Neves-Corvo, Portugal
Copper Zinc Mine
Neves-Corvo is a Copper & Zinc mine that is owned and operated by the Portuguese company Somincor, which is a subsidiary of Lundin Mining. It is situated approximately 220 km southeast of Lisbon in the Alentejo district of southern Portugal. The mine site lies some 15 km southeast of the town of Castro Verde and exploits five major orebodies from an underground mine. The ore is processed on-site and tailings are disposed of in the Cerro de Lobo impoundment some 3 km from the plant. Concentrates are dispatched by rail and road for onward shipping to customers.
Neves-Corvo has good connections to the national road network which links with Faro to the south and Lisbon to the north. The mine has a dedicated rail link into the Portuguese rail network and to the port of Setúbal. Fresh water is supplied to the mine via a 400 mm diameter pipeline from the Santa Clara reservoir, approximately 40 km west of the mine. The mine is connected to the national grid by a single 150 kV, 50 MVA rated, overhead power line 22.5 km long.
The principle means of mine access are provided by one vertical 5 m diameter shaft and a ramp from surface. The shaft is used to hoist ore from the 700 m level. The surface is nominally 1200 m above datum. A conveyor decline descends from the 700 m level to the 550 m level and provides ore hoisting from the deeper levels of the mine. The mine is highly mechanized and a number of different stoping methods are employed but the most significant are bench-and-fill and drift-and-fill. Backfill is provided by hydraulically placed sand, paste tailings and internally generated waste rock.
The treatment facility at Neves-Corvo comprises of two processing plants. Both processing plants comprise secondary crushing, rod and ball mill grinding circuits, flotation cells and concentrate thickening and dewatering.
The mining concession provides sufficient surface rights to accommodate the existing mine infrastructure and allows for expansion if required.
Quarterly Operations Update
Neves-Corvo Mine
| Location |
100 km north of Faro, Portugal, in the western part of the Iberian Pyrite Belt |
| Ownership |
100% |
| Type of ore body |
Volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) |
| Primary metal |
Copper |
| Secondary metal |
Zinc |
2P reserves
Copper-rich ores
Zinc-rich ores
(Prepared as at June 30, 2012) |
24.1mt @ 3.1% Cu, 0.9% Zn, 0.2% Pb, 40 g/t Ag
22.7mt @ 7.4% Zn, 0.3% Cu, 1.7% Pb, 70 g/t Ag
|
| Type of mine |
Underground |
| Mine facilities and method |
4.6mtpa shaft with separate ramp access. Mining based on mechanized stoping using primarily bench & fill and drift & fill methods with sand and paste backfill |
| Processing facilities |
A copper plant (2.5mtpa capacity); a zinc plant (presently being expanded to 1mtpa capacity); tailings impoundment; and backfill plants |
| End product |
Copper in concentrate (grading approx. 25%); Zinc in concentrate (grading approx. 50%) |
| Expected mine life |
10+ years |
| Employees |
910 full-time employee equivalents |
| Potential growth |
Neves-Corvo is considered to remain under-explored. An initial inferred resource estimate for Semblana deposit is 7.12 mmt @ 2.8% copper +26 g/t silver. Potential for width, strike and depth extensions of this initial resource is considered excellent. A study looking at development of the Lombador zinc/lead/copper deposit as well as the Semblana copper deposit is well advanced. |
| 2013 Targets |
|
| Production |
Copper |
|
Zinc |
| Cash costs |
USc/lb |
|
| 50,000-55,000 tonnes contained in concentrate |
| 45,000-50,000 tonnes contained in concentrate |
| Approx. 180c/lb Cu |
|
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