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MINE OF THE MONTH – COLLAHUASI

Collahuasi on high
The fourth-largest copper mine in the world is getting bigger. Two major developments
have been announced at the Collahuasi copper-molybdenum mine in Chile

MILL RECORD
In 2004, ABB established a world record of 21 MW
for a gearless mill drive (GMD). This was part of a
new 12 m-diameter semi-autogenous (SAG) mill
at Collahuasi.
This was part of a contract awarded in 2001
to Bechtel Chile Ltda (acting as Collahuasi’s lead
engineer) to design, manufacture, erect, test and
commission three GMD mills: the 21 MW SAG mill
and two 15.5 MW ball mills. ABB also installed a
harmonic filter and power factor compensation
plant.
Because of its elevation, the crushing plant
at Collahuasi required a special design for the
hydraulic, lubricating and compressed-air
systems. The plant structure was also designed
to resist seismic activity.
C
OLLAHUASI is in the barren Atacama
Desert at an altitude of over 4,500 m on
the Andean plateau of Region I, Tarapaca,
in Chile’s northernmost territory. Operat-
ing conditions are severe, with breathing
a struggle in the thin air, and temperatures that rarely
exceed 11°C during the day, and normally plunge
below freezing at night. Blizzards and lightning
storms batter the region. There are no trees, signs
of animal life are rare and the nearest settlement is
almost 100 km away.
The Collahuasi property centres on two major por-
phyry copper deposits: Ujina and Rosario. Operated
by Compañía Minera Dona Inés de Collahuasi SCM,
the operation is owned 44% each by Falconbridge
Ltd and Anglo American plc, and 12% by a Japanese
consortium led by Mitsui & Co.
Collahuasi’s new molybdenum plant was commis-
sioned at the end of September, two months ahead
of schedule and under budget. The plant can process
4,300 t/d of copper concentrate, and is designed to
produce 4,000 t/y of molybdenum-in-concentrate,
rising to 8,000 t/y in later years.
In the second major recent development, it was
announced in October that the first stage of an
inferred resource estimate for the Rosario Oeste cop-
per deposit has been completed. The estimate for the
zone is 248 Mt at an average grade of 1.54% Cu, using
a 0.4% Cu cut-off grade.
Mineralisation at Rosario Oeste occurs mainly
within a structurally-controlled supergene chalcocite
blanket that formed over a swarm of high-sulphida-
tion veins. According to Anglo American, the area
relating to the resource estimate represents about
half of the total prospective area, which is 300 m from
the present limit of the Rosario open pit. Current
resources at Collahuasi are already enough to sustain
production for at least 50 years.

STATISTICS GEOLOGY
Production: 2004 466,200 t copper concentrate The Collahuasi district lies
58,200 t copper cathode within a major north-south
Production: 2005 (1st half) 211,350 t Cu (191,680 t in 2004) structural feature known
as the West Fissure system.
Reserves: Proven: 310 Mt at a grade of 1.09% Cu This system controls most of
Probable: 1,540 Mt at a grade of 0.87% Cu the large tertiary porphyry
Resources: Measured: 51 Mt at grade of 0.55% Cu deposits in Chile, including
Indicated: 430 Mt at grade of 0.65% Cu Chuquicamata and La
Inferred: 1,820 Mt at grade of 0.80% Cu Escondida. The operation is
based on a low-grade cop-
Employees: 968 per porphyry, comprising
three ore zones: the Ujina
and Rosario deposits (consisting of secondary-
enriched sulphides and oxides) and the smaller
Huinquintipa oxide deposit.
Falconbridge notes that the geology at Collahuasi
comprises stratified and intrusive units whose spatial
distribution is strongly influenced by the West and
Rio Loa faults, which are part of the West Fissure
system. Collahuasi lies within a block of up-thrown
volcano-sedimentary rocks between the faults.
A thick section of folded Jurassic sediments lies
west of the fault system and Tertiary volcanics and
Quaternary sediments underlie the area east of the
fault system.
Movement on these major bounding faults result-
ed in development of a conjugate set of northwest
and northeast faults associated with Tertiary intrusive
activity and the formation of the Rosario and Ujina
deposits. These large porphyry deposits developed
on two separate intrusive and hydrothermal systems
of similar age, and exhibit a typical profile (a leached
cap, copper-oxide horizon, secondary-enrichment
blanket and a primary sulphide protore).

8 Mining Magazine January 2006

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 EQUIPMENT SCHEDULE
Collahuasi property
ABB SAG and Ball mills, and materials
handling
Rosario Porphyry (Cu) Bucyrus-Erie Five 49R III electric drills
West fissure

Ujina Porphyry (Cu)

Five 495BI electric rope shovels
Caterpillar 797 trucks
Quebrada Blanca Cognis Synthetic lubricants and hydraulic
(Porphyry Cu) Limits of fluids
hydrothermal Profunda Drilltech T60KL diesel drill
alteration (Porphyry Cu) Electric Power Door Storage facility doors

lt u
Eriez Magnetic separation, metal detection
Loa Fa
and vibration
FFE Minerals Mineral processing equipment
Flygt Submersible pumps and mixers
0 25 50
Cerro Colorado Geho Pumps Slurry and sludge pumps
km Quebrada Blanca
Geosystems International Analysis software
COLLAHUASI
Antofagasta Chuquic amata Goulds Pumps Slurry and process pumps
The Ujina deposit appears to be a typical Escondida Grindex Submersible drainage, sludge and
Copiapo El Salvador
Andean-type porphyry copper deposit that SOUTH AMERICA slurry pumps
shows common alteration and mineralisa- Pelambres
Komatsu 40 x 830E haul trucks
tion features (a relation to felsic intrusives, CHILE SANTIAGO Los Bronches Krupp Canada Ship loader
a potassic-altered core area hosting lower El Teniente Krupp Fördertechnik Two 6,000 t/h semi-mobile crushing
copper grades, a higher-grade sericite zone plants
and a low-grade pyrite halo). Deep oxidisa- MAN Takraf Mining and bulk-handling equipment
0 300 600
tion has produced significant tonnages of km Metso Minerals Grinding mills
secondary-enriched copper sulphide and Outokumpu Technology Flotation cells
oxide ore that overlies larger tonnages of ably derived during the erosion of the Rema TIP TOP Conveyor belt maintenance and
primary chalcopyrite ore. Rosario porphyry. wear/corrosion protection
According to Falconbridge, the Rosario deposit The economically-important ore Pipeline Systems Slurry pipeline
is characterised by a dome-shaped zone of copper types are secondary sulphide (chalcoc- Vista Training Training and consulting services
mineralisation that centres on a section of the ite, chalcopyrite, bornite and covellite), Weir Minerals Processing equipment
Rosario and Collahuasi porphyries. The centre of oxide (chrysocolla and minor brochan-
this zone contains bornite, chalcopyrite and primary tite), a mixed combination of oxide and deposit began in 2002 (being completed in 2004).
chalcocite (and generally lacks pyrite). Copper sulphide, and primary ore (chalcopyrite and bornite). Since the orebodies are complex (eg five types
mineralisation occurs as both disseminations and of oxide ore and seven types of sulphide ore are at
fracture-controlled veinlets. The deposit contains a OPERATION Ujina) careful production control is needed. In April
thin, erratically-developed secondary enrichment The Collahuasi operation lies in an area of historical 2001, Caterpillar’s computer-aided earthmoving
blanket underlain by a relatively high-grade primary copper mining. The deposit was outlined in 1991 system (CAES) was commissioned for two Bucyrus
chalcopyrite zone. The lack of a well-developed after exploration by Shell, Chevron and Falconbridge 495B shovels (using 43 m3 buckets).
secondary enrichment blanket is due to both the in the late 1980s. CAES was also used to improve the bench configu-
structure and level of oxidisation. Production began in 1998 at the Ujina pit, which ration (bench-floor elevation variance from design
Huinquintipa, the third deposit at Collahuasi, is a has a 4.4:1 waste:ore stripping ratio and 15 m bench halved to under 20 cm after the installation of CAES).
small gravel-hosted exotic copper deposit where the heights. The mine was commissioned in April 1999 Information collected by CAES at the shovel was also
contained copper is present as copper oxides, prob- at a cost of US$1.76 billion. Stripping at the Rosario used to reconcile the block model and geological
information.
By 2001, Collahuasi was using a fleet of 45 haul
trucks, included the first two Caterpillar 797 mining
Pebble SAG mill (2) trucks to operate at such an altitude (up to 4,800 m).
crusher Cyclones (4)
Feed bin Ball mills (2) The trucks were equipped with lighter bodies to
Primary crusher boost the payload capacity to 345 t from the
standard 326 t, and were further modified to
maintain performance in the thin air. Four extra
Cyclone feeding pumps turbochargers were added to the four used on the
standard version of the 24-cylinder Caterpillar 3524B
Primary flotation cells (4 lines) Cyclones engine, rated at 2,537 kW.
Cyclones Second stage To maintain the vehicles’ low weights, the modifi-
First stage Thickeners (4) To tailings
Sand flotation cation used the same number of inlet air filters and
Limpieza Concentrate thickener engine exhaust mufflers as in the standard version.
Primary cleaners barrido
The engine modifications enable the mechanical-
Dam drive 797s to maintain their capabilities to climb
Evaporation nursery 8-10% haul roads at speeds of up to 64 km/h.
Pressure filter The Collahuasi operation incorporates an accom-
Collahuasi Secondary modation complex, concentrator plant, solvent ex-
cleaners
Sulphide traction-electrowinning (SX-EW) plant and a 200 km
Concentrator Regrind mill Port – Punta Patache pipeline to transport concentrate from the mine to
Concentrate storage Concentrate storage shed
Continued on page 10

January 2006 Mining Magazine 9

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 MINE OF THE MONTH – COLLAHUASI
Continued from page 9
BECHTEL INVOLVEMENT
In 2004, Bechtel led a 62,000 t/d expansion
of Collahuasi’s copper concentrator, costing
US$270 million, which more than doubled the
plant’s capacity.
Bechtel also undertook the engineering,
rocurement and construction management
(EPCM) contract for the operation’s original
US$1.7 billion copper concentrator and associ-
ated infrastructure.
Bechtel began work on the original four-year
contract in December 1995. There were five major
construction projects:
■ A copper concentrator plant.
■ A copper solvent-extraction plant.
■ A 190 km slurry pipeline.
■ New deepwater port facilities at Punta
Patache.
■ A raft of infrastructure facilities at both the
mine site and the port, from buildings and
utilities to deep well pumps and a sewage
treatment plant.
The team had to build a 190 km paved road
to the site, plus service roads, well fields and an
airport.
High-altitude issues figured prominently in
this work, and Bechtel notes it had to address
everything from productivity, morale and altitude
sickness, to special safety and construction issues.
Workers underwent thorough medical examina-
tions before reaching the site, and again when
they arrived at high elevation. This included a
pulmonary exam, respiration test, blood-oxygen
test and chest X-ray. About 25% of applicants
did not make the cut. To maintain productivity,
the 12,000-plus construction contractors, crafts-
people, labourers and management personnel
worked a schedule of 20 days on-site and 10 days
off, or 10 days on-site and five days off.
To protect its crew during the bitter Andean
winters, Bechtel placed snowmobiles and alpine
rescue huts across the area. Since lightning
strikes are frequent in the Andes during summer,
Bechtel established an alarm system to give a
30-minute warning about approaching storms.
Workers also wore special, non-conducting safety
shoes instead of steel-toed boots.
10 Mining Magazine January 2006
08-10MM0601.indd 10
Primary crusher
Coarse ore bin
Intermediate ore bin
Secondary screen
Secondary crusher
Fine ore stockpile
Conveyor belt
Agglomerating drums (2)
Secondary solvent Primary solvent
extraction extraction
Raffinate pond Pond ILS
the port at Punta Patache, which has a de-watering
plant and a concentrate storage facility.
Almost two years ago, a US$584 million expansion
programme was initiated, designed to give Colla-
huasi a copper production capacity of 500,000 t/y.
A further expansion, to a copper capacity of
675,000 t/y, is now under consideration.
In April 2004, Finning International Inc announced
that its South American mining division had secured
the sale of four CAT D-series track-type tractors,
three CAT 800-series wheel dozers, a 24 H-series
motor grader and a 16H-series motor grader. The
order, worth C$10 million, increased Caterpillar’s
presence at Collahuasi to 22 machines. As part of the
order, Finning secured a five-year maintenance and
repair contract (worth C$17 million), as it already
had for the original Caterpillar equipment. The new
equipment was for the Rosario deposit, which has a
mine life of at least 25 years, with a total 450,000 t/d
earmarked for removal.
EXTRACTING THE METAL
The need to treat oxide and sulphide ore means
Collahuasi has two processing streams. Oxide and
mixed ores are treated by heap-leaching and SX-EW.
The sulphide ore is crushed, ground and treated by
flotation.
Collahuasi’s SX-EW plant
Tripper conveyor
Screen
Electrowinning process
Cathode washing and stripping
Electrolyte Strapping
Barren solution
Second-stage extraction
Leach-pad loading Extraction Washed
conveyors
Loaded Separation
Pond PLS organic tank
Sulphide ore is fed to the primary, gyratory,
crusher and then to the milling plant, which consists
of three parallel grinding circuits. The first two circuits
from the original project each comprise a SAG mill
and a secondary ball mill. The third circuit, installed
during the ore-treatment expansion for the Rosario
deposit, comprises a SAG mill and two secondary ball
mills. Overflow from the mill cyclone classifiers feeds
the flotation circuit, where concentrate is produced
and then thickened to 50% solids for slurry transport
by pipeline to a dedicated port facility at Punta
Patache, 65 km south of Iquique. At the port facilities,
the slurry is filtered and then stored in a warehouse
before shipment abroad.
The oxide ore is reduced to -10 mm by three-stage
crushing. The fine ore is agglomerated with sulphuric
acid and water before being conveyed to the leach
pads. Metal is recovered from the pregnant leach
solution in the solvent-extraction plant, where the
copper is recovered using organic solutions.
The organic solution is stripped using strong acid
solutions, and is filtered before the EW phase, where
the copper is plated onto cathodes. The copper is
removed from the cathodes on a seven-day cycle
using the Kidd cathode-stripping process, and the
cathode copper is then transported by road to
Iquique for export.
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