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Spain
Cobre Las Cruces Mine

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 Location:
5 km SE from Gerena, Spain

  Regional Office:
Carretera SE-3410 – Km. 4,100 Gerena – Sevilla
Spain
41860
Phone  ...  Subscription required
Fax+34-955-783-241
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  • Overview
  • Owners
  • Geology
  • Mining
  • Processing
  • Production
  • Reserves
  • Costs & Financials
  • Fleet
  • Personnel
  • Filings & News

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Overview

StageProduction
Mine TypeTailings
Commodities
  • Copper
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
Processing
  • Atmospheric Leach (AL)
  • Agitated tank (VAT) leaching
  • Solvent Extraction & Electrowinning
Mine Life2022
2020 was the final year of production for the open-pit. In the beginning of 2021, ore in surface was processed. Current mine life has been extended through the re-processing of high grade tailings which commenced in February 2021 and is expected to continue until the end of 2022.
Latest NewsFirst Quantum Reports Production Resumption at Cobre Las Cruces     February 1, 2019


Owners & OPERATOR

Source: p. 8, 45
CompanyInterestOwnership
First Quantum Minerals Ltd. 100 % Indirect
Cobre Las Cruces, S.A. (operator) 100 % Direct
Cobre Las Cruces S.A. is the owner and operator of the Cobre Las Cruces mine in Spain. Cobre Las Cruces S.A. is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of the First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

Deposit Type

  • VMS
  • Vein / narrow vein


Summary:

The Las Cruces deposit is located within the Iberian Pyrite Belt and classed as a Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VHMS) deposit. VHMS mineralisation results from precipitation of metals associated with circulating hydrothermal fluids in volcanically active sub-marine areas. The metals precipitate as sulphides (pyrite/phyrrohtite with variable base metal sulphides such as chalcopyrite, sphalerite and galena) and are inter-layered to varying degrees with volcanic sediments.

The Las Cruces deposit, as per many other VHMS deposits, is characterised by a dipping massive sulphide horizon underlain by a stockwork vein system which are both hosted within shales and felsic volcanics. However, at Las Cruces, post deposition tectonism uplifted the deposit, exposing it to erosion and weathering with partial oxidation of some of the primary sulphides. This resulted in a copper leached gossan, which retained the relatively immobile gold and silver and overly the secondary sulphide horizons. The zones of primary sulphide mineralisation are the source of the current gossan and secondary sulphide zones and are key horizons for defining continuous volumes of similar geology and metal tenor. The zones of gossan, secondary sulphide, primary sulphide and stockwork are used as key domains for Mineral Resource estimation.

Mineralisation is characterised by a notable iron oxide gossan which occurs directly above a welldeveloped, flat lying secondary sulphide zone followed by an underlying north dipping (40 degrees) primary massive sulphide zone. The economically important secondary sulphide (HC) zone is about 150 m below surface.

The Gossan Zone is a 10 m to 20 m thick sub-horizontal iron stained oxide zone, leached of copper and sulphur, but contains relatively high levels of gold, silver and lead. While the contained Gossan metals are not recoverable from the current copper leaching and electro winning processing facilities at Las Cruces there is nevertheless a reasonable expectation that they are economic.

A thin (less than 5 m thick) Depleted Zone (DZ), containing variable but moderate copper mineralisation, represents a transition between the overlying Gossan Zone and the underlying secondary sulphide mineralisation. The DZ consists of a layer of sandy, pyritic material.

The underlying secondary sulphide mineralisation, known as the High Copper Main Zone (HC), has high copper grades due to supergene alteration of primary copper sulphides to secondary copper sulphides as well as from leaching copper from sulphides originally located in the overlying oxidised Gossan Zone. The HC zone has mostly chalcocite with minor bornite and covellite. Mineralisation strikes approximately 1,000 m east west and ranges from 40 m to 300 m wide in the north south direction with an average thickness of 40 m. Cobre Las Cruces Mineral Resources is comprised mostly of HC mineralisation.

A small secondary sulphide zone, known as the High Copper Small Zone (HC4), measures 200 m east west, 100 m north south and is on average 20 m thick. The HC4 mineralisation dips at 40 degrees west- north-west and is located directly below HC and PMS. HC4 orientation is due to remobilisation of copper along a structural fault zone having a similar orientation. While HC4 has similar copper grades to HC, it has been interpreted as a separate domain due to its distinct shape and orientation. Copper mineralisation is comprised mainly of covellite with chalcocite and digenite filling veins and gaps.

The Primary Massive Sulphide (PMS) zone underlies the HC zone and dips to the north at 40 degrees. PMS is approximately 1,000 m along strike and while still not completely delineated (open at depth), is approximately 500 m down dip. The primary massive sulphide is on average 30 m to 40 m thick and is characterised by pyrite intergrown with sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite as well as minor enargite, tennanite and tetrahedrite. Weakly fractured, faulted or jointed zones of PMS have provided traps for precipitation of thin chalcocite and bornite-covellite occurrences from infiltrating copper rich fluids associated with the secondary supergene process.

The lowermost zone of mineralisation underlies the PMS, HC and HC4 zones as an irregular Stockwork (STWK) of inter-connnected pyrite veins and veinlets with locally high copper and zinc grades.


Mining Methods

  • Truck & Shovel / Loader


Summary:

Mining of the Secondary orebody in the Cobre Las Cruces open pit was completed in August 2020 with the remaining ore stockpiled for processing between 2020 and January 2021. Once the stockpile has been exhausted, low-grade copper tailings waste will be treated for approximately 24 months. The recoverability of the tailings waste has been tested successfully during a one week processing campaign in 2020.

During 2020, Cobre Las Cruces used conventional open pit mining methods, based upon hydraulic shovels and trucks, with drilling and blasting in the lower marls and ore zones. The project has a relatively high stripping ratio supported by the high grade ore. Cobre Las Cruces uses contract miners for all mine production.

In 2021 the work mainly will be focused in restoration activities and mining the tailing installation (IET).


Crushing and Grinding


Processing

  • Atmospheric Leach (AL)
  • Agitated tank (VAT) leaching
  • Solvent Extraction & Electrowinning

Flow Sheet: Subscription required

Summary:

The ore processing facility is designed to operate 365 days per year, 24 hours per day and process 1.5 Mtpa of ore to produce 72,000 tpa of cathode copper. The ore from the open pit mine ranges in grade from 5% to 10% copper and the design grade is 6.02% Cu. The copper in the ore is primarily found in chalcocite with some minor amounts found in chalcopyrite, tennantite-tetrahedrite complex, and enargite.

The metallurgical plant relies on an atmospheric leaching process to recover copper from the rich secondary sulphide chalcocite mineralisation. A unique feature of the plant is the use of eight OKTOP agitated reactor tanks to dissolve the copper under conditions of high temperature and high acidity. Oxygen is also added into the reactors to complete the reaction. The feed to the leaching reactor tanks is mined ore that has passed through three stages of crushing, a single stage of grinding and has then been thickened to eliminate as much process water as possible and three m ........

Recoveries & Grades:

CommodityParameter20202019201820172016201520142013
Copper Recovery Rate, %  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
Copper Head Grade, % 4.354.174.955.15.25.25.16.2
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Production:

CommodityUnits2021202020192018201720162015
Copper t  ......  Subscription required ^  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required70,73873,66473,64370,029
All production numbers are expressed as cathode. ^ Guidance / Forecast.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Operational Metrics:

Metrics202020192018201720162015
Ore tonnes mined  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required1,682 kt2,422 kt1,330 kt1,537 kt
Waste  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required14,936 kt14,589 kt13,644 kt15,459 kt
Annual production capacity  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required72,000 t of copper cathode72,000 t of copper cathode
Tonnes processed  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required1,544 kt1,619 kt1,538 kt1,500 kt
Annual processing capacity  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required1.5 Mt
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Reserves at December 31, 2020:
The entire inventory listed is stockpiled non-primary sulphide ore. At current processing rates the ore stockpile will be exhausted by the end of January 2021.

Mineral Reserve Statement reported based upon at $2.75/lb Cu price and using a 1% Cu cut-off grade.

CategoryTonnage CommodityGrade
Proven & Probable 0.14 Mt Copper 2.11 %

Commodity Production Costs:

CommodityUnits202020192018201720162015
All-in sustaining costs (AISC) Copper USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required 1.16 / lb 1.06 / lb 1.01 / lb 1.18 / lb
C1 cash costs Copper USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required 0.9 / lb 0.86 / lb 0.81 / lb 0.9 / lb
C3 fully allocated costs Copper USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required 2.25 / lb 2.15 / lb 1.83 / lb 1.93 / lb
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Financials:

Units202120202019201820172016
Capital expenditures (planned) M USD  ......  Subscription required
Capital expenditures M USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required34  22   20  
Revenue M USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required470  461   358  
Operating Income M USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required120  102   69  
Gross profit M USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required116  106   59  
EBITDA M USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required326  316   216  
Subscription required - Subscription is required


Heavy Mobile Equipment as of June 30, 2015:
HME TypeModelSizeQuantityLeased or
Contractor
Excavator ....................... Subscription required 100 t 7 Leased
Loader (FEL) ....................... Subscription required 2 Leased
Truck (haul) ....................... Subscription required 40 t 19 Leased
Truck (haul) ....................... Subscription required 95 t 13 Leased
Truck (haul) ....................... Subscription required 90 t 30 Leased
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Mine Management:

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Mar 31, 2021
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Mar 31, 2021
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Mar 31, 2021
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Mar 31, 2021
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jun 9, 2020
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Mar 31, 2021
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Staff:

Total WorkforceYear
Subscription required 2017
Subscription required 2016
Subscription required 2015

Corporate Filings & Presentations:

DocumentYear
................................... Subscription required 2020
................................... Subscription required 2020
................................... Subscription required 2020
................................... Subscription required 2019
................................... Subscription required 2019
................................... Subscription required 2019
Financial Review 2018
Press Release 2018
Annual Report 2017
Annual Report 2016
Annual Report 2015
Technical Report 2015
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

News:

NewsDate
First Quantum Reports Production Resumption at Cobre Las Cruces February 1, 2019

Aerial view:

Subscription required - Subscription is required.

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