KEYWORDS Commingling: material generated by the mixing of crushed waste rock and dewatered tailings 1. INTRODUCTION Antamina needs to extend its mine life, which requires facilities such as new waste dumps, whose locations are increasingly distant from the mine, and new tailings storage sites, the latter of which have very high capital costs. Therefore, the Commingling project is submitted as a gamechanger solution to address this issue, allowing the postponement of raising the tailings dam and/or constructing new tailings sites, reducing the number of trucks needed to transport waste rock, and avoiding long haul distances, thus ensuring a more efficient operation and minimizing the costs associated with waste rock and tailings management. This innovative solution will provide benefits and minimize acid mine drainage by filling the voids in the waste rock with dewatered tailings, thereby displacing oxygen and limiting oxidation. The Commingling project consists of tailings dewatering through a cyclone–screened process, crushed waste rock transport, waste rock-tailings material transport, and its disposal in current and future dumps. 2. OBJECTIVES The objectives for the Commingling project are outlined below: 2.1 Strategic Objectives ● Enable the optimal development of Antamina's Life Extensions ● Explore alternatives to optimize tailings storage ● Minimize environmental and social impact ● Comply with GISTM8 2.2 Technical Objectives ● Optimize the use of waste rock haul trucks and reduce the need for them by aligning unloading with the mechanized system, minimizing the number of trucks and the carbon footprint. ● Postpone and/or eliminate the need for a new tailings site. ● Determine the optimal waste rock/tailings mix based on the geotechnical and geochemical balance of the waste rock dumps. ● Confirm the optimal technology for dewatering Antamina's tailings with the necessary 8 Global Industrial Standard on Tailings Management
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM0Mzk2