Across the world, mining companies are turning to new mine planning solutions that have increased productivity and resulted in higher production of metals such as nickel, silver and copper.
According to Mining Weekly, nickel miner Mirabela Nickel recently reported a record output of 5,029 tons of the shiny metal in concentrate mined during the last quarter of 2011, which included a monthly production record of 2,003 tons during the month of December.
Quarterly production grew 9 percent from the third quarter in 2011, and was the second consecutive quarter to beat previous production records. The company stated that it finished fiscal 2011 within its proposed production guidance, at 15,854 tons of nickel in concentrate after it successfully implemented mine optimization techniques to ramp up activity at its Santa Rita project in Brazil.
In the final three months of 2011, Mirabela moved about 12.2 million tons of material, and produced a record amount of ore at 2 million tons with an average nickel grade of 0.49 percent. In the next year, the company said it hopes to move about 40.8 million tons of material.
The company plans to consolidate its North, South and Central Pits into one continuous openpit mine, which will allow it to target between 20,000 tons and 22,000 tons of nickel concentrate in 2012, with extraction costs expected to be roughly $6 per pound by the end of the year.
According to the news source, the consolidation is a part of a comprehensive cost reduction and productivity program, which will include reviewing the organizational structure of the operation. It also plans to continue benchmarking its mobile fleet in order to better keep an eye on mining costs.
By introducing this work to the company’s recent steady state production and improvements in recoveries from its desliming plant, Mirabela is expected to reduce operational costs dramatically.
One U.S.-based mining company has also announced record production, and anticipates a strong year ahead, Mineweb reports.
According to the news source, Revett Minerals beat its 2011 production guidance with record silver production of 1.29 million ounces and 10.65 million pounds of copper last year, increasing output by 28 percent and 21 percent, respectively, from 2010.
“The overall production increase for the year was a result of significant productivity improvements and grade control,” the company said Monday in a news release.
The company’s Troy silver and copper mine in Montana is expected to produce 1.4 million ounces of silver and 11.5 million pounds of copper in 2012, with its recent improvements helping to bring production costs on a net of by-product basis to an average of $4.80 per ounce of silver and $1.54 per pound of copper.
Through its additional mining services, the company has trimmed 25 percent of its 2012 copper production at $4 per pound.
The Troy mine project will see additional improvements begin in August, which will continue for 24 months and cost $15 million with the hope of extending the mine life of the operation, the news provider stated.
Adding to the flurry of new nickel mining activity, Philippine conglomerate San Miguel Corp. is looking to invest in a nickel mining project in southern Philippines, marking its first major venture into mineral resources, Reuters reports.
“We advise that the company is in talks with the controlling stockholders of Philnico Mining Corp. and evaluating the viability of investing in the Nonoc Nickel Mining Project,” the company said of its potential foray into the nickel mining industry.
Latest posts by GEOVIA (see all)
- Join the GEOVIA User community - July 13, 2021
- GEMS Software Update - June 21, 2021
- Reducing Impacts on Water - May 25, 2021
