Barplats’ preference is not to establish a new TSF (Tailing Storage Facility) and so the strategy is for the tailings from the plant to be placed back onto the footprint of the existing TSF while it is being exploited. The TSF has been divided into six areas as part of a strategy to exploit the total volume of tailings material.
Hydraulic mining and Mechanical loading of material on the north-western section will start simultaneously. The associated tailings from the plant following processing will be re- deposited using the cyclone method.
Mechanical loading is necessary in the coarse area of the TSF where material is chemically bonded in layers, which is not able to be hydraulically broken down to the minus 3mm fraction, which is the maximum plant feed size.
Mining Methodology.
Modelling was used to determine the most suitable technique for mining the TSF. The methodology involves continual and simultaneous cleaning, construction, hydraulic mining and deposition activities.
Certain areas need to be excavated using mechanised equipment (i.e. coarser harder material) while other sections of the TSF can be mined hydraulically (i.e. finer softer material).
Mechanised Operations.
Coarse material will be excavated, using a dry mechanised mining method.
The mechanically mined material will be trucked to a scalping screen, which will dry screen the vegetation from the material, after which it will pass thro ........
