Issue link: http://resourceworld.uberflip.com/i/294363
www.resourceworld.com 53 A P R I L / M A Y 2 0 1 4 MININGWORLD Construction and installation of the new permanent secondary crusher at the Copper Mountain Mine near Princeton, southwest British Columbia, is well un- derway. This crusher will be the largest cone crusher installed in western Cana- da. Installation is expected to be com- pleted by mid-summer. It is anticipated that the new equipment will result in a significant improvement to throughput at Copper Mountain. The crusher was supplied by FLSmidth, a leading provider of equip- ment and services to the global minerals and cement industries. FLSmidth sup- plies everything from single machines to complete cement plants and minerals processing facilities. The crusher was built in Romania, traveled to Venice by rail, then by ship to Halifax, and again by rail across Canada to Kamloops, BC. There it was unloaded, and trucks car- ried it to the mine-site on March 4. Rod Shier, CFO of Copper Mountain Mining Corp., said, "This particular model was chosen as it is proven tech- nology. Two others have already been installed in North America. The mine is taking a sledge hammer approach to this crushing issue in order to ensure that 100% of the SAG mill feed will be sized appropriately to meet throughput expec- tations." Copper Mountain has a relationship with FLS, who supplied the original 34- foot diameter SAG mill and two 24-foot diameter ball mills, during the develop- ment phase of the project. The mine cur- rently operates a Raptor 900 in their peb- ble crusher circuit which has operated very well. All the equipment was built, delivered, and installed on time and on budget. The FLSmitdth XL2000 Raptor Cone Crusher is the largest operating cone crusher on the market, powered by a 2,500-HP motor. The facilities being in- stalled will produce approximately 2,800 tph of ore sized at 80% minus 1 inch. The total cost of construction for the secondary crusher is estimated to be approximately $40 million. If all goes according to plan, the crusher will be operational by Q3 of this year. Once in- stalled, 100% of the mill feed will be sized to the 2-inch range. Plant operat- ing results with minus 2-inch material has confirmed that the mill operates at its designed capacity of 35,000 tpd on a consistent basis. Based in Denmark, FLSmidth is the classic story of an entrepreneurial firm starting with humble beginnings and, with hard work and a sound strategy, growing into a major international com- pany. Ever since its creation in 1882, FLSmidth has been characterized by in- novative thinking and a quest for excel- lence. The company employs over 15,000 people worldwide in more than 50 coun- tries. The company's in-house resources are primarily engineers who develop, plan, design, install and service equip- ment, with most of the manufacturing being outsourced to sub-suppliers. More than 650 of the FLSmidth employees are directly involved in developing the tech- nology of the future. Copper Mountain has a strategic alli- ance with Mitsubishi Materials Corpora- tion which owns 25% of the mine. The Copper Mountain Mine commenced pro- duction in the summer of 2011 and has continued to improve its operations since start-up. In 2013 the mine produced 66.2 million lb of copper, 21,600 oz of gold, and 320,400 oz of silver. The mill aver- aged 87.8% operating time for the year and a total of 10.1 million tonnes of ore was milled at an average grade of 0.35 % copper. Patrick (Paddy) Moore is a multi-media jour- nalist who specializes in the resource indus- try. He is a frequent contributor to Resource World Magazine, Editor of Canadian Inves- tor Magazine, and Creative Director of BTV: Business Television on BNN. n FLSmitdth supplies secondary crusher to Copper Mountain Mine By Patrick Moore The Lower Main frame is the largest component piece of the secondary crusher and weighs a little over 100 tonnes. Due to its weight and size, special permits and a specialized transportation truck are required to safely move this piece of equipment from Kamloops, BC to the Copper Mountain Mine site. Photo courtesy Copper Mountain Mining Corp.