montana, where he grew up. The early portfolio included interests in coal, copper, lead and zinc. Newmont steadily grew by acquisition and diversification, often through joint ventures with other well-established companies. Renamed Newmont Mining Corporation in 1925, today Newmont’s portfolio includes significant operations in North America, South America, Asia, Australia and Africa.
Exploration and production
Searching for gold is a complex, scientific and time-intensive process. With odds of only one in 3,000 discoveries leading to mine development, and only 10 percent of the world’s gold
deposits containing enough gold to mine, exploration can be wearisome and expensive. While gold is found throughout the world at concentrations of between two and four parts per billion, mining companies need to discover areas that contain 2,000 to 3,000 parts per billion to be profitable. So how do Newmont’s exploration teams locate future large-scale projects? The first step is prospecting, but with veins of gold typically spanning just a few feet in width, and curving along the Earth’s geography, it is extremely difficult to pinpoint an area of exploration among thousands of square miles of land. Obviously, it makes sense to start in areas known to contain gold, but there are nearly 900 such locations in the world to choose from. Ideally, it is best to start looking in areas less explored, but Newmont also seeks exploration partners and/ or acquires junior mining companies to expedite the process. Several methods are used to reduce the size of land to explore: • Evaluation of the land’s geology • Analysis of the geochemistry of soil sediment and water • Commissioning of airborne geophysics surveys to record the electrical and magnetic current in the crust below. Once a target area has been identified, and geological, geophysical and geochemical data indicate a high probability of a deposit, drilling is conducted. Drilling helps to evaluate the type and grade of minerals in the ore. Another way Newmont samples is through trenching, which hugs the surface and is carried out by backhoes or bulldozers. As crews drill, they mark the exact location and depth of each sample taken. Samples are then sent to an accredited lab, which identifies the type of minerals and grade of gold within them. Once information is back from the lab, those findings are supplemented with geologic, geochemical and geophysical data. Understanding the local geology is a very important part of the process, both economically and environmentally. The geology affects mining, processing and the ways in which waste rock, tailings and water are managed. It is also an important aspect of rehabilitation plans. Newmont’s 2016 attributable exploration budget is approximately $185 million. Of this amount, the company expects to spend about 45% in North America, 15% in South America, and the rest split between Asia Pacific, Africa and other locations. Of the total attributable exploration budget, Newmont expects to spend approximately 75% on near mine and brownfields exploration activities, with the balance allocated to greenfields programs.
Global presence
Historically, Newmont focused its operations and exploration within North America, but the company’s success has inevitably led to global expansion and today Newmont •
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“The Kalgoorlie mine in Western Australia, commonly referred to as ‘the Super Pit,’ has produced more than 50 million ounces of gold in 30 years”
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• Newmont Mining
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Working at the Kalgoorlie mine, Australia
“Mining companies need to discover areas that contain 2,000 to 3,000 parts per billion to be profitable” has mining operations in both North and South America, Australasia, and in Africa. Newmont has been pouring gold in Nevada for approximately 50 years along a 100-mile corridor in the northern part of the state. Its Nevada properties operate as an integrated unit and together they boast the widest variety of processing methods of any gold mining complex in the world. This allows Newmont to maximize economic recovery of gold from a wide range of ore types and grades. In addition to gold, the operations produce silver and copper. Operations include 11 surface mines, eight underground mines and 13 processing facilities. Newmont owns or controls approximately 2.8 million acres in Nevada and operations in the state account for approximately one-third of Newmont’s worldwide gold 72
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production. Approximately 56,500 acres are used for mining and production, portions of which are reclaimed, undergoing reclamation or are undisturbed. Carlin’s integrated mining operations consist of three open pits and four underground mines. The open pits include the Emigrant pit and the Gold Quarry pit in the South end of the Carlin Trend and the Silverstar pit at the North end of the Carlin Trend. The underground mines include Leeville, which is a shaft mine, along with Chukar, Pete Bajo and Exodus, which are portal mines. Carlin produced 886,000 ounces of gold in 2015, and at December 31, 2015, reported 16.8 million ounces of gold reserves. The Phoenix property comprises the Phoenix operations and the Lone Tree operations. Phoenix is an open pit operation,
• Newmont Mining acquired through the Battle Mountain Gold merger and it began operations in 2006. Lone Tree is an open pit operation and was acquired through the Santa Fe merger and began operations in 1991. The Phoenix operations produced 205,000 ounces of gold and 46 million pounds of copper in 2015, and at December 31, 2015, reported 5.1 million ounces of gold reserves and 1,750 million pounds of copper reserves. The Twin Creeks property comprises the Twin Creeks mine and Turquoise Ridge Joint Venture. The Twin Creeks mine is an open pit mine that began operations in 1987 and was acquired through the Santa Fe merger in 1997. Newmont has a 25% interest in a joint venture with a subsidiary of Barrick Gold Corporation in Turquoise Ridge. Operations at Turquoise Ridge consist of an underground mine and Barrick is the operator of the joint venture. The Twin Creeks operation produced 471,000 ounces of gold in 2015, and at December 31, 2015, reported 5.4 million ounces of attributable gold reserves. Yanacocha is South America’s largest gold mine, located in the province and department of Cajamarca, approximately 800 kilometres northeast of Lima, Peru. Yanacocha’s operations are situated between 3,500 and 4,100 meters above sea level with development activities in four primary basins. The operation is a joint venture between Newmont, Minas Buenaventura and the International Finance Corporation. The mine poured its first gold ore bar on August 7, 1993. Yanacocha invested more than $1 billion in environmental and social responsibility projects from 1993-2012 and continues doing so.
Australasia
Newmont’s Boddington mine (pictured below) is located within the Saddleback greenstone belt in Western Australia. A large gold and copper mine, Boddington is located 16 km from the rural farming town of Boddington and 120 km from Western Australia’s capital city, Perth. The operation was a three-way joint venture between Newmont, AngloGold Ashanti and Newcrest. In 2009, Newmont purchased AngloGold Ashanti’s shares to become the sole owner of Boddington and today it is one of Australia’s largest producing gold mines. Boddington also produces copper concentrate. Commercial production began in 2009 and the mine reached two million ounces of gold production in August 2012. The Kalgoorlie mine in Western Australia, commonly referred
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• Newmont Mining Gold pour at Akyem, Ghana
to as “the Super Pit,” has produced more than 50 million ounces of gold in 30 years. The mine is managed by Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines (KCGM), on behalf of Newmont and its joint venture partner, Barrick Gold Australia. KCGM brings together 100 years of mining history in the middle of The Golden Mile, once reputed to be the richest square mile on earth. When fully developed, the Super Pit will be 3.6 kilometres long, 1.6 kilometres wide and up to 650 metres deep. 76
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Newmont has fully owned and operated the Tanami mine since 2012. The mine is located in the remote Tanami Desert in northern Australia. The mine and plant are situated on Aboriginal freehold land that is owned by the Warlpiri people and are managed on their behalf by the Central Desert Aboriginal Lands Trust. The mine added $466 million of value to the Australian economy in 2012. Tanami is a Fly-in, Fly-out (FIFO) operation in one of Australia’s most remote locations, 270km from its closest neighbours, the remote Aboriginal
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community of Yuendumu. Batu Hijau is a large, surface mine operation in Indonesia, primarily producing copper and small amounts of gold and silver. Originally discovered in 1990, commercial production began in 2000. The Batu Hijau mine is located in the southwest region of the island of Sumbawa, in the District of Sekongkang, West Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. Batu Hijau is a copper deposit with small amounts of gold and silver. The copper concentrate is shipped to a number of smelters in the country and overseas. Batu Hijau means “green rock” in Bahasa Indonesian.
Newmont obtained the mining lease for Akyem in 2010 and began commercial production in 2013. Africa
Newmont’s Ahafo mine is located along the Sefwi Volcanic Belt, a northeast-southwest trending volcanic belt in western Ghana. Ahafo is in the Brong Ahafo region, approximately 307 kilometres northwest from the national capital city of Accra. Commercial production at Ahafo began in 2006. Ahafo has two primary ore zones: Ahafo South and Ahafo North. Mining is currently underway at Ahafo South. Ahafo is primarily a surface mine with one underground portal. Newmont’s Akyem operation is located in Ghana in the Birim North District of the Eastern Region, approximately 111 miles northwest of the capital city of Accra. Newmont obtained
Engineered solutions for the resource industry.
the mining lease for Akyem in 2010 and began commercial production in 2013. Employment during the peak period of construction was approximately 4,800.
Current global projects
Long Canyon is a multi-million ounce, oxide deposit. It is the only significant major discovery in Nevada in the last decade and provides Newmont significant exploration potential in an emerging district. The project provides an opportunity to grow synergies with Newmont’s existing Nevada operations. Newmont’s current plan is to permit, build and deliver an operation producing gold while developing district potential. Newmont acquired the Long Canyon gold deposit from Fronteer Gold, Inc. on April 6, 2011. From its exploration drilling activities at Long Canyon Newmont has identified a significant gold resource. The Merian Gold project in Suriname in South America is owned and operated by Surgold, which is a limited liability company fully owned by Newmont. Surgold anticipates that Merian will consist of several surface mines, a gold ore processing plant and related site infrastructure. Newmont began operating the project in 2004 and began construction in August 2014. Newmont’s robust exploration and project pipeline further strengthens its global portfolio. The company’s operational focus is to continuously improve cost and technical performance and maintain world-class social and environmental practices.
World Mining Magazine
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“Providing cost-effective, reliable tire data to operators, supervisors, managers and tire service providers can be a major hurdle to overcome”
DORAN: TPMS TABLET SCREEN SHOT
DORAN TPMS IN-CAB MONITOR DISPLAY
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DORAN/SAFETY TRAX: WEB PORTAL
Gain Access to Critical Tire Pressure and Temperature Data It is not a secret that maintaining proper tire inflation pressures will maximize tread life, minimize down time and improve the overall safety of equipment. However, providing cost-effective, reliable tire data to operators, supervisors, managers and tire service providers can be a major hurdle to overcome. To solve this problem, Doran Manufacturing has designed and developed a comprehensive offering of tire pressure monitoring systems utilizing valve stem mounted tire pressure sensors which are specifically designed for OTR tires. The Doran 360™ OTR tire pressure sensors are built to withstand the extreme conditions of OTR tire applications, and a patent-pending seal design protects the internal electronic components from rim conditioner and other liquids and chemicals used inside OTR tires. “The Doran TPMS for OTR tires can be found on equipment in mines and quarries in many countries around the world.” said Lee Demis – Doran’s Director of Business Development. “We have intently listened to our current and prospective customers who use OTR tires in their operations to help us design and implement technological improvements to offer a full menu of durable and cost effective TPMS options which can seamlessly transfer necessary and critical tire data to the right people in an organization to take action on tire pressure/ temperature alarms which will reduce tire repair and maintenance costs and minimize down time.” Current Doran 360™ TPMS available options include: ➢ •
In-Cab Monitor/Display: provides real-time tire data and visual/audible alerts to the operator
➢ • •
Telematics/Web Portal Integrations Doran TPMS data can be integrated with telematics providers through J1939 or RS232 data protocols Telematics integrations will transfer tire data and alerts to cloud-based servers and customer specific web portals to provide “live look-in” remote access and reporting options to view current and historical tire pressure and temperature data The option also exists to quickly identify vehicles with active pressure or temperature alarm conditions through e-mail or text message alerts
• ➢ • • ➢ • •
WiFi Hotspot Integration In addition to traditional cellular and satellite telematics integrations, Doran has recently launched a new WiFi system with an integration partner to upload tire pressure and temperature data to a cloud based server and web portal Tire pressures and temperatures will be transferred and stored in a transceiver which will seamlessly upload the data and alarms when the vehicle enters a paired WiFi hotspot SmartLink™ TPMS Tablet Making air checks more safe and efficient, tire technicians can quickly capture pressure and temperature data from all tires on a piece of equipment at one time using the recently launched Doran SmartLink™ TPMS tablet and “OneClickTM” technology. Data can be downloaded to feed tire maintenance software packages
For additional information: Phone: 1-866-816-7233, E-mail: inforequest@doranmfg.com Website: www.doranmfg.com Doran Manufacturing, 2851 Massachusetts Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA 45225 •
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De beers from discovery to desire De Beers has been involved in all aspects of the diamond business since 1888 and is recognised internationally as the industry leader. The company is dedicated exclusively to the exploration for, and mining and marketing of diamonds •
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S
ince the first diamond rush back in the 19th century, De Beers has been a name synonymous with diamonds. De Beers’ operations today are focused on open pit and on alluvial/marine mining, and to a lesser extent on underground mining. It has open pit mining operations in Botswana, Canada and South Africa, while marine operations are located in the sea off the coast of Namibia. Diamonds are most commonly found in kimberlites and lamproites, remnants of ancient volcanoes that brought diamonds up to the earth’s surface. De Beers’ success comes from identifying and excavating the 15 per cent of kimberlites and lamproites that actually yield diamonds. 82
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• De Beers and regarded as one of the most successful in the world, contributing to the transformation of a mainly agricultural country into a nation with one of the highest economic growth rates in the world. Formed in 1978, it has become part of the fabric of Botswana, enabling its people to unlock the value of their precious natural resources and the potential of their country. The business contributes about 30 per cent of Botswana’s GDP and 50 per cent of the government’s revenues. It’s the country’s main foreign exchange generator and largest private employer, with 95 per cent of employees being Botswana citizens. The search for diamonds there began with the discovery of three small alluvial diamonds along the Motloutse River in 1955. It was not until 1967 that De Beers’ geologists, exploring near the village of Letlhakane, found diamond-rich ores. Today, Debswana operates four open-pit mines: Jwaneng, Orapa, Letlhakane and Damtshaa. Jwaneng is the world’s richest diamond mine by value and is on its way to becoming one of a handful of global super-pits. Orapa, with the world’s second largest diamond-producing kimberlite pipe, is the planet’s largest open-pit diamond mine. Damtshaa was placed into care and maintenance in December 2015. Debswana has been recognised by leaders around the world for how a true partnership between a well-managed government and a commercial enterprise can create value for both the country and the company.
“De Beers has open pit mining operations in Botswana, Canada and South Africa, while marine operations are located in the sea off the coast of Namibia”
Open pit mining
The most common method of diamond recovery, De Beers’ open pit mining operations are impressive in terms of engineering and use the most advanced methods to uncover the diamond ore that is already close to the surface, before breaking it up for processing. Although this is a relatively simple process, the ore has to be carefully exposed and broken up to ensure maximum diamond yield. Working closely with its machinery suppliers De Beers has some of the most technically advanced methods and equipment in use today. De Beers operates open pit mining alone or in partnership in Botswana, Canada and South Africa.
Botswana
Debswana Diamond Company, the world’s largest diamond producer by value, is a 50/50 joint venture between De Beers and the Government of the Republic of Botswana. It’s a public-private partnership now in its fifth decade
The word Jwaneng in Setswana means ‘a place of small stones’ but its significance to De Beers and the people of Botswana is huge. It has been described as a “gem in the world of gems”. Situated in south central Botswana, about 160 miles south west of Gaborone, the open-pit mine’s high-grade ore contributes between 60 per cent and 70 per cent of Debswana’s revenue. It is mined at a depth of 350 metres, focusing on three kimberlite pipes and a smaller satellite deposit. Jwaneng is expected to yield more than 204 million carats, from around 181 million tonnes of ore, over its remaining life. In 2018, Cut-8 will become the main source of ore for Jwaneng and extend the life of mine until at least 2035. Letlhakane is Debswana’s deepest mine, lying within the Orapa kimberlite area. It was discovered when Orapa was being sampled and evaluated, and was the second mine opened by Debswana. The mine is managed from De Beers’ Orapa operation, 50 miles away, where its diamonds are processed at the completely automated recovery plant. Letlhakane, which means ‘little reeds’ in Setswana, was opened in 1975 and is in Botswana’s Boteti district, 190km west of Francistown. The Letlhakane open pit operation is expected to produce around 1.2 million carats, from 6.2 million tonnes of ore, for the remaining three years of its life. Treatment of tailings will begin in 2016 and will see the mine running for a further 24 years, producing an estimated 21 million carats from 83 million •
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How much are you losing to tailings? Recover product with the highest efficiency. Pavilion8ÂŽ drives your operation to maximum potential From an economic perspective, flotation of product at high recovery efficiency, maintaining grade quality and minimizing the cost of increasing the yield of valuable metals in your process is required. Since mined materials are inherently variable in nature, a robust solution that deals effectively with the loss of metals to tailings, excessive use of reagents and out-of-spec grade quality is vital.
Discover how to take operations to the next level with a solution from Pavilion
Discover.rockwellautomation.com/Mining Pavilion8 is a registered trademark of Rockwell Automation, Inc. Copyright Š 2015 Rockwell Automation, Inc. All Rights Reserved. AD2015-46-US
“Debswana Diamond Company, the world’s largest diamond producer by value, is a 50/50 joint venture between De Beers and the Government of the Republic of Botswana” tonnes of ore. Orapa, which means ‘the resting place of lions’ in Setswana, is De Beers’ oldest operating mine in Botswana and the largest open-pit diamond mine in the world. The mine is an important contributor to De Beers’ total production, and is second only to Jwaneng in volume. Located in central Botswana, about 240km west of Francistown, Orapa’s kimberlite covers an area of 118 square kilometres at the surface. It has the world’s second largest diamond-producing kimberlite pipe, which is actually made up of two separate pipes (or intrusions) that coalesced near the surface about 93 million years ago. Over its 15-year life, Orapa is expected to produce around 153 million carats from 205 million tonnes of ore.
Canada
De Beers operates two mines in Canada: Snap Lake and Victor and also has an advanced exploration project called 86
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Gahcho Kué. Snap Lake, which was placed into care and maintenance in December 2015, is an underground mine in the Northwest Territories. Victor operates open-pit mining in northern Ontario. Ten per cent of diamonds, by value, from the two mines are made available for sale to local manufacturers as selected by the local governments. These diamonds are extracted from ‘economically viable’ categories to help provide a stable supply for this relatively new industry in Canada. The mines are in environmentally delicate, sparsely populated regions that have been cared for by Aboriginal communities for generations, so De Beers has been careful to combine local traditional ecological knowledge with its leading-edge environmental programmes to create a legacy worthy of diamonds. Since 1995, exploration, environmental studies and other work have been underway, leading to the development of the proposed Gahcho Kué diamond mine. The Gahcho Kué project, located at Kennady Lake about 280km north east of
• De Beers
Yellowknife and 80km south east of the Snap Lake Mine in the Northwest Territories, is a joint venture between De Beers (51 per cent), which is also the operator, and Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. (49 per cent). Exploration so far has indicated that three kimberlite deposits currently have potential to be mined. Full construction began in the winter of 2014/2015, with operations scheduled to begin in the second half of 2016. Over its estimated 13-year life, Gahcho Kué is expected to yield around 54 million carats, on a 100% basis, from around 35 million tonnes of ore. Northern Ontario’s extreme weather conditions make the Victor mine a major challenge. Located in a sub-Arctic region, the winter road that brings supplies and heavy mining equipment to this corner of north eastern Ontario is open only six weeks of the year. Victor, an open pit, is Ontario’s first and only diamond mine and is De Beers’ second in Canada. A remote fly-in/fly-out location in the James Bay Lowlands, the mine is about 90km west of the remote coastal community of
Attawapiskat First Nation. De Beers has signed community agreements with four local First Nations communities and contracts worth more than C$350 million have been awarded to local Aboriginal businesses and joint venture partners since the start of construction and operations. Almost 2.5 million carats from more than 11 million tonnes of ore are expected to be produced over Victor’s remaining five-year life. South Africa De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM) is the pioneer of the South African diamond industry and where the De Beers story began. It’s a 74/26 per cent partnership between De Beers and Ponahalo Holdings Limited, a broad-based black economic empowerment operation. Through this partnership, DBCM is representative of a wide range of South African communities, including retired workers, disability groups and leading empowerment business people. DBCM, formed in 1888 in Kimberley, is South Africa’s largest rough diamond producer
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“Jwaneng is the world’s richest diamond mine by value and is on its way to becoming one of a handful of global super-pits” and has more than one million hectares under licence. Today, DBCM has two mining operations, Venetia and Voorspoed, plus surface diamond recovery at Kimberley. Venetia is South Africa’s largest diamond mine, while Voorspoed, one of the country’s newest mines, occasionally turns up large and exotic coloured diamonds. Kimberley has been associated with diamonds since the mid-19th century when mysterious, shiny ‘pebbles’ first appeared in South Africa’s Northern Cape region. The first diamond found in South Africa, called the Eureka, was discovered less than 30 miles away and, within a few years, the mining town of Kimberley had become the centre of Africa’s first diamond rush. The largest rough diamond recovered here was a 93-carat stone that produced a 45-carat gem. Although De Beers mining operations ended here before the millennium, the Group retains a presence in Kimberley through various other businesses, including De Beers Sightholder Sales South Africa, the Ecology Division, 88
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the Microdiamond Laboratory, the Big Hole, the Technical Training Centre, the Pension Fund and Benefit Society functions. Venetia is an open-pit mine and the country’s largest producer of diamonds. The mine is in Limpopo Province in the north east corner of South Africa. Open-pit mining is likely to run until 2021 and preparations are already under way to convert to underground mining, which is expected to extend the life of the mine to 2046 and provide an estimated 94 million carats from 132 million tonnes of ore. The Limpopo Province is one of South Africa’s most economically deprived areas, and De Beers is working with the country’s Department of Agriculture and the Musina municipality on a number of job creation projects. Voorspoed is an open-pit operation and occasionally produces large and exotic coloured diamonds. It’s located about 30km north east of Kroonstad in the Free State Province and all diamond processing is carried out at De Beers’ onsite
• De Beers
facility. When it opened in 2008, Voorspoed became the first major new diamond mine in South Africa in almost two decades. It’s the first of a new generation of 21st century mines that will meet the highest standards in environmental and social performance. The life of mine at Voorspoed is seven years, during which De Beers expect to recover more than four million carats from almost 20 million tonnes of ore. Operations are expected to reach a depth of 360 to 420 metres. Activities at Voorspoed, licensed until 2023, should generate more than R1 billion in salaries, services and local products.
Alluvial and marine mining
Namdeb Holdings is a 50/50 joint venture between De Beers and the Government of the Republic of Namibia. It’s the largest producer of gem quality diamonds in the country. Ninety-five per cent of the diamonds produced are gem quality, averaging the highest per carat value of any diamonds in the world. Established in 1994, Namdeb Holdings Group
is made up of Debmarine Namibia (offshore) and Namdeb Diamond Corporation (on land). It is one of the country’s largest taxpayers and the biggest foreign exchange generator, contributing one in every five Namibian dollars of foreign earnings. It adds more to the country’s GDP than all other mining activities combined. Diamonds have been part of Namibia’s economy for more than 100 years. They were discovered by a railroad worker named Zacharia Lewala near Lüderitz in 1908, a discovery that prompted a diamond rush. The deposits along Namibia’s coast and ancient riverbeds are so rich that early prospectors could sometimes find stones glittering on the sandy surface of valley floors. The job of finding, recovering and processing diamonds is more complex today, but Namibia’s resources of high quality diamonds remain substantial. De Beers and its partners conduct land-based alluvial mining operations in Namibia’s northern and southern coastal regions, and marine-based mining in the Atlantic Ocean off the Namibian coast. Alluvial
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and marine mining activities cover 15,789 square kilometres and include nine mining licences.
Offshore and coastal
The diamonds distributed along Namibia’s coast reflect millions of years of prevailing winds, currents and tides. Two million years ago, natural forces carried stones westward along the ancient course of the Orange River and northward along Namibia’s Atlantic beaches. Namdeb operates a fleet of five motor vessels that can be thought of as floating mines, capable of retrieving diamond-bearing materials from the seabed and processing them to a diamond-rich concentrate. They are, mv Debmar Atlantic, mv Debmar Pacific, mv !Gariep, mv Grand Banks and mv Mafuta. A sixth, exploration and sampling, vessel, the mv Nujuoma named after Namibia’s founding president Sam Nujoma - is currently under construction. In addition, two chartered 90
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vessels, mv Coral Sea and mv Explorer, are also used for exploration and sampling. Unlike land-based mining operations, which include end-oflife planning for environmental restoration, rehabilitation of the seabed and the marine environment occurs naturally over time. De Beers’ environmental team oversees strict guidelines for the vessels – covering everything from how they mine to how they dispose of every piece of waste produced on a vessel. By monitoring changes to the environment over time, they are able to build up a greater knowledge of the natural variability of the environment and the impact of marine mining. Namibia has the richest known marine diamond deposits in the world, estimated at more than 80 million carats. They represent around 65 per cent of Namdeb Holdings’ total diamond production and 90 per cent of its diamond resources. Marine diamond mining now produces more in annual volumes than the country’s land-based diamond mining.
• De Beers
“The winter road that brings supplies and heavy mining equipment to the Victor mine in north eastern Ontario is open only six weeks of the year”
The southern coastal mining area reaches from the mouth of the Orange River, near Oranjemund, north to Chameis Bay, a distance of about 100km. Namdeb is currently mining an area within 15km of the southern limit of its mining licence. Diamonds occur in raised Pleistocene beaches from 25m below mean sea level to more than 30m above. The ancient bed of the Orange River, extending inland about 50km, is also an important source of diamond-bearing gravels. The vigorous sorting action of wind and waves, pushing diamond-bearing gravels north along the coast, has created a natural variation in the grades of ore. Namdeb finds fewer but larger stones in the south and a higher concentration of smaller stones to the north. Operations between Elizabeth Bay and Lüderitz include land-based and offshore operations in a coastal strip known as the surf zone. At Elizabeth Bay, barren, finer-grained sands are removed to mine thin layers of diamond-bearing material.
Land-based mining operations are supplemented with beach and shallow water marine mining. Marine contractors work with divers to mine gravel from the seabed at depths of seven to 30 metres. The gravels, screened and bagged at sea, are taken to a contractors treatment facility near Lüderitz for further processing. Most of the diamonds mined by De Beers are sold following processing, but De Beers has in recent years developed its ‘Forevermark’ range of the highest quality diamonds which it sells through De Beers Diamond Jewellers retail operation. The Group also serves the industrial market through Element Six, a joint venture with Umicore. Element Six develops and produces synthetic diamond materials for industrial use. De Beers’ two R&D operations in South Africa and the United Kingdom are working to ensure that the Group remains a rare diamond itself – a business that has always and will continue to be the leader in its field.
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From data to information
Soldata slope stability monitoring solutions make mines smarter and safer
I
t’s hard to imagine an industry more safetyconscious than mining. It’s an inherently dangerous industry, and in open pits and tailings dams, one of the major concerns is slope stability. Accidents can be catastrophic and the risk of collapse increases as mine sites get older, so integrated geotechnical monitoring becomes of paramount value to mining companies. 92
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Managing slope stability is a complex process, so a comprehensive slope monitoring system, providing real-time data from multiple sources around the pit, is a key tool for geotechnical engineers and should represent an integral part of every geotechnical risk assessment plan. Such a system will trigger early warnings of slope failure and other high-risk situations, promote a more holistic understanding of the openpit environment, and provide valuable information to help determine any remedial action required. A comprehensive monitoring solution consists of a broad range of complementary technologies, including satellite, radar, prisms, GPS, piezometers and in-ground geotechnical sensors, each providing its own unique set of information. Unfortunately, these are often run as isolated systems on separate computers by individual users, leading to inefficient and possibly ineffective management and analysis of data. Potential slope failures are most effectively detected by analysis of a combination of data types, so it is important for these to be managed in a single integrated platform. While simply combining different sets of data will not necessarily deliver significant benefits, a proper and comprehensive integration of data has proven to be a game changer. Soldata delivers a comprehensive and integrated monitoring solution that is optimised for each site and customised for each organisation. Its integrated sensor data and information
• Soldata
Soldata delivers a comprehensive and integrated monitoring solution that is optimised for each site and customised for each organisation. Its integrated sensor data and information management platform Geoscope is the backbone of its services and installations, providing bespoke user interfaces and processes to follow the customer’s procedures. management platform Geoscope is the backbone of its services and installations, providing bespoke user interfaces and processes to follow the customer’s procedures. Geoscope integrates any type of data in a single space and allows for remote monitoring of multiple sites at corporate level to deliver an unparalleled degree of standardisation and with it, cost reduction. The deployment of Geoscope creates an efficient situational awareness within the organisation with a common understanding of site status. Resources can be spent on solving issues and making the right decisions, rather than on collecting or managing data. An example of Geoscope at work can be found at Debswana Diamond Company, a major enterprise operating multiple diamond mines in Botswana. Contributing 33% of the country’s GDP and 80% of foreign exchange earnings, maintaining production is critical. To mitigate the risk of collapse, the Debswana Diamond Company chose Soldata to upgrade its monitoring systems and install, then maintain, its Geoscope platform at four locations with consolidation at its headquarters.
Fully operational at the Jwaneng site, this represents 160 million data points per day. Data is processed in real-time to trigger alarms where appropriate, and consolidated to yield reports with a minimum of clicks. The same solution is currently being deployed at Orapa, Letlhakane and Damtshaa mines to create a uniformed monitoring solution at the corporate level with the vision of establishing a global remote monitoring centre in the Gaborone headquarters. Soldata has also pioneered integrated sensor-based monitoring systems for use in tunnelling and underground constructions, developing a unique and proven integrated monitoring platform that major mining companies around the world have now adopted.
SOLDATA GROUP www.soldata-mining.com info@soldata-mining.com •
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Can you reduce reagent consumption 5% per ton? Yes, with Pavilion8ÂŽ. Control and optimization of the flotation process Pavilion8 MPC flotation solution directly controls product quality and waste losses, drives recovery and line capacity with accurate dynamic processing models and provides real-time visibility of real-time production performance.
Discover how to take operations to the next level with a solution from Pavilion.
Discover.rockwellautomation.com/Mining Pavilion8 is a registered trademark of Rockwell Automation, Inc. Copyright Š 2015 Rockwell Automation, Inc. All Rights Reserved. AD2015-48-US
HARD WORKING ENGINEERS We have turned things around before. No matter what the oil price is: The world needs energy. It is at times like these new technology and new processes see the light of day. Together we have turned things around before – by innovating, reducing costs, and working in a smarter way. We are all adjusting once again, to make sure we can succeed in the new market reality. And we know we can do what it takes. Now is the time to get together and prepare for the future. ONS 2016 provides you with the latest insights, the new technology – and future business opportunities. This is the place to be. Welcome to the leading energy meeting place.
www.ons.no New conference feature: Build your competence at our new Technical Sessions!
What Puritech does... Plant design The engineering of continuous countercurrent ion exchangers CCIX includes: ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
PFD & mass balance Process & Instrument Diagram Technical data sheets 3D design Piping & vessel drawings Electrical & instrumentation Commissioning Start-up
Pilot trials & Process Development Puritech has developed a process design simulation package. This software package allows us to calculate process performance before pilot trials. We have several pilot systems available for: ● ● ● ● ●
Optimising of existing process applications Developing new hydrometallurgy applications Obtaining data for a full size production plant Testing of different types of resin Providing proof of high performance
Copper Recovery Advantages of ION-IXTM System over solvent extraction for copper recovery are: ● ● ● ● ●
Lower capital and operating cost No fire hazards No crud formation or handling Much smaller footprint No strong electrolyte post-treatment
After electrolyse, copper can be extracted from the solution.
ION-IX
What Puritech builds... Nickel Laterite Nickel is a hard, silver white metal. It is mainly used in the manufacturing of stainless steel, steel alloys and superalloys. Nickel laterite can be found in large amounts in the tropics and comprises 73% of the world nickel resources.
Nickel - Cobalt Separation A 200 m3/h Ni/Co Separation plant has been designed and installed in Africa by Puritech. By using a split elution, the Nickel is separated from the Cobalt stream. A double or triple adsorption zone allows removing the desired metal almost completely.
Zinc Recovery The Zinc chloride can be removed from pickling acid. ZnCl2 will form a stable complex which is removed by anion resin. The resin is afterwards eluted with water.
Uranium & Rare Earth Applications Hydrometallurgy is used more and more as the first choice to recover precious metals. Some of the applications are: Uranium Lithium Rhenium Germanium Gold & silver ● ● ● ● ●
TM
Evaporation and crystallization GEA‘s evaporators and crystallizers form an integral part of numerous production processes for inorganic products.
Working with GEA means having a solid partnership every step of the way, from process testing and design throughout project execution to the start-up and operation of your plant. Concentration, crystallization, separation, drying, cooling, calcining, wastewater management and pollution control - we have the expertise, technology, and equipment to match your needs. With thousands of references worldwide, we maintain our leading position by focusing on product quality, system reliability, energy savings and emission control.
Can you reduce reagent consumption 5% per ton? Yes, with Pavilion8ÂŽ. Control and optimization of the flotation process Pavilion8 MPC flotation solution directly controls product quality and waste losses, drives recovery and line capacity with accurate dynamic processing models and provides real-time visibility of real-time production performance.
Discover how to take operations to the next level with a solution from Pavilion.
Discover.rockwellautomation.com/Mining Pavilion8 is a registered trademark of Rockwell Automation, Inc. Copyright Š 2015 Rockwell Automation, Inc. All Rights Reserved. AD2015-48-US