Conventional open pit mining methods will be used, based on drill-and-blast mining techniques. The open pit life of mine is approximately 20 years. During the first 10 years only the La Tapada deposit will be mined. After Year 10, production will be from both the La Tapada and Tía María deposits.
The mine plan was based on the following key assumptions:
- 100,000 t/d process throughput (36 Mt/a)
- Approximately 120 kt/a of copper cathode production.
The mine plan was optimized to maintain a 120 kt/a production rate when possible, and designs aimed for two concurrent operating phases, when possible, to provide mill feed. Eight benches were assumed to be mined per year.
Mine operations were assumed to run 365 days a year, 24 hours per day.
Pit Design, Road and Ramp Design C
atch bench widths were designed at 115 m for La Tapada and 100 m for Tía María. A minimum bench mining width of 150 m between phases was used. The pit designs were based on using a ramp width of 35 m and maximum ramp gradient of 8%. The surface roads that were used in haulage profiling for cycle time generation in production schedule used a maximum ramp gradient of 10%.
Pit Phasing The mine plan assumes that La Tapada will be mined in four phases, and Tía María in two. A one-year pre-production period was envisaged for pre-stripping of waste material.
The mine plan assumes that the first 10 years of mine life will be from La Tapada, ........