Mining Magazine > Panorama > New Komatsu equipment at Toledo mine

Panorama

Atlas Consolidated Mining & Development Corp. has reported the arrival at the Toledo mine site- operated by its subsidiary Carmen Copper Corp- of six newly purchased Komatsu 100t mining trucks and an additional 15m3 PC3000 hydraulic excavator to complement the existing fleet of open pit mining equipment.

These machines are currently being assembled and are expected to be at the operation within the next month. The added fleet will increase the rate of ore an overburden removal from the current 105,000t/d to 122,000t/d.

Atlas has also announced that Carmen Copper’s long-term power agreement with Toledo Power Corp will commence in July 2010, replacing existing higher-cost sourcing arrangements. As a consequence, the energy requirements of the company’s mining operations will be met on a 24-hour, stable basis for the next three to five years at a significantly lower cost than present arrangements which have restricted daily production of copper concentrates, particularly during peak production times.

Further, the installation of the 11.2MW twin set energy generating plant owned by Carmen Copper is almost complete and is currently undergoing test runs and commissioning. The emergency power generating facility will further improve the stability of power supply to the company’s mines.

The current mine and mill production rate which now averages 35,000t/d of ore was helped by the rehabilitation and operation of Carmen Concentrator’s seventh ball mill that was commissioned on May 14, 2010. With seven grinding units operating, Atlas believes that a milling capacity of 45,000t/d is achievable.