The El Pilar mine is in the pre-production phase of mining and has not yet begun full operation.
Mining of the El Pilar copper deposit will be accomplished by conventional open pit methods, with blasting of ore and waste along with shovel and truck (shovel/truck) loading and hauling. Waste material will be routed to one of two overburden storage facilities (OSF) and ore will be routed to the leach pad.
Mining operations progress in a multi-step process, which includes on-going top-soil removal and pre-production work, drilling and blasting, overburden removal and OSF maintenance, ore production, and reclamation.
Drilling & Blasting
The primary drilling fleet consists of diesel-powered drills with a pull-down force of about 60,000 pounds or about 27,300 kg drill. Material will be drilled with 229 mm diameter holes on 10 m mining benches.
Shift productivities are estimated at 27,500 tonnes for ore and waste, and 25,900 tonnes for overburden. Annual production per drill is estimated at 20.3 million tonnes (Mt) for ore and waste, and 19.1 Mt for overburden.
The main explosive planned for use is ammonium nitrate/fuel oil (ANFO). The blast design for both ore and waste includes an approximately 8 m burden and 8 m spacing. A 9” hole diameter will be used, with a 10 m bench height.
The productivity calculations are also based on a powder factor of 0.3 kilograms per cubic meter (kg/m3 ) for ore and the waste. Dri ........
