Current mining operations at Berezitovy are focused on a single open pit with two mining areas, north and south, and a recently developed underground. Berezitovy has a well-established open pit operation, with pre-production having commenced in 2006, with the operation expanded to an underground operation in 2018.
Berezitovy is mined using conventional drill, blast, load, haul, dump and stockpile open pit mining methods utilising a top-down bench by bench approach. Truck haulage is used to convey ore to the process plant and waste to the dumps.
The deepest southern section of the pit is near completion and will be finalised in Q1 2021, with mining predominantly focused in the north for the remaining LoM in 2022. The underground mine is also planned to be finished in 2022.
Production is achieved using variants of the long-hole sub-level open stoping method, either top-down “uphole benching” with eventual backfilling, or bottom-up “Avoca” progressively backfilling each sublevel. Blastholes are drilled using dedicated electro-hydraulic long-hole drill rigs, blasted ore is removed with LHD and ore is transported to surface with ADT.
Surface is accessed through twin transport declines with 8° inclination. The declines exit the mine through a dedicated box-cut excavation.
Stability of the workings is maintained by the installation of ground support (friction anchors, mesh sheets, shotcrete), leaving supporting rib and sill pill ........