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Conference Proceedings

Mill Operators Conference Proceeding 2024

Conference Proceedings

Mill Operators Conference Proceeding 2024

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Navigating the operational challenges at Campo Morado – a success story

The Campo Morado Mine in Guerrero State, Mexico, was initially commissioned in 2009 and operated by Farallon Resources. Over the years, the mine has exchanged owners to address the poor metallurgical performance and plant-related design issues. In 2017, Campo Morado was acquired and restarted by Altaley Mining Corporation (now Luca Mining Corporation) after the mine was put under care and maintenance by Nyrstar due to the downturn in the mining industry in 2015. Campo Morado is an underground multi-metal mine with an original processing capacity of 1500 tons of ore per day. Mineralisation at Campo Morado occurs in complex volcanogenic-style massive sulfide (VMS) deposits. The Campo Morado deposit consists of several massive sulfide-horizons, hosting polymetallic (base metal and precious metal) mineralisation within a complex, layered felsic to intermediate volcanic sequence. The metals of interest include zinc, copper, silver, gold, and lead. The operational challenges at Campo Morado are multiple: poor mine fleet availability and reliability resulting in inconsistent ore production, poor ore blending, maintaining a consistent metal grade feeding the process plant, operational complexities due to staged polymetallic processing at the ultrafine grind, and persistent maintenance issues culminating in poor overall performance. Since 2022, Ausenco has been involved in various optimisation activities supporting the Campo Morado team. A systematic approach to project identification, evaluation, and implementation has achieved continuous performance improvements, leading to a progressive improvement in flotation performance. The paper discusses the process of continual metallurgical improvements at the Campo Morado concentrator, such as developing a Mine to Mill program to maintain consistent metal grades feeding the plant, a geometallurgy program to characterise the deposit, the modernisation of the flotation circuit, development of a more robust flotation circuit flow sheet, and operational training to navigate the processing complexities at Campo Morado.
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  • Published: 2024
  • Pages: 20
  • PDF Size: 2.423 Mb.
  • Unique ID: P-04566-G1H7J8

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