The Tapira phosphate deposit is part of a series of Late-Cretaceous, carbonatite-bearing alkaline ultramafic plutonic complexes belong to the Alto Paranaiba Igneous Province. The Tapira igneous rocks intrude the phyllites, schists, and quartzites of the Late-Proterozoic Brasilia mobile belt.

The Tapira igneous complex is roughly elliptical, 35 square kilometers (km2) in area and consists predominantly of alkaline pyroxenite rocks with subordinate carbonatite, serpentinite (dunite), glimmerite, syenite, and ultramafic potassic dikes. Locally, the pyroxenites are divided into:

1. Bebedourites: a local name for a variety of biotite pyroxenite composed essentially of aegirine-augite, and biotite with perovskite and opaques.

2. Phoscorites: plutonic ultramafic rocks, containing magnetite, apatite, and one of the silicates, forsterite, diopside, or phlogopite. Phoscorites almost always occur in close association with carbonatites.

The Tapira phosphate deposit was formed by the supergenic alteration of bebedourites, phoscorites, and carbonatites rich in apatite. The extreme weathering process was responsible for the residual concentration of apatite. The weathering processes are typically related to the partial hydrolysis of silicate rocks and the dissolution of carbonates, with a general loss of calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), potassium (K), and silica (Si), and the accumulation of aluminum (Al), iron (Fe), and titanium (Ti), from the base to the top.

The main geological types identified in the deposit are a combination of the igneous protoliths (bebedourites, phoscorites, and carbonatites) and the products of the weathering process.

According to the level of weathering, the products are:
- Alloterite: The top layer consisting of intense reddish autochthonous soils.
- Top isalterite (saprolite): Profile with an average depth of 25 m with clayish-sandy material that can be yellow to reddish. Homogenization of mineral phases does not allow the rock structures to be identified.
- Bottom isalterite (saprolite): Profile with an average depth of 25 m, resulting from the advanced weathering of the altered rock horizon. Some primary rock structures can still be observed, but the overall appearance is that of homogenous altered soil. This is the mainly phosphate mineralized horizon.
- Semi-weathered rock: Weathered horizon in which the rock structure is mostly preserved.
- Fresh rock: Mainly bebedourites and phoscorites intruded by carbonatite veins.

The ore at Tapira is recovered using open-pit conventional truck and shovel mining methods due to the proximity of the ore to the surface and the physical characteristics of the deposit. Mining operations progress in a four-step process, which includes clear and grub, drilling and blasting, overburden removal, and ore production. In the development phase, drainage and water control are established, and then the required infrastructure consisting of power, pipelines, and roadways is established.

Surface areas to be disturbed during the mining process are progressively cleared of vegetation using track dozers, as necessary.

Blasting at Tapira is conducted by Enaex Britante. The main explosive in use is emulsion and the blast design includes 4.5 to 5-inch diameter holes, in a 10-meter bench with a burden of 2.1 to 3.8 m and a spacing from 2.5 m up to 4.4 m. Typical powder factors range from 200 g/t up to around 330 g/t.st.

Waste is hauled to one of the 6 ex-pit overburden storage facilities, serving different areas and types of waste from the mine. Waste containing notably higher grades of titanium is hauled to one of the two titanium stockpiles. Overburden material is loaded by a Hitachi EX1200 or Hitachi EX2500 bucket-class hydraulic mining excavator loading CAT 777 90-tonne haul trucks or Komatsu 730E 180-tonne haul trucks. Dozers assist the loading fleet with general clean-up and material removal, as necessary. Overburden material is hauled to one of the ex-pit OSFs and dozers are used to push overburden down the sides of the OSFs on an as-needed basis. Total waste haulage routes using mine access ramps will vary over the life of the operation but generally range from about 3 km to 8 km.

Primary ore loading operations use bucket-class hydraulic mining excavators loading CAT 777 end-dump haul trucks of 90-t capacity. The excavators are supplemented by dozers. Ore material is hauled up the active mining face and ex-pit to the beneficiation plant. Total ore haulage routes using mine access ramps will vary over the life of the operation but range from about 2.7 km to 7.8 km. Ore material is unloaded at a stockpile at the beneficiation plant where is it further handled by beneficiation plant front-end loaders. After it is dropped at the beneficiation plant, the ore material is crushed, sized, and stockpiled for further beneficiation.

Current Tapira Mine life is approximately 36 years, ending in 2057, with an average ROM ore production rate of 13.0 Mtpy (dry) resulting in annual concentrate production of about 2.0 Mtpy.

The operational pit will have benches that are 12-15 m wide by 10 m high to match the digging profiles of the selected excavators. Split benches are also incorporated into the mine design at a height of 5 m, and decoupling berms are incorporated into the mine design for geotechnical stability, as needed. The face angles and overall slope angles vary by geotechnical sector. Haul roads will have a minimum width of 15 m and a maximum ramp grade of 8%.

The current fleet consists of approximately 44 trucks and will increase to a maximum of 68 in 2024. The fleet size decreases in the following years and generally remains around 30-46 for the remainder of the mine plan. The excavator fleet size is generally between 6 and 10 excavators, with 3 excavators assigned to ore and a variable amount of excavators used for waste removal depending on the overburden removal requirements.

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CMT’s (Tapira Mining Complex) process is a fairly typical one. Ore first goes through primary, secondary and tertiary crushing and is then sized to separate friable and granulated ore. Both go through grinding, magnetic separation, desliming and flotation. 4% of the granulated ore is magnetite while the friable ore has 10%. In the desliming phase, the granulated ore loses another 4% due to slimes while the friable ore loses 16%. The slimes from the friable line become an ultrafine concentrate and are shipped, via lorry transport, to the chemical complex Uberaba. The flotation phase sees 14% of the granulated ore and 37% of the friable ore going to tailings. The two concentrates are then mixed, regrinded and sent via pipeline to Uberaba.

At Tapira produced concentrate contains 35.4% of P2O5.