The Kapan project is located in southern Armenia within the relatively under-explored Lesser Caucasus. This mountain range is part of the extensive Tethyan orogenic belt and is located within a paleo-Tethys suture zone.

Mineralisation within the Shahumyan deposit is characterized by narrow veins (0.2 – 2.0 m), steeply dipping and striking approximately east-west that host a polymetallic (Cu-Zn-Pb AuAg) mineral assemblage. Veins are often found in networks and “zones” that may be shadowed by a wide zone of argillic alteration and disseminated mineralisation. Such zones can be as wide as 25 m (for example vein 5) but typically are 10-15 m wide and appear most common in higher elevations within the deposit.

Mineralisation is primarily semi-massive to massive sphalerite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, galena and bornite and occasionally, found with the latter mineral assemblage of tennantite, tetrahedrite, bornite, enargite, chalcocite, covellite, Pb, Au, Ag, Bi tellurides and native gold and silver (recorded during petrographic analysis). Gangue minerals present are typically quartz, calcite, gypsum, anhydrite and rhodochrosite. Veins exhibit a variety of textures which relate to the numerous stages of mineralisation and tectonism that have occurred.

Access into the mine is via two decline ramps, one to access the south section of the mine, and one to access the north section. Each decline has a portal at 780 mL (all levels are expressed as metres above sea level). Previous access into the mine was via vertical shafts. These shafts are still evident, but no longer provide any facility.

Crosscuts are developed from each of the declines to intersect the veins at approximately 90° in plan. Mine levels are at 10 m vertical intervals. Veins are near vertical. As each economic vein is intersected, a vein drive is developed along the vein to open up working faces.

Sub-level open stopes are opened up along the vein drives. Each stope is typically 40 m high and 60 m along strike. Production blast holes are drilled upwards from the lower sub-level, and consist typically of 2-3 parallel holes. Current drilling is with Tamrock bar-mounted pneumatic rigs and a recently introduced Atlas Copco Simba drill jumbo. Stope holes are blasted into an initial stope raise and the stope is opened up from there. Rib pillars are left between stopes, and crown pillars are left between 40 m vertical stopes.

Run-of-mine material (ROM) from the north section is hauled out of the north decline, and transported and tipped by trucks onto the main stockpile area. The ROM from the south section is hauled and tipped in the stockpile area, again by truck. Material from either section is rehandled with a Cat 996 loader into the feed bunker during the crushing stage, while managing any oversize rocks for size reduction by a mobile rockbreaker as required.

The primary crusher is a 1200 mm x 900 mm jaw, with the unit discharge (at -150 mm) feeding directly into the secondary cone crusher for reduction to 75 mm; this product is the direct feed into the KMDT 2200 tertiary cone crusher for a reduction to a nominal -25 mm. The crushed product is the feed to the grinding circuit, and is conveyed to one of two storage bunkers, each of approximately a 1,000 t storage capacity.

Classifier overflow is fed to the copper flash flotation circuit. Tails from the flash flotation are passed through a second stage hydrocyclone classification with tertiary grinding through a ball mill in a closed circuit. Hydrocyclone overflow is feed to the copper flotation circuit, comprising of 2 rougher and 2 scavenger cells. The rougher concentrate is cleaned in the 3 stage cleaner circuit, while the scavenger concentrate is combined with the first cleaner tails and returns to the head of the roughers.

Copper scavenger tails is the feed to the zinc circuit, comprising of 6 rougher and 8 scavenger cells. The rougher concentrate is cleaned in the 3 stage cleaner circuit while the scavenger concentrate is combined with the first cleaner tails and returns to the head of the roughers.