FMCÂ Technologies supplied the material handling system for a new copper ore open pit mine and processing plant located near Calama, Chile.
The copper ore is transported from the open pit mine and primary crushing facility to the processing plant via an overland conveyor system and stockpiled. The copper ore is reclaimed from the stockpile by six reclaim belt feeders located beneath the stockpile. The reclaim belt feeders discharge the copper ore onto six 54-inch wide coarse ore reclaiming conveyors that transport the ore from the stockpile/reclaim belt feeders to the secondary screening and crushing facility.
Each reclaiming conveyor is supplied with variable speed control and is capable of transporting up to 1,300 MTPH of 300mm coarse copper ore. Each reclaiming conveyor is also supplied with a belt scale, cross-belt magnetic separator and metal detector. The coarse ore reclaiming conveyors discharge the copper ore onto sizing screens where the 50mm ore is discharged from the screens onto a 72-inch wide secondary screen product conveyor and the 50mm oversize ore is discharged from the screens into crushers for reduction in size.
The crushed ore is discharged from the crushers onto a 72-inch wide secondary crusher product conveyor. The screen product conveyor, transporting 2,600 MTPH of copper ore, and the secondary crusher product conveyor, transporting 4,400 MTPH of copper ore, discharge onto an 84-inch wide secondary crusher product collecting conveyor.
The secondary crusher product-collecting conveyor, transporting 7,000 MTPH, discharges onto two 84-inch wide acid-curing conveyors arranged in tandem with a belt scale. The acid-curing conveyors, each transporting 7,000 MTPH of copper ore, pass through acid washing stations where the copper ore is washed with sulfuric acid. The second acid-curing conveyor discharges the washed copper ore to a leach pad stacking system.
Portions of the material handling system structures, conveyor belting and conveyor idlers were designed for a planned future increase in capacity.