Grade control and segregation at New Gold’s New Afton block cave operation, Kamloops, British Columbia

Authors: Henning, MG Download Paper Open access courtesy of:

DOI https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_rep/1815_08_Henning

Cite As:
Henning, MG 2018, 'Grade control and segregation at New Gold’s New Afton block cave operation, Kamloops, British Columbia', in Y Potvin & J Jakubec (eds), Caving 2018: Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Block and Sublevel Caving, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, pp. 141-148, https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_rep/1815_08_Henning



Abstract:
New Gold's New Afton Cu–Au–Ag block cave mine is located near Kamloops, British Columbia and is composed of four production blocks situated along the deposit plunge. As a result of mineralisation contacts and geometry, certain production drawpoints are designed in waste or low-grade ore targeting higher column ore. When underground production is outperforming milling rates, the operation yields the ability to segregate waste and intermediate grade (IG) material for stockpiling. The benefits of stockpiling waste and IG include increased metal production, as well as lowering both process water demand and tailings storage requirements. Continued studies are ongoing to further refine and optimise segregation efficiencies at the New Afton mine and include live belt copper scanning technology combined with an automated diverter. The goal is to minimise rehandling, reduce waste/intermediate grade/ore blending and further maximise profits.

Keywords: segregation, conveyor analyser, production, cash flow

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