Zinkgruvan, Sweden
Zinc Lead Silver mine
The Zinkgruvan Zink & Copper mine is located approximately 250 km south west of Stockholm in south-central Sweden. The mine site is some 15 km from the town of Askersund and comprises a deep underground mine, a processing plant and associated infrastructure and tailings disposal facilities. Concentrates are trucked from the mine to a nearby inland port from where they are shipped via canal and sea to European smelter customers.
The mining operations are contained within two exploitation concessions; The "Zinkgruvan Concession", and the neighboring "Klara Concession covering the deposit and the immediate area.
Zinkgruvan has good local road access and is close to the main highway linking Stockholm and Oslo. Rail and air links are available at the town of Örebro some 60 km distant.
Zinkgruvan is an underground mine with a long history. Mine access is currently via three shafts, with the principle P2 shaft providing hoisting and man access to the 800 m and 850 m levels with the shaft bottom at 900 m. A ramp connecting the underground workings with surface provides vehicle access direct to the mine. A system of ramps is employed to exploit resources below the shaft and the deepest mine level is now at 1,130 m below surface. The mine is highly mechanized and uses longhole primary secondary panel stoping in the Burkland area of the mine, sublevel benching in the Nygruvan area and in the Cecilia area. All stopes are backfilled with either paste tailings and cement or waste rock.
The processing plant is located adjacent to the P2 shaft. The run-of-mine ore is secondary crushed and then ground in an AG and ball mill circuit. A bulk flotation concentrate is produced initially before further flotation to separate zinc and lead concentrates. The concentrates are thickened and filtered and then stockpiled under cover. Tailings are pumped some 4 km to a dedicated tailings impoundment from which decant water is returned to the process.
Presentation - Sweden's Southernmost Underground Mine
Quarterly Operations Update
Zinkgruvan Mine
| Location |
Approximately 200 km south-west of Stockholm, Sweden |
| Ownership |
100% |
| Type of ore body |
Sedimentary exhalative zinc, lead, copper and silver |
| Primary metal |
Zinc |
| Secondary metal |
Lead, silver, copper |
2P reserves
Zinc-rich ores
Copper-rich ores
(Prepared as at June 30, 2012) |
10.9mt @ 9.0% Zn; 4.0% Pb; 86g/t Ag
4.0mt @ 2.2% Cu, 0.4% Zn, 32 g/t Ag
|
| Type of mine |
Underground |
| Mine facilities and method |
Two shafts access the mine with a ramp from surface under construction. Mining based on panel stoping and benching |
| Processing facilities |
A zinc plant (1.1mtpa capacity); a copper plant was commissioned in 2010 (0.3mtpa planned processing); tailings impoundment; and backfill plants |
| End product |
Zinc in concentrate (grading approx. 54%); Lead in concentrate (grading approx. 75%) |
| Expected mine life |
10+ years |
| Employees |
320 full time employee equivalents |
| Potential growth |
Zinc production in 2013 is expected be in line with 2012 and grow in 2014 and 2015 reflecting potential new investment in the front end of the plant to modernize and increase total site processing capacity to approximately 1.5 Mtpa of ore. The copper plant is expected to reach its full throughput capacity of 300,000 tpa in 2015. |
| 2013 Targets |
|
| Production |
Zinc |
|
Lead |
|
Copper |
Cash costs |
USc/lb |
|
| 73,000-78,000 tonnes contained in ore |
| 33,000-36,000 tonnes contained in ore |
| 2,500-3,500 tonnes contained in ore |
| Approx. 20c/lb Zn |
|
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