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Brazil
MCSA Complex (Pilar Mine, Surubim Mine, Vermelhos Mine)

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 Location:
385 km NNW from Salvador, Brazil

  Regional Office:
Fazenda Caraíba, s/n - Rodovia Francisco Pignatary
Jaguarari
Brazil
BA 48967-000
Phone  ...  Subscription required
Fax+55-74-3532-1093
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  • Overview
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  • Geology
  • Mining
  • Processing
  • Production
  • Reserves
  • Costs & Financials
  • Fleet
  • Personnel
  • Filings & News

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Overview

StageProduction
Mine TypeOpen Pit / Underground
Commodities
  • Copper
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
  • Sub-level stoping
  • Vertical Crater Retreat
Processing
  • Flotation
Mine Life2025
Successful full restart of MCSA’s mining and processing operations in February of 2017.
Latest NewsEro Copper Reports Fourth Quarter and 2018 Year End Results     March 14, 2019


Owners & OPERATOR

Source: p. 9
CompanyInterestOwnership
Ero Copper Corp. 99.6 % Indirect
Mineração Caraíba S.A. (operator) 100 % Direct
Ero Copper Corp. (“Ero Copper, “Ero” or the “Company”) is a Vancouver-based copper mining company whose primary asset is a 99.6% interest in Mineração Caraíba S.A. (“Mineração Caraíba” or “MCSA”), a Brazilian mining company operating in the Curaçá Valley, northeastern Bahia State, Brazil.

Within the mining concessions, MCSA holds 100% legal and beneficial ownership.

Deposit Type

  • Magmatic


Summary:

Mineralization within the Curaçá Valley is hosted by a series of irregular-shaped, layered or zoned mafic-ultramafic intrusive bodies of Archean to Proterozoic age. Determination of genetic models for the deposition of copper has been complicated by the multiple episodes of metamorphism and deformation. These deposits are generally believed to be magmatic sulphide deposits and interpreted to be similar to those found in O’okiep, South Africa, Mayer and Barnes (1996).

The MCSA Mining Complex’s active mining and development projects are located within the Curaçá Valley mafic-ultramafic complex, located within the Curaçá high-grade metamorphic gneissic terrain, a part of the Salvador-Curaçá orogen, a northern extension of the Atlantic Coast Granulite Belt in the São Francisco Craton.

The mines are located in a high-grade metamorphic terrain, composed by gneiss and migmatite that were intruded by mafic, ultramafic and granitic rocks. The mafic and ultramafic intrusions are mainly composed by pyroxenite, melanorite, gabbro and serpentinite. Dibasic dykes and quartz veins crosscut the metamorphic and intrusive units.

The mafic and ultramafic units as well as the granitic intrusions are oriented north-south with steeply-dipping. The gneissic country rocks show fold-interference patterns and shear-zone structures suggesting several superimposed deformation events. The mineralized bodies have two preferential directions: N-S in the west part of the deposit and NW-SE in the east portion of the deposit.

Mineralized intrusive bodies are commonly affected by various alteration assemblages including potassic (phlogopite and K-feldspar) and calc-silicate (epidote and lesser garnet). Mineralized intrusive bodies generally trend 350° to 0° and dip from 50° to 90° to the west.

Mineralization is composed of copper sulphides in the form of chalcopyrite, bornite and rarely chalcocite that occur in three different styles: disseminated, remobilized and massive or brecciated. Minor ore minerals include pyrite, pyrrhotite and magnetite. The sulphides are heterogeneously distributed in the pyroxenite, melanorite, variably fresh or altered. The sulphides are present in variable concentrations in the form of lenses that trend N-S, dip steeply to the west and range from less than 1 m up to 20 m in thickness. The mineralized bodies occur in sharp contact with migmatites and generally conform to the main foliation of the host-rock. However, evidence of mineralized bodies that cross-cut the foliation are observed at the local scale. Strongly foliated sub-vertical anastomosing shears appear to break and transpose the flanks of folds.

Four genetic models have been presented, which has the most available information:
- sulphide segregation from mantle material;
- a hydrothermal model;
- metamorphic de-sulfidation from primary magmatic minerals; and
- orthopyroxene fractionation from a dioritic protolith.

If a sulphide segregation model is used for Caraíba, the mineralization is confined to sills derived from a tholeiitic magma that has undergone magmatic differentiation through crystal fractionation after emplacement. The absence of dunite and peridotite supports this interpretation as these crystals would have settled to the bottom of the sill and separated from the norite and pyroxenite layers. Above the peridotite and dunite, dense magma would form pyroxenite and norite with copper-rich zones, while less dense magma would result in barren gabbro, norite and anorthosite. Emplacement is thought to have occurred at mid- crustal levels.


Mining Methods

  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
  • Sub-level stoping
  • Vertical Crater Retreat


Summary:

The Pilar UG Mine has previously employed or currently employs the following mining methods: Sublevel Stoping and VRM. Sublevel Stoping, no longer planned for future development, is a method whereby the ore is blasted by fan drilling or in a parallel array. Ore is removed from the stope after it is blasted at a reinforced draw-point leaving an open stope. VRM is a method whereby the mine is divided into vertical zones of approximately 50m consisting of two operational levels – one for drilling and one for extraction. In the Pilar UG Mine, mined stopes are filled with cemented paste, comprised of mill tailings and approximately 4% cement by weight, to improve mine recovery and geotechnical stability.

Stope size within the Pilar UG Mine varies according to the geotechnical conditions at depth due to magnitude of induced stress and rock mass classification, but, on average, stopes have the following dimensions:
- in non-faulted zones: 10m width x 20m length x 35m height; and
- in fault zones, the size of stopes is reduced to: 10m width x 15m length x 35m height.

The Vermelhos UG Mine, currently under development, will utilize the SOS method due to the dips, plunge and thicknesses of the ore- bodies and competence of the host rock. Variations of this method are planned for the high grade central portion of the deposit to maximize mining recoveries through the utilization of CRF.

The Vermelhos UG Mine design entails mining panels of up to 35m in vertical dimension without the need of rib pillars to support the open excavation. The high grade areas will be mined using subhorizontal stopes. In these areas panel size has been reduced to 25m and will be filled in using CRF to maximize mining recovery and limit in-situ stress. Panel size and thickness has been constrained by the geotechnical design parameters as determined by geotechnical core logging and numerical modeling.

In both the Pilar UG Mine and the Vermelhos UG Mine operations, ore from production stopes is hauled via 30 tonne capacity trucks loaded by Load-Haul-Dump vehicles (“LHDs”), while waste rock from underground is hauled by 25 tonne capacity trucks to underground temporary storage (remuck bays) or to surface waste stockpiles.

The Surubim OP Mine is a past producing open- pit mine that is currently being re-opened for new open pit mining activity. Ore will be hauled by 35 tonne capacity production trucks from the bottom of the pit where it will be stored in temporary surface piles.

Ore from the Surubim OP Mine and the Vermelhos UG Mine will be loaded by conventional loaders and hauled by 70 tonne highway trucks to the Caraíba Mill, as performed in past producing open pit mines forming part of the MCSA Mining Complex.


Crushing and Grinding


Processing

  • Flotation

Flow Sheet: Subscription required

Summary:

The Caraíba Mill (MCSA) is of a conventional three-stage crush, milling and flotation design. Three-stage crushing is used to prepare a nominal 12.5mm crushed feed for the ball milling circuit prior to being sent to flotation for the recovery of copper-bearing minerals.

There are two primary crushing operations. Ore from open pit mining is delivered to the surface primary cone crusher, featuring a nominal capacity of 1,600t/h. Ore from underground mining is crushed underground by one of two primary jaw crushers with a nominal capacity of 400t/h each. Feed enters the primary crushing operations with maximum size of 48” and is discharged with maximum size of 10”.

The blended product of the primary crushing operations is transported via conveyors to an apron feeder stockpile with a capacity of 12,000 tonnes and fed to one of two secondary cone crushers (seven-foot (“ft.”) standard Symons; 1,400t/h of capacity each) set to 28mm aperture. The secondary discharge feeds ........

Recoveries & Grades:

CommodityParameter2020201920182017
Copper Recovery Rate, %  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
Copper Head Grade, % 2.15 ^1.931.561.31
Copper Concentrate Grade, %  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
^ Guidance / Forecast.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Production:

CommodityUnits2020201920182017
Copper M lbs  ......  Subscription required ^  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required44
All production numbers are expressed as metal in concentrate. ^ Guidance / Forecast.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Operational Metrics:

Metrics201920182017
Total tonnes mined  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
Tonnes processed  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
Ore tonnes mined  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Reserves at October 17, 2018:

CategoryTonnage CommodityGradeContained Metal
Proven 13,591 kt Copper 1.9 % 258.8 kt
Probable 4,846 kt Copper 1.73 % 84 kt
Proven & Probable 18,437 kt Copper 1.86 % 342.8 kt
Measured 28,506 kt Copper 1.76 % 501.8 kt
Indicated 13,921 kt Copper 1.6 % 222.6 kt
Measured & Indicated 42,428 kt Copper 1.71 % 724.4 kt
Inferred 6,328 kt Copper 1.29 % 81.4 kt

Commodity Production Costs:

CommodityUnits201920182017
Credits (by-product) Copper USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required -0.09 / lb
C1 cash costs Copper USD  ......  Subscription required†  ......  Subscription required† 1.45 / lb†
† Net of By-Product.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Operating Costs:

Units201920182017
OP mining costs ($/t mined) BRL 11.715.412.7
UG mining costs ($/t mined) BRL  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
Processing costs ($/t milled) BRL  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Financials:

Units201920182017
Revenue M USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
Gross profit M USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax Income M USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
After-tax Income M USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
EBITDA M USD  ......  Subscription required
Operating Cash Flow M USD  ......  Subscription required
Subscription required - Subscription is required


Heavy Mobile Equipment as of October 17, 2018:
HME TypeModelSizeQuantityStatus
Backhoe 1 Proposed
Bulldozer ....................... Subscription required Existing
Cable bolter 2 Existing
Concrete sprayer 3 Existing
Drill 1 Existing
....................... Subscription required 1 Proposed
....................... Subscription required 1 Proposed
....................... Subscription required 2 Proposed
Jumbo 5 Existing
Loader 9 Existing
Loader 4.5 t Existing
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required 6 Proposed
....................... Subscription required 1 Proposed
Rock bolter 6 Existing
Rockbreaker Existing
....................... Subscription required 1 Proposed
Truck (haul) 70 t Existing
Truck (haul) 35 t Existing
Truck (water) Existing
Underground truck 25 t 19 Existing
....................... Subscription required 18 Proposed
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Mine Management:

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required May 6, 2020
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required May 6, 2020
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required May 6, 2020
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required May 6, 2020
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required May 6, 2020
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Staff:

EmployeesContractorsTotal WorkforceYear
Subscription required Subscription required Subscription required 2019
Subscription required Subscription required Subscription required 2018
Subscription required Subscription required Subscription required 2017

Corporate Filings & Presentations:

DocumentYear
................................... Subscription required 2020
................................... Subscription required 2019
................................... Subscription required 2019
................................... Subscription required 2019
................................... Subscription required 2019
................................... Subscription required 2018
................................... Subscription required 2018
................................... Subscription required 2018
................................... Subscription required 2018
Annual Information Form 2017
Annual Report 2017
Technical Report 2017
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

News:

NewsDate
Ero Copper Reports Fourth Quarter and 2018 Year End Results March 14, 2019
Ero Copper Corp. Guidance - Increasing 2018 Production Forecast January 9, 2018

Aerial view:

Subscription required - Subscription is required.

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