Large Copper Concentrator Designs and Execution A review of the past three decades of some of our projects and how the capital allocation has changed, together with other influential factors and current challenges *D.G.Meadows1, I.Sanhueza2, E.Roselt3, E.Wingate3, F.Santander2 1 Bechtel Mining and Metals, USA, (*Presenting author: dmeadows@bechtel.com) 2 Bechtel Mining and Metals, Chile 3 Bechtel Mining and Metals, Australia ABSTRACT As copper head grades across many parts of the world continue to decline, there has been a progressive increase in mining project throughputs to maintain suitable copper metal output. Currently a number of projects under analysis are evaluating processing rates in the range of 150 to over 300 ktpd. With these increases in throughput the interaction with water infrastructure requirements and tailings storage are extremely important. Coupled with this, in general, many of todays projects are located in more remote and logistically challenging locations. Bechtel Mining and Metals has had a long history of developing some of the leading copper industry projects and continues to work closely with customers to unlock some of these more challenging future projects. This paper reflects on the development of some of the past signature projects that were executed and what are some of the key influential factors in the execution of projects as of today. Some pertinent data as percentages on the capital cost allocation is described for past and emerging projects as well as the project drivers, together with the key topics of power, water, tailings storage and supporting infrastructure KEYWORDS Copper, Concentrator, Capex, Capital Intensity, Cost Benchmarking, Designs, Location, 1. INTRODUCTION As copper head grades across many parts of the world continue to decline, there has been a progressive increase in mining project throughputs to maintain suitable copper metal output. Currently, several projects under evaluation are considering processing rates in the range of 150 to over 300 ktpd. With these increases in throughput, comes the increased interaction with water infrastructure, power infrastructure requirements and tailings storage. Coupled with this, in general, many of today’s projects are in more remote and logistically challenging locations than their earlier predecessors.
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