The mining operation concept for the Matupá Project is conventional open pit mining with a production schedule that provides an initial 0.4 Mt stock of ROM with 0.93 g/t Au content, equivalent to three months production. For commissioning purposes the Low-Grade ore will also be available as process plant feed.
The mine development is planned to allow access to those grade levels required to maximize gold production and provide operational flexibility by mining several benches simultaneously.
The waste rock comprises soil, saprolite, altered rock mass, and fresh rock. The planned excavation of these deposits is to drill and blast, with explosives, all fresh rock and 30% of saprolite. Load and haulage will be performed mainly by hydraulic excavators, backhoe configuration, a complement of front-end loaders, and on-road transportation by a fleet of trucks (vocational).
• A minimum mining width of 30 m on a 10 m-high bench has been used. The X1 pit will include a final bench access incorporating an operational mining width of 15 m to maximize access to the mineralized zone.
• The waste and ore benches will be mined as 5 m thick layers, leaving a designed 10 m maximum bench height.
• The ore and waste zones have been analyzed and it is possible to operate with a proper berm width and in-pit dumping operational space.
• The benches will have a slight decline from crest to the toe for the upper bench face slope, in the direction o ........
