Overview
Stage | Permitting |
Mine Type | Open Pit & Underground |
Commodities |
|
Mining Method |
- Truck & Shovel / Loader
- Sub-level stoping
- Blast Hole Stoping
- Cemented (undefined) backfill
- Unconsolidated hydraulic fill
- Undefined backfill
|
Mine Life | 15.6 years (as of Jan 1, 2022) |
On 23 February 2023, Atalaya announced the results from a new preliminary economic assessment for the Cerro Colorado, San Dionisio and San Antonio deposits at its Proyecto Riotinto.
The Riotinto PEA serves as a foundation for further optimisation, including the potential application of the E-LIX System.
Proyecto Riotinto includes the Cerro Colorado open pit mine and a modern 15Mtpa processing plant, which has the potential to become a processing hub from projects currently in the permitting stage. |
Source:
p. 116
The main operating subsidiary of Atalaya Mining Plc is the 100% owned Atalaya Riotinto Minera, S.L.U. which owns and operates Proyecto Riotinto.
Contractors
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Deposit Type
- VMS
- Breccia pipe / Stockwork
Summary:
Deposit Types
Rio Tinto is a Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide (VMS) deposit located in the IPB (Iberian Pyrite Belt), which forms part of the Hercynian orogenic belt.
Mineralization
In the Rio Tinto area, mineralization occurs in five separate zones along the anticline: San Dionisio, Cerro Colorado - Filón Sur - Filón Norte, and Planes-San Antonio. Mineralization is typical of the VMS deposits and occurs as three different types of mineralization: sulfide stockworks in the volcanic rocks, massive sulfide orebodies, generally, on top of the stockwork zones and/orintercalated with rocks of the transition series, and weathering products of the mentioned primary mineralization types which are represented by gossans and secondary enrichment zones. The latter are restricted to within 70 m of the surface (Palomero, 1990).
Sulfide Stockwork
The stockworks occur as irregular veins, fractures, and fissures filled with quartz and sulfides (pyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, sphalerite), magnetite, quartz, chlorite, calcite, and barite cutting the volcanic host rocks. The top of the stockwork marks the base of the massive sulfides. The veins become thicker towards the surface. Close to the massive sulfides, most stockworks are made up of veins with lesser amounts of strongly replaced volcanic rocks. The stockworks can extend up to 400 m downwards from the contact with the massive sulfides down to the basic volcanic unit.
There is a spatial z ........
Mining Methods
- Truck & Shovel / Loader
- Sub-level stoping
- Blast Hole Stoping
- Cemented (undefined) backfill
- Unconsolidated hydraulic fill
- Undefined backfill
Summary:
Mining has historically been completed through open pit and underground methods. The Cerro Colorado deposit will continue to be mined using open pit methods. The historic open pit for San Dionisio will be expanded, before continuing underground. Mining at the San Antonio deposit has been completed through underground methods in the past and will continue to be mined with underground methods. Underground mining is planned to be completed by underground sublevel stoping methods, with delayed backfill.
Open Pit Mining
Open pit mining will continue at Cerro Colorado and San Dionisio.
Cerro Colorado Mining is currently being conducted at the Cerro Colorado open pit using conventional open pit mining methods. Mining benches are on 10 m vertical intervals that are double benched to a total height of 20 m. Small- to medium-scale mining equipment are used to execute the development plan, including rock drills capable of drilling 102- to 127-mm-diameter blast holes, hydraulic excavators with bucket capacities of 6-14 m3 , offhighway trucks with 91-tonnes payload capacity, and suitably sized support equipment. Mining of the pit is being carried out by experienced metal mining contractors.
San Dionisio
Mining of the San Dionisio open pit will be conducted with the same methods, equipment, and contractors as Cerro Colorado.
There are old galleries and waste fill zones, as well as some other underground workings that were created by p ........
Flow Sheet:
Source:
Plant 15 Mtpa
In the primary crushing plant, 15 Mt/year of copper ore are processed from open-pit mining in two crushing lines, gyratory, and jaw crusher.
The gyratory crusher has a capacity of 1,700–2,200 t/h and processes 10 MT per year with a product size of P80 165 mm.
Similarly, the jaw crusher has a capacity of 700–900 t/h and processes 5 MT per year with a product size of P80 165 mm. The primary crushing product is fed into a live crushed ore stockpile with a capacity of approximately 126,000 tonnes.
Ore from the crushed ore stockpile is then fed into a conventional SAG Mill circuit that process 2,050 t/h. The SAG mill discharges through a trommel with a port opening of 12 mm and into the secondary ball mill circuit to further reduce the ore to a P80 of 160-200 µm. Secondary milling is followed by tertiary milling and cyclone classification in a closed circuit.
Re-grinding
The primary rougher concentrate and the rougher concentrate are pumped to the re-grinding stage, which has two re-grinding circuits operating in parallel. The first re-grind mill is a 15.5' x 21' (4.75 m x 6.4 m) ball mill with a 2,473 kW motor that operates in a closed circuit with dedicated hydrocyclones. A second 12.5´ x 15´ (3.8 m x 4.6 m) regrind ball mill with an installed power of 920 kW, has been refurbished and operates in a closed circuit with separate dedicated hydrocyclones.
Flow Sheet:
Summary:
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Source:
- subscription is required.
Reserves at October 31, 2022:
Mineral Resources: 0.14% Cu cut-off for Open-Pit, 35 $/tonne Cu cut-off Underground.
Category | OreType | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained Metal |
Measured & Indicated
|
In-Situ (OP)
|
233,294 kt
|
Copper
|
0.5 %
|
2,560,936 k lbs
|
Measured & Indicated
|
In-Situ (OP)
|
233,294 kt
|
Zinc
|
0.39 %
|
1,998,808 k lbs
|
Measured & Indicated
|
In-Situ (OP)
|
233,294 kt
|
Lead
|
0.08 %
|
407,354 k lbs
|
Inferred
|
In-Situ (OP)
|
4,946 kt
|
Copper
|
0.47 %
|
50,727 k lbs
|
Inferred
|
In-Situ (UG)
|
24,164 kt
|
Copper
|
1.16 %
|
618,527 k lbs
|
Inferred
|
In-Situ (OP)
|
4,946 kt
|
Zinc
|
0.22 %
|
23,510 k lbs
|
Inferred
|
In-Situ (UG)
|
24,164 kt
|
Zinc
|
2.18 %
|
1,158,398 k lbs
|
Inferred
|
In-Situ (OP)
|
4,946 kt
|
Lead
|
0.07 %
|
7,116 k lbs
|
Inferred
|
In-Situ (UG)
|
24,164 kt
|
Lead
|
0.8 %
|
426,344 k lbs
|
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