The mining and processing operations incorporate conventional dry mining, followed by wet screening and gravity separation.
Many of the pits will be mined to a basement level that is below the natural groundwater table and dewatering will be required to facilitate dry mining conditions. Where the dewatering rate exceeds the project’s water demand, excess water will be returned to the aquifer via infiltration basins, and reinjection bores where required.
Mine voids will be backfilled progressively throughout the life-of-mine by tailings and overburden.
The Cataby deposit is predominantly a large undeveloped high strip, low grade ilmenite deposit. Topsoil and subsoil will be pre-stripped and stockpiled separately, or placed on areas undergoing rehabilitation. Overburden removed using a combination of scrapers, excavators and trucks, and stockpiled or placed directly into the mine void, or used for the construction of earthen bunds, infrastructure pads and internal roads.
Mining occur on a 24-hour, 7 days per week basis to an approximate depth of 60 m below ground level (mbgl). Mining will be conducted in 16 pit areas, with some pits being contiguous with each other. At least 2 pits mined concurrently.
The general sequence of mining operations is outlined below:
- vegetation clearing and topsoil / subsoil stripping;
- overburden removal, followed by extraction of mineral sands ore using dozers, or excavators and ........
