British Columbia-focused Copper Mountain Mining this week said it had engaged an engineering firm to review the option of adding a secondary crusher to its eponymous operation to pre-crush ore entering the semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill, in order to increase the tonnage throughput.The company, which reported its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings on Monday, said although production had increased, the mill was still experiencing challenges meeting its nameplate capacity, as a result of the variability in ore hardness and fragmentation entering the SAG mill from various openpit locations.
Designs for this secondary crusher involved ore conveyed from the coarse-ore stock pile to the new crushing facility, where it would be crushed to 50% minus one inch. The company said initial estimates indicated the pre-crushing would result in an expansion to the grinding capacity and would ensure the mill met the original design capacity, while adding potential to increase the grinding capacity of the SAG to about 40 000 t/d.
The company said preliminary work estimated the crushing facility would cost about $40-million and would be funded out of cash flow or additional debt.Laurentian Bank Securieties Equity Research analyst Christopher Chang said while Copper Mountain could fund the $40-million (on a 100% basis) secondary crusher from internal cash flows, he believed the company would likely secure debt from its joint-venture partner."This would keep the company's balance sheet well insulated against prolonged operating hiccups and a meaningful decline in copper prices," the analyst said in a note to clients.
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