GEOMECHANICS / GROUND CONTROL

Orvana restarts El Valle Plant after rock fall

Spain-focused gold-copper producer Orvana Minerals has restarted production at its El Valle Plant in northern Spain following a geotechnical failure at a legacy open pit wall.

 El Valle from above

El Valle from above

The company had to stop the plant in mid-August after a rock fall impacted east the sector of the tailings storage facility.

Orvana said Safety, Environmental, and Operational standards were carefully verified and upheld after the incident, and it has now assessed the corrective measures related to the tailings pumping circuits.

Juan Gavidia, CEO of Orvana Minerals stated: "The OroValle team's prompt reaction to this matter was instrumental to make this stoppage period operationally safe, environmentally sound, and economically brief."

The geotechnical failure in the legacy open pit wall sector continues under review, the company added.

The legacy open pit wall sector, where the failure occurred, has been under review in the past, which caused the relocation of a district road running at the top of wall in question. The company is working, with dedicated internal and external teams, to design a definitive geotechnical wall treatment for the long term, now that the district road has been finally relocated.

Underground facilities are unrelated to the legacy open pit wall, so mining activities continue operating under normal conditions. Plant facilities are also physically unrelated, except for tailings pumping circuits. 

 Orvana's assets consist of the producing El Valle and Carlés gold-copper-silver mines in northern Spain, the Don Mario gold-silver property in Bolivia, currently in care and maintenance, and the Taguas property located in Argentina. 

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