The Salamanca project is made up of three distinct deposits which will be mined independently of each other, namely:
- Retortillo (including the Santidad satellite deposit);
- Zona 7; and
- Alameda.
Retortillo and Zona 7 will be mined sequentially with ore being processed in a common processing facility while Alameda will be mined in parallel with the other sites.
All of the deposits being considered are shallow (ranging between 0m to 160m depth below surface) and massive. Due to the depth and geometry of the deposit, the selected mining method is conventional drill blast truck and shovel open pit mining. Strip ratios will vary per deposit as follows:
-Retortillo: 2.47 tonnes of waste per tonne of ore;
-Santidad: 1.36 tonnes of waste per tonne of ore;
-Zona 7: 1.13 tonnes of waste per tonne of ore;
-Alameda: 1.08 tonnes of waste per tonne of ore.
Retortillo
The deposit is shallow (between 0 to 140m) and massive, the pre-strip is therefore low with a stripping ratio 2.2 (t to t). Due to the depth and geometry of the deposit, the selected mining method is Open Pit mining ensuring a good recovery of the deposit. Some of the pre-strip material will be used as construction material. Access to the pit will be by conventional open pit ramps, 25m in width that enables access for 100 t trucks.
Zona 7
The deposit is shallow (between 0 to 100m) and massive, the pre-strip is therefore low with a stri ........
