Category: Mineral Resources | Geoscience Ireland

Independent Review of Deepening Project Study | LTMS

October 12, 2020/in Mineral Resources /by GSI Editor 1

Project Title:

Independent Review of Deepening Project Study | LTMS

Date:

Feb 2020- Ongoing

Location:

Mina Caraiba Mine Complex – Bahia State, Brazil

Client:

Ero Copper, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Business Sectors:

Mineral Resources

Services (Technical Disciplines):

Mining, including mine planning/design, geotechnical, pastefill, ventilation, transportation, infrastructure and risk assessment.

Project Objectives/ Outcomes:

The main project is to carry out a technical study of the deepening zone of the Pilar Mine which currently has extensive resources to a depth of 1,700m below surface. Current mining activities are to a depth of 1,300m. Alongside the project study, there are optimisation projects being carried out in two mines in the complex (Pilar & Vermehlos)

Our Role:

To provide independent assessment at all stages of the technical study.

To provide practical mining expertise to optimisation projects in the Pilar and Vermehlos mines.

Geoscience Ireland Contact:

Brendan Morris – b.morris@ltms.ie

Resource Recovery and Land Remediation Initiative | CDE

Project Title

Resource Recovery and Land Remediation Initiative | CDE

Location

Colombia

Client

AuVert Mining Group

Business Sectors

Mineral Resources/ Water Resources

Services (Technical Disciplines)

Wet Processing Plant Design

Project Outcomes/Objectives

The land surrounding AuVert’s Condoto site is rich in precious metals. Formerly mined for platinum, the old operation did not fully maximize the resources onsite so precious metals remained in the ground, something AuVert wanted to capitalize on with its new wet processing plant.

The AquaCycle™ water management system recovers up to 90% of the water used throughout the process. On average, the CDE and AuVert approach uses 77% less water than traditional methods, without using any toxic chemicals.

This ensures the water supply won’t become contaminated and unsafe for the neighboring community. The AquaCycle™ and EvoWash™ technology has also provided flexibility to enable the plant to process variable clay-bound feed material with a high percentage of fines.

Our Role

At the front end of the process, AuVert employs the world-class R2500 – a durable hopper, feeder, and scalping screen which conditions the feed material prior to further processing by breaking down tough clay-bound materials and scalping large boulders to provide a consistent feed to the processing plant optimizing production throughout.

It also employs the AquaCycle™ thickener water management system for water storage and recirculation around the plant, which is needed for this remote location in the Colombian jungle.

The tail end of the process features CDE’s flagship EvoWash™ technology – a compact, modular materials washing system which integrates a high-frequency dewatering screen, sump and hydrocyclones to provide unrivaled control of the slimes cut point.

Geoscience Ireland Contact

Kate McCormick (kmccormick@cdeglobal.com)

Centrex Metals Start Up Plant, Australia | CDE

August 19, 2020/in Mineral Resources /by GSI Editor 1

Project Title

Centrex Metals Start Up Plant, Australia | CDE

Location

Australia

Date

2017

Client

Centrex Metals

Business Sectors

Mineral Resources

Services (Technical Disciplines)

Plant Design

Project Outcomes/Objectives

The Ardmore site is one of the few remaining undeveloped phosphate rock deposits in the world, and since acquiring the mine in 2017, Centrex Metals has focused on producing high-quality phosphate rock concentrate to deliver this vital commodity to fertilizer plants in Asia Pacific who currently import from North Africa, the Middle East, and South America.

Our Role

The CDE modular approach was ideal for this application and our engineers worked in collaboration with Centrex Metals to design a plant that was capable of delivering the functionality of the start-up plant and the flexibility to allow simple and cost-effective redeployment within the larger 140 tonnes per hour future operation.

The free-digging phosphate ore will be mined in strips and deposited in the CDE hopper after crushing. From here it is screened to eliminate larger particles and water is added to make a slurry.

There then follows a two-stage process consisting of twin EvoWash™ wet processing units with bespoke 10” hydro cyclone clusters, separated by a scrubbing stage using CDE’s ShearClean™ attrition cell technology. The first cyclone clusters perform a cut of 400 Mesh to eliminate contaminants. After attrition, the second stage Evowash™ then performs a further 400 Mesh cut and dewaters to approximately 10% moisture before being stockpiled via a radial stacking conveyor.

This innovative 70 tonnes per hour solution has been designed using CDE’s unique modular offering to facilitate the simple and cost-effective transition to a 140 tonnes per hour plant at a later stage. CDE’s modular approach also solved many of the challenges presented by the remote location and CDE’s AquaCycle™ thickener technology is employed to recycle 90% of the process water.

Geoscience Ireland Contact

Kate McCormick (kmccormick@cdeglobal.com)

950tph Iron Ore Beneficiation Wet Processing Project in South Australia | CDE Global

August 5, 2020/in Mineral Resources /by GSI Editor 1

Project Title

950tph Iron Ore Beneficiation Wet Processing Project in South Australia | CDE Global

Date

2016-2018

Location

South Australia

Client

SIMEC

Business Sectors

Mineral Resources

Services (Technical Disciplines)

CDE undertook its largest mining project to date in late 2016, converting almost 18 million tonnes of lowgrade iron ore into saleable product for SIMEC in South Australia.

SIMEC required an advanced turnkey washing solution to beneficiate extremely abrasive haematite held in stockpiles of low-grade iron ore which had accumulated over years of mining of the Iron Monarch, Iron Princess, Iron Empress, and Iron Baroness deposits.

Project Outcomes/Objectives

The two wet processing plants at Iron Knob and Iron Baron, with a combined throughput of 950 tonnes per hour, were designed, manufactured and delivered within 18 months from signing – which was unprecedented for an Australian mining project of this nature.

The two CDE installations have been performing with exceptional attrition levels delivering significant ROI on a low-grade, low-value waste iron ore feed product, which is upgraded to a high-grade valuable 60-63% Fe ore.

Since commissioning, it has injected an estimated $25million (AUD) into the local economy and secured important employment opportunities.

Our Role

The plants beneficiate a low-grade ore that was historically considered waste material. This is achieved by removing silica and alumina from the feed material, as well as gravity separating low-grade from high-grade ore.

Silica levels, which range from 14% to 20%, have reduced to 6.4% after processing. Alumina levels range from 5.9% to 8.8% and are reduced to 2.8% after processing.

The iron ore wash plant also removes clays from the feed material and the combined effect means the Fe content increases from between 43.4% and 52.7% in the feed to above 60% iron ore product, with a yield of up to 50%. The plant consists of an initial washing and screening stage using CDE’s M-Series™ modular range equipment followed by scrubbing of the coarser fraction by RotoMax™ log washers.

There then follows a dry screening utilising our patented Infinity Screen™ range prior to gravity beneficiation in the course and fine jigs, dewatering and conveying to stockpiles via more than 20 CDE conveyors across two processing plants.

The finer fraction is further washed and separated prior to being de-slimed in cyclones at 200 Mesh and gravity beneficiated through a series of spirals banks. Three of CDE’s A1500 AquaCycle™ thickeners are deployed across the two plants to form a concentrated tailings sludge and recycle process water.

You can view footage of the works here.

Geoscience Ireland Contact

Kate McCormick (KMcCormick@cdeglobal.com)

Augmented Reality Smart Glasses Use | CDM Smith

June 16, 2020/in Capacity Building, Civil Infrastructure, Energy, Environment, Mineral Resources, Water Resources /by GSI Editor 1

Project Title

Augmented Reality Smart Glasses Use | CDM Smith

Date

2019 – ongoing

Location

National and International

Client

Multiple

Business Sectors

Civil Infrastructure/ Water Resources/ Environment/ Mineral Resources/Energy/ Capacity Building

Services (Technical Disciplines)

CDM Smith engaged UtilityAR to provide wearable technology and a software platform in the form of smart glasses. The smart glasses allow users to access information that they need to complete their work and to link them with specialist colleagues and advice when needed.

Augmented Reality smart glasses can project information onto the inside of the lens of the glass to allow the wearer to see it while still seeing the real world. The integrated forward facing camera allows for video and image capture.

Project Objectives/Outcomes

CDM Smith explores ways to engage field staff with senior specialists. With a global workforce it can be challenging from a time and expense perspective for specialists in different locations across the globe to travel to site and advise less experienced staff. The use of the forward facing camera on the smart glasses allows a staff member on site to communicate with a specialist anywhere in the world. The specialist sees what they see and can provide advice/instruction and discussion on best practice/next course of action. The specialist can even provide on-screen mark ups to assist with clear communication.

Our Role

CDM Smith now routinely use the smart glasses on the majority of its sites to provide a more efficient service to its clients, to contribute to its quality management systems and to assist with staff engagement across the company.

The glasses are particularly useful in times or areas of restricted travel. In addition their use can be quantitatively assessed in terms of their carbon offset where travel to site from different parts of the world is no longer necessary (in some use cases).