MacNamara, L, Khoshniaz, N & Hashemi, S 2011, 'The Sarcheshmeh thickened tailings disposal project', in R Jewell & AB Fourie (eds), Paste 2011: Proceedings of the 14th International Seminar on Paste and Thickened Tailings, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, pp. 237-243, https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_rep/1104_22_MacNamara
(https://papers.acg.uwa.edu.au/p/1104_22_MacNamara/)
Abstract: The National Iranian Copper Industries Company owns and operates three concentrators in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The largest of these three operations is the Sarcheshmeh complex, which has been in operation since the early 1980s and now treats over 65,000 tpd of copper ore. An expansion to 96,000 tpd is planned to come on stream in the next few years.
Water is a limited resource in this very arid area the water management of the whole operation was reviewed when the expansion was proposed. A thickened tailings disposal scheme was proposed using twelve 24 m Eimco deep cone thickeners. This scheme would increase water recovery and allowed the existing tailings facility to be expanded with minimal cost to provide capacity for the next 30 years production.
This paper outlines the design challenges associated with an installation of multiple thickeners and the unique solutions that have been used to provide a flexible plant design.