World Mining Magazine

Magazine

TowHaul

From Lowboy to ‘Tow Boy’

Issue 24 2018

World Mining

the editor

Peter Munk: Barrick icon

Editor

The

Martin Ashcroft

O

n 28 March 2018, Peter Munk, the iconic Canadian entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded Barrick Gold Corporation, died at the age of 90.

Already a successful entrepreneur in his late fifties, Munk founded Barrick in 1983. When others might have been tempted to put their feet up, Peter Munk bought a gold mine.

He then built the business into the world’s largest gold mining company in less than 25 years. As an average human being whose achievements are yet to be recognised by Wikipedia, I can only wonder at the energy and determination it must take to live a life like that. His journalist daughter Nina Munk once wrote of him that: “The more impossible the situation, the more single-minded he becomes.”

Munk lived in Toronto, Canada for most of his life, having graduated in electrical engineering from the University of Toronto in 1952. Born into a Jewish family in Budapest in 1927, he escaped with his family to Switzerland when the Nazis invaded Hungary in 1944, ultimately arriving in Toronto in 1948 at the age of 20.

One of Canada’s most significant philanthropists, Munk donated nearly $300 million to causes and institutions that were close to his heart. His legacy includes the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, the Peter Munk

Cardiac Centre in Toronto, and the Centre for Research, Innovation and Technology at Technion University in Israel.

Munk also received numerous awards and honours. He became an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1993, and then was promoted to Companion of the Order of Canada in 2008—the country’s highest civilian honour. He is a member of both the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame and the Canadian Business Hall of Fame.

Before anyone can give millions away, of course, they must first make millions. History books are full of such men, many of whom are remembered as ruthless backstabbers, full of their own self-importance. From the accolades of those who knew him and worked with him, however, Peter Munk was a loyal and honest friend, a ‘thoroughly nice chap’, as we might say in the UK. One of the most poignant comments I read came from Barrick chief of staff Kathy Sipos: “He rose by lifting up everyone around him.”

After a life as full as anyone could ask for, Monk’s legacy lives on in the hearts of over 10,000 Barrick employees on five continents, and the countless individuals and communities he touched through his philanthropy. The world owes a huge debt to those who smuggled Peter Monk to safety all those years ago. We could use a few more like him now.

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Contents Cover story towhaul:

from lowboy to ‘tow Boy ‘ Page 6

Page: 3 • The Editor: Peter Munk: Barrick icon 6 • TowHaul: From lowboy to ‘tow boy’ 19 •

•

Explosives manufacturer EPC Nordex rebrands as EPC Canada SLAM acquires new cobalt-nickel-copper- zinc project

23 • Rio Tinto exits coal in Queensland

27 • Dacian pours first gold at Mt Morgans • Epiroc calls in heavy lifter in Pilbara

29 • Komatsu launches 150 ton dump truck

• Michelin to acquire conveyor specialist Fenner 31 • Hecla to acquire three high-grade Nevada gold mines 35 • Lithium production begins at Bald Hill

• Thiess wins $190m Dawson South contract extension 37 • Alio Gold to merge with Rye Patch Gold 39 • Primary approvals in place at Carrapateena

• Sedgman wins $40m in processing plant contracts 43 • Red Dog to lift throughput with third IsaMill

• Phase 2 drilling program at Eleonore South

44 • ABB: Reliable motors for heavy-duty conveyor systems

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ADVERTISERS 2 Resemin Asia 16 NAMMCO 17 ADRIA 20 WeatherSolve Structures 21 Irwin Car and Equipment 22 THEJO / Phoenix Conveyor Belt Systems 24 Megatraction Equipment Inc 25 Canary Systems 26 Digital Control Lab 28 Flowrox 30 Altra Industrial Motion 32 A-1 Industrial Supply 33 Sai Deepa Rock Drills 34 Montabert 36 Cenerg Global Tools 38 Shaw Development 40 CPK Automotive

41 Dynapower 42 Hilliard Brake Systems 59 Weir Minerals 66 Devico 68 Smith Power Products 69 GIW Minerals 70 MOS Mobile Screener 71 Applied Fiber 74 Volvo Construction Equipment 80 spliethoff / Epiroc / Tenaris 88 Rammer: Sandvik Mining and Construction 89 PMP: Prairie Machine & Parts 90 Royston Lead 91 Scania Mining 94 World Mining Directory 97 ABB 98 United Mining Rentals 100 Rockwell Automation

contents

ABB Page 44 rio tinto Page 76

46 • Energold Drilling Corp: New frontiers in drilling 52 • Agnico Eagle: High quality, low risk 64 • Devico: Drill truly, mine deeply

72 • AzerGold: Azerbaijan’s non-ferrous metal industry at a new stage of development 76 • Rio Tinto: Value over volume 92 • AxleWEIGHr: Weighs truck at the job site

World Mining Magazine Contacts, Advertising Rates & Information News & Features Editor: Martin Ashcroft martin@ogsmag.com Editor Vanessa Ward editor@ogsmag.com Sales sales@ogsmag.com General email contact info@ogsmag.com Design and Artwork Steve Lazarus artwork@ogsmag.com Managing Director Simon Ward

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“Equipment mobility has become extremely important because mining is all about squeezing out efficiencies to reduce cost per ton. If you can move your equipment five times faster on a lowboy than by tramming it, that translates to the bottom line”

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towhaul from lowboy to ‘towboy’

In the struggle to reduce costs, the TowHaul removable gooseneck is quickly becoming the most versatile piece of equipment on a mine site. Vice president Chris Friedel describes how the principles of the founder have guided the company’s development of innovative equipment mobility solutions.

Miners are under increasing pressure to improve productivity as energy prices rise and the regulatory environment becomes ever more demanding. A consistent response to this pressure is to introduce bigger mining equipment every year. The drive to carry more ore with fewer trucks is easy to understand, but along with that comes the challenge of keeping the machinery working by moving it around the mine site as quickly as possible.

Downtime is expensive, and the bigger the machine, the more expensive it is.

“One of the key factors behind our growth is the size of the mining equipment,” says Chris Friedel, Vice President of TowHaul Corporation. “We have continued to provide a mobility solution for our customers, even as the equipment grew bigger, by keeping up with ultra class trucks and

larger excavators. We have been the leader in the towing of haul trucks since the early ’90s when our founder, Frank Smith, invented the towing gooseneck,” he continues, “and we have been able to keep up with the Caterpillar 797s and the Komatsu 980s, etc. Mining conditions can be very challenging at times, so when they have a failure or get stuck, they turn to us to help them recover those vehicles.”

TowHaul owes its existence to Frank Smith, the engineer/ inventor who started it all in the 1970s. “Frank is the original inventor of this type of equipment,” says Friedel.

Born in British Columbia, Smith spent much of his early career in the Canadian forestry industry, designing and building off-road equipment. He established Smith Sanders Ltd in 1973 and began to forge a reputation for innovation by making sand spreaders for the logging industry.

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“Our multi-purpose gooseneck is essentially a hitch for the trailer.

The real beauty of this equipment is that once you disconnect it, you’ve got a hitch that can be used for other things, the main one being haul truck recovery”

Lowboys

Word spread along with the sand. A few years later Smith designed and manufactured a spreader to mount on a haul truck for a British Columbian mine. Then in 1977 he designed (and patented) his first 100-ton lowboy trailer and began to focus on the needs of the mining industry. By listening carefully to customers he was able to design and build exactly what they needed, equipment that was rugged, reliable, versatile, cost-effective and simple to operate – qualities that TowHaul equipment continues to deliver today.

In the 1980s, Smith started to manufacture tow hooks that would allow mines to recover their own disabled trucks. In 1985 he created Smith Equipment USA to serve the growing US market, and moved the company to Bozeman, Montana in 1990. Then, while trying to puzzle out a way to haul a 230 ton load on a trailer with an 85-ton truck, he had a ‘eureka moment’ – why not use the gooseneck as the tow hook? The result was the Removing Gooseneck, which he patented in 1992. In 1994, Smith renamed his company TowHaul Corporation dba [doing business as] Smith Equipment USA, and branded his product ‘TowHaul’.

The mining industry is not renowned as an early adopter of new technology, and it was hard work at first to convince miners that they needed a lowboy trailer, because they had to dedicate one of their trucks to pull it. “When Frank

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started it was a ‘nice to have’ piece of equipment,” says Friedel. “He would offer to fit it onto the oldest, worn out truck they had on the mine site, then put an old axle underneath it to save money. Now this equipment has become a ‘must have’. Equipment mobility has become extremely important because mining is all about squeezing out efficiencies to reduce cost per ton. If you can move your equipment five times faster on a lowboy than by tramming it, that translates to the bottom line.”

Some mines cover large areas and it’s not uncommon to have a strike length of 25 miles or more, Friedel points out.

“If you have a dozer that’s 25 miles from the shop and it’s got to come back all that way on its own tracks at under two miles per hour, it would be exceptionally expensive and inefficient, not to mention incredibly tedious for the operator!”

Lowboys have been used for many years in different industries to move equipment around, and although there may have been some initial caution in the mining environment, customers rarely need convincing from a justification point of view these days, says Friedel. “Most of our customers justify the purchase of this equipment based on drills and dozers, because these are moving all the time.

For this reason, customers often find that the equipment pays for itself in 12 to 18 months.” Once they have a lowboy

towhaul from lowboy to ‘towboy’

in their fleet, however, they find all kinds of additional uses for it. “When I visit a mine site, it’s amazing what I see being hauled on a lowboy. They carry tyres, shovel buckets, dump bodies, you name it.”

Customers often underestimate their usage when they order a lowboy, too. “We’re seeing a lot of customers buying their second TowHaul trailer because the first one is being used so much,” observes Friedel. “They also want a degree of redundancy. The equipment has become so important to their operation that they can’t afford to have it down if the truck needs to be brought in for maintenance, for instance, so many of our customers have therefore purchased a second or even third unit.”

The versatility of the equipment is another key feature, for which the company is indebted once more to Frank Smith.

The gooseneck is permanently mounted on a host truck, or prime mover, as it’s known, but this detaches from the trailer so it can be used for other purposes. “Our multi-purpose gooseneck is essentially a hitch for the trailer,” says Friedel.

“We mount it on a sub frame, right onto the frame rails of the haul truck. The real beauty of this equipment is that once you disconnect it, you’ve got a hitch that can be used for other things, the main one being haul truck recovery.

“Mines used to ask us to put a TowHaul gooseneck on an old truck that was due for retirement from the fleet,”

he continues, “but more recently we’re seeing brand new haul trucks being used for this purpose. Almost all of our clients in Australia are now using brand new trucks for this equipment. That shows how important it is to them.”

When a customer commits a million dollar truck to a TowHaul gooseneck, it makes sense to be able to do several different jobs with it. In addition to the lowboy, TowHaul also makes specialty trailers, including one for hauling dragline buckets as well as a water tank carrier.

The growth in the size of mining equipment brings another advantage to the trailer side of the business. “The power that the haul truck OEMs are putting into the new ultraclass haul trucks gives us more flexibility,” explains Friedel.

“Using one of these as the prime mover we can make larger capacity trailers without having to make major changes to the propulsion system, such as powering the axles on the trailer itself.”

TowHaul now makes a variety of trailers in different sizes and configurations, but is always willing to produce a oneoff if the customer needs something out of the ordinary. “In our early history many of our trailers were one-offs,” says Friedel. “Nowadays we have standard lengths – 42, 48 and 56 feet (load space) – based on the equipment that’s in the market. Then we have standard widths of 20, 22 and 24 feet, and that combination captures 98 per cent of the equipment that we’re hauling on a regular basis.”

So we are talking about extremely large equipment, but we’re not talking about extremely large numbers – yet. “We build around 12 to 14 units per year,” says Friedel. “We buy plate steel in 40’ x 8’ sheets, directly from US mills. We have our own cut table so we cut all of our own parts and fabricate them. During the final stages of one we’re starting to cut out the next one. It takes about a month on the cut table for a full trailer and about 8 – 10 weeks on the shop floor, so there’s a bit of an overlap.”

Responding to the boom in the mining industry from 2009 to 2012, TowHaul increased the footprint of its Bozeman facility by around 40 per cent and added more employees to reduce its lead time. “We’re also trying to improve our throughput by improving our processes,” says Friedel, “so we can keep up with customer demand. We’ve sold out through this year and a bit into next year already. The market’s definitely heating up again. Our recent sales have been in South America, Africa, the United States and Australia, so we’re all over the map.”

There are over 240 TowHaul units working in the field today, in 27 different countries, and operating in some of the most extreme environments on earth – up to 50 degrees Celsius in Australia, down to minus 40 in the Arctic diamond mines, and at high altitude in the Andes. Almost every unit TowHaul has ever made is still in use somewhere, even if not always in the first mine it went to. Longevity is one of the strengths of the TowHaul range.

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Improvements

TowHaul continues to look for process enhancements or design modifications to save cost and improve throughput.

One of the biggest challenges is the manoeuvrability of the components. Inevitably, when you make equipment large enough to accommodate bigger and heavier machinery, your own products end up bigger and heavier, too. TowHaul made this challenge more manageable with the ‘modular’ lowboy.

This design benefits the manufacturing process and has also helped grow TowHaul’s global presence by simplifying shipping and handling for the end user. It also allows easier access to remote mine sites. The TowHaul modular lowboy fits together with pins instead of being welded and can be assembled in less than a week. “Even with the modular units, some of these components will weigh in excess of fifteen tons,” says Friedel, “and the weight is not the only issue because it’s a large, awkward shape that can be up to 50 feet long.”

There is now also a rear-loading lowboy aimed at customers who need to haul smaller tracked equipment. This trailer offers a simple, robust design that combines a low-profile loading angle with exceptional ground clearance, and it can be powered by a variety of prime movers.

While there is some repeatability in the manufacture of trailer sections, everything is customised at the front end. “If the

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customer wants a 200-ton trailer to connect to a Komatsu 830E or a CAT 793, we have to customise for those particular trucks,” says Friedel.

Another enhancement attracting investment is a new brake actuation system. “Our current system is air over hydraulic but many of the modern haul trucks have all-hydraulic braking systems,” explains Friedel. “Air systems are becoming a thing of the past, so we’re field testing an electric over hydraulic actuation system right now.”

More exciting, perhaps, is the development of a wireless system to eliminate connections between the gooseneck and the lowboy. “We’re still field testing the wireless but once we roll it out fully in conjunction with the electric over hydraulic braking system there will be just a single Anderson plug connection between the gooseneck and the lowboy instead of two air lines, an Anderson connection, and one or two Deutsch connectors, depending on the configuration. Eliminating most of those connections is a big improvement for our customers.”

TowHaul has also introduced some telematics for monitoring the equipment remotely.

“The introduction of new technology is a balancing act,” says Friedel, “because one of Frank’s founding principles was the simplicity of the equipment, and we want to maintain that.

towhaul from lowboy to ‘towboy’

“Most of our customers justify the purchase of this equipment based on drills and dozers, because these are moving all the time. For this reason, customers often find that the equipment pays for itself in 12 to 18 months” World Mining Magazine www.ogsmag.com

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Keeping it simple in the mining environment can be very important. We’re trying to balance adding technology (and therefore complexity) for those that want more of it, with the needs of those that want to keep the equipment simple and straight forward.”

Another recent development is a distribution agreement for the US and Canada with Finnish equipment manufacturer Sleipner. It might seem odd to link up with a competitor, but Friedel believes the Sleipner system is a good fit. “We have customers come to us who have lots of dozers and drills to move, but because they also have a large, 600-ton excavator, they think they need a 600-ton lowboy.

However, a machine capable of carrying that payload needs a lot of adaptations to be able to carry the weight, which means that it becomes much more difficult to load smaller equipment - the things that you’re moving all the time.

“For some, it might be better to buy a smaller lowboy, that doesn’t need a big ultra class truck as a prime mover, but

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“Being able to perform multiple tasks on a mine site with a single piece of equipment is very powerful. There have been a lot of improvements over the years but the overall operation has not changed. The way the grab hook engages with the trailer has not changed. We want to maintain that simplicity because it works and our customers like it”

towhaul from lowboy to ‘towboy’

that can easily carry your dozers, drills, mid-size excavators and wheel loaders on an every day basis. For the large excavator that is not going to move as often, the client can add a Sleipner system that doesn’t require a dedicated truck.

We want to offer our customers a total mobility solution so they can carry everything on their mine site between the TowHaul and the Sleipner system, and also have the ability to recover their haul trucks.”

TowHaul is still a family owned business and has already more than doubled in size since Friedel joined in 2005.

“When I started there were only 32 people, and now we have 66,” he says. Frank Smith has retired but the current CEO is his daughter, Kim Wild. A lot of things have changed, but the philosophy of the company remains the same. It’s Frank’s philosophy, along with his patented innovations, that have defined the brand.

Over the last 40 years TowHaul has become the Kleenex of mining equipment mobility. “Whatever brand of tissues

people have in their house, they still reach for a Kleenex!” says Friedel. “It’s the same with TowHaul. We are often imitated, but no-one can duplicate a TowHaul.

“We sometimes get phone calls from people who want to order parts or even repairs, only to find when we get down to details that their trailer is not a TowHaul at all. There is only one TowHaul, and it is designed and manufactured in Montana, USA.” What characteristics, then, encapsulate TowHaul’s competitive advantage? “I think you can boil it down to the versatility of the gooseneck, and how easy it is to operate,” Friedel concludes. “Being able to perform multiple tasks on a mine site with a single piece of equipment is very powerful. There have been a lot of improvements over the years but the overall operation has not changed. The way the grab hook engages with the trailer has not changed. We want to maintain that simplicity because it works and our customers like it.”

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Have a news story or press release you would like to be considered for publication in the next Word Mining Magazine?

Please contact Martin Ashcroft at martin@ogsmag.com

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World

news

E

Explosives manufacturer EPC Nordex rebrands as epc canada

PC Nordex, a leading Canadian manufacturer and distributor of explosives to the mining, quarrying and construction industries, is to be rebranded as EPC Canada.

Nordex Explosives Ltd, originally formed in 1970, was acquired by the EPC Groupe in August 2016.

Since then the company has been known as EPC Nordex, retaining its original company name during the transition period. The EPC

France, the EPC Groupe has 125 years’ experience

“We believe now is the opportune time to bring the company further into the EPC fold” Groupe has decided that the time is now right to rebrand EPC Nordex as EPC Canada, establishing it firmly as an EPC entity.

Founded in 1893 in Paris,

in explosives and now has operations all over the world.

The acquisition of Nordex Explosives Ltd was the Group’s first in Canada.

“We fully appreciate the

legacy of the Nordex name within the regional market, but we believe now is the opportune time to bring the company further into the EPC fold, creating a greater sense of brand unity and providing our customers with the assurance that EPC Canada holds the same values and provides the same expertise as the rest of the group,” explains Ben Williams, CEO and President of EPC Canada.

SLAM acquires new cobalt-nickel-copper-zinc project SLAM Exploration has

acquired a new cobalt project in New Brunswick, Canada by staking 67 units in three mineral claims. The property hosts a historic mineral discovery known as the Reids Gulch cobalt-nickelcopper-zinc occurrence, and is located on a logging road 25 miles northwest of the Caribou mine operated by Trevali Mining Corp.

According to provincial records, previous workers found mineralized float (boulders) grading 0.10% cobalt, 0.66% nickel, 0.10% copper and 5.0% zinc at Reids Gulch in 1972. Four

trenches were dug by hand but the source of mineralized float was not located.

The occurrence is associated with an aeromagnetic anomaly detected by a later government survey. The same

survey suggests the presence of unmapped intrusive rocks at or near surface on the Reids Gulch property.

There is no record of any other work in the vicinity of this occurrence. SLAM intends to mobilize its advance scout team at the start of the 2018 field season to re-locate this mineral occurrence and search for the bedrock source.

World Mining Magazine www.ogsmag.com

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Answers on the wind!

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How strong does a wind fence need to be?

Winds around the globe vary a lot from place to place. They vary by broad location and vary by local topography. They also vary by height. They are often described as the fastest 3 second gust that might be expected to occur once every 50 years. This is a typical design wind speed such as are found in building codes. Speeds range from as little as 30kph to as much as 300kph. In terms of loads that is a difference of 100 times in load! It clearly illustrates the benefit of customized designs as a structure that is vastly overbuilt is expensive.

When we get a 1 in a 100 year wind or even a 1 in 1000 year wind, the winds are then faster than the design. What happens then? Simply put, something breaks. In a house for example failures are dramatic. Think of photos from hurricanes and tornadoes with missing roofs or complete destruction.

With wind fences there is a unique opportunity to avoid such catastrophic failures.

The best systems and designs have elements that break in a way that is easily put back.

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In other systems either the poles fail, or the fabric disintegrates and pieces of fabric or steel rip loose to become a safety hazard. For the sake of safety and economy, choose a wind fence with a stress-release system that has been tested in over 10 different hurricanes and cyclones as well as numerous lesser storms including ice storms.

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news

rio tinto exits coal in queensland

R

io Tinto has completed its exit from coal in Queensland with an agreement to sell its 80 per cent stake in the Kestrel underground mine in the Bowen Basin to a consortium of EMR Capital and Indonesia’s PT Adaro Energy for US$2.25 billion.

“The sale of Kestrel,

Located 25 miles northeast of Emerald in central Queensland, The Kestrel mine employs longwall mining to produce high quality coking and thermal coal for export markets. In 2017 the mine produced 5.1 million tonnes of saleable coal, comprising 4.25 million tonnes of hard coking coal

“The sale of Kestrel, together with Hail Creek and our undeveloped coal projects, delivers exceptional value to our shareholders and will leave our portfolio stronger and more focused” together with the announced divestments of Hail Creek and our undeveloped coal projects, delivers exceptional value to our shareholders and will leave our portfolio stronger and more focused on delivering the highest returns through targeted allocation of capital,” said Rio Tinto chief executive J-S Jacques.

and 0.84 million tonnes of thermal coal. Rio Tinto reported marketable reserves of 146 million tonnes and mineral resources of 241 million tonnes for Kestrel at 31 December 2017.

Rio had previously announced the sale of its 75% interest in the Winchester South coking coal project for $200 million to Whitehaven

Coal, and a $1.7 billion agreement with Glencore for its interests in the Hail Creek mine and Valeria project, all of which are in Queensland’s Bowen Basin.

Hail Creek is a large-scale, long-life and low-cost mine producing two-thirds premium quality hard coking coal and one-third thermal coal for export.

Located 75 miles southwest of Mackay, in 2017 Hail Creek produced about 9.4 million tonnes of coal for export from the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal. As at 31 December 2017, Hail Creek had resources of 794 million tonnes with proven and probable reserves of 142 million tonnes.

Valeria is a large undeveloped coal project in the central Bowen Basin, about 25 miles northwest of Emerald. It contains 762Mt of coal mineral resources, and is expected to produce highenergy, low-ash thermal and coking coal once developed.

World Mining Magazine www.ogsmag.com

23

SAFER, FASTER, EASIER.

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Dacian pours first gold at Mt Morgans

D

acian Gold Ltd poured the first bar of gold at its Mt Morgans Gold Project in Western Australia on 29 March 2018.

This key milestone was achieved after a rapid and successful 11 month construction period in which the project construction was completed on time and on budget.

Rohan Williams, executive chairman & CEO, said the first gold pour was the culmination of a highly successful exploration and development strategy implemented at Mt Morgans over the past five years.

“We started work at Mt Morgans a little over five years ago with several exploration concepts that we tested once we completed our IPO,” he said.

“What has been achieved in that time from discovery, including the drill-out, feasibility studies, financing, permitting and now completion of a major A$200 million project build on time and on budget is an amazing effort by a very talented and hard-working group of employees, consultants and contractors.

“We stated in our feasibility study in late 2016 that we would be pouring our first gold in the March quarter of 2018, and I am very pleased to say that we have done exactly that.” added Williams.

“Our outstanding team is now focused on ramping up the mine to steady-state production of +200,000 ounces a year.

“We stated in our feasibility study in late 2016 that we would be pouring our first gold in the March quarter of 2018, and I am very pleased to say that we have done exactly that”

Epiroc calls in heavy lifter to help Pilbara mine

F

aced with a tight deadline, mining equipment maker Epiroc called in the heavy brigade to avoid downtime at an iron ore mine in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Epiroc Australia chartered one of the world’s largest heavy haul planes, the Antonov An-124, to deliver two 25.5m long Pit Viper 271 rotary rig towers weighing 21000 kg from its manufacturing facility in Texas, via stops in Hawaii, Fiji and Brisbane. The towers are being prepared in Epiroc’s Perth workshop for the final leg of their journey.

“We look forward to the PV271 towers arriving at Newman so we can carry out the mid-life rig rebuilds as part of our commitment to ensure that our customers at all times have wellmaintained and safe equipment,” said Danny Moore, Epiroc national sales

“It was a cost we were comfortable to bear because customer service had to come first” manager parts and service.

“Although the cost of chartering the Antonov 124, one of the world’s largest heavy haul cargo planes, is significant, it was a cost we were comfortable to bear because customer service had to come first.”

World Mining Magazine www.ogsmag.com

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news

Komatsu launches 150 ton dump truck

K

omatsu is putting its new 150 metric ton HD1500-8 mechanical mining dump truck on the market in April after a substantial remodelling of its predecessor.

The new model is powered by a 50-litre engine, compared to the previous 45-litre, offering net power of 1,175kW. It is equipped with a retarder with the largest volume in its class. When used together with the automatic retarder, the truck achieves safe and high speed downhill traveling. It also offers high

“Key components, such as the mainframe, transmission and rear axle, have all been re-designed according to the latest technology and durability standards” productivity as a result of shortening the cycle time, and is equipped with the Komatsu traction control system (KTCS) to optimize performance when traveling on slippery and/or soft surfaces.

Key components, such as the mainframe, transmission and rear axle, have all been re-designed according to the latest technology and durability standards. This enables owners to cut down repair expenses and prolong overhaul intervals, reducing their total

cost of ownership.

The HD1500-8 comes with the allround monitoring system KomVision as a standard feature, and also offers enhanced real-time monitoring functions with the latest version of KomTrax Plus. The model is equipped with a low angle diagonal stairway, which is safer and less physically demanding for the operator. It also comes with the ergonomically designed round dashboard and air-suspension seat with built-in heater and ventilator.

Michelin to acquire conveyor specialist Fenner

F

rench tyre company Compagnie Générale des Établissements Michelin has reached agreement to acquire UK-based mining and industrial conveyor belt specialist, Fenner, for £1.3 billion ($2.4 billion).

Michelin believes the acquisition would allow it to provide the mining industry with a comprehensive offering, ranging from tyres to conveyor belts with related services and solutions, while enhancing the geographical reach of both companies. Joining forces with Fenner would also provide Michelin a “perfect strategic alignment” with its ambition to leverage expertise in high-technology materials.

Michelin chief executive JeanDominique Senard said mastering hightechnology material was key to creating value in the coming years. “Fenner will enable Michelin to accelerate its growth in this area, and to strengthen its position as a key player in the recovering mining markets with a comprehensive offering,” Senard said.

The boards of both companies have reached an agreement whereby each Fenner shareholder would receive 610 pence in cash for each share, representing a 30.7 per cent premium to the conveyor company’s closing price on 16 March.

“We find the cultural fit and business opportunities excellent with Michelin.

Both companies have innovation in their DNA and are customer solution oriented,” commented Fenner CEO Mark Abrahams.

Fenner is a global leader in reinforced polymer technology, providing conveyor belt solutions and reinforced polymer products for the mining and general industrial markets.

World Mining Magazine www.ogsmag.com

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news

Hecla to acquire three high-grade Nevada gold mines

H

ecla Mining Company is to acquire Klondex Mines Ltd for US$462 million in cash and shares, in order to obtain its highgrade Nevada underground Fire Creek, Midas and Hollister gold mines.

Klondex also has assets in Canada, which will be spun out to existing shareholders in a new company, Klondex Canada.

“Opportunities to acquire significant land packages

Baker said the transaction was consistent with Hecla’s strategy of owning large prospective land packages with mines where it can improve costs, grow reserves and expand production.

“One of our core strengths is operating high-grade, narrow-vein underground mines, and Klondex’s three operating mines – Fire Creek, Midas and Hollister – are some of the highest-grade gold mines in the world,” he said. “After

“Opportunities to acquire significant land packages along Nevada’s prolific gold trends are very rare” along Nevada’s prolific gold trends are very rare,” said Phillips S Baker, Jr, Hecla’s President and CEO. “Rarer still are for these land packages to have the highest grade mines in the US.”

extensive due diligence, we see significant opportunity to improve costs, throughput and recoveries over time with our expertise. The combined approximately 110 square mile land position

offers the opportunity to make discoveries and grow the reserve base as we improve our knowledge of the geology, something we have done at our other operations.”

Klondex president and CEO Paul Huet also welcomed the deal. “This transaction is an excellent outcome for Klondex and our shareholders, delivering premium value and a clear pathway to develop and optimize the Nevada mining assets and create further value in the future,” he said.

“Hecla has a proven track record of developing and optimizing mining assets such as ours, and has a strong balance sheet that should help Fire Creek and our other properties reach their full potential.

“Hecla operates a diverse portfolio of some of the highest-grade mines in the world, and the addition of our assets strengthens the portfolio further. We are delighted to enter into this agreement and the Klondex board unanimously recommends that Klondex shareholders vote in favour of this transaction.”

World Mining Magazine www.ogsmag.com

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news

Lithium production begins at Bald Hill

J

oint venture partners Tawana Resources and Alliance Mineral Assets Limited have commenced lithium production at the Bald Hill lithium and tantalum mine in Western Australia. Delivery of the first lithium concentrate product is expected to take place in April 2018.

The production of spodumene (lithium) concentrate is the result of ore commissioning through the newly constructed dense media separation circuit, which will be ramped up to full production over several months.

Bald Hill, a 50:50 joint venture project between Tawana and AMAL, is the first new Australian mine to commence spodumene production since 2016.

“It is a great effort by everybody involved to take Bald Hill from maiden lithium resource to production in nine months”

“It is a great effort by everybody involved to take Bald Hill from maiden lithium resource to production in nine months including only seven months of construction from the ground up,” said Tawana managing director Mark Calderwood. “The focus now is to achieve steady state production from the Stage 1 DMS circuit and optimise lithium yields. Concurrently, the JV will work on completion of the Stage 2 lithium fines circuit design and recommissioning of the tantalum circuits.”

Bald Hill is located 50km southeast of Kambalda in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia, and approximately 75km southeast of the Mt Marion lithium project.

Thiess wins $190m Dawson South contract extension

T

hiess, CIMIC Group’s mining services division, has secured an A$190 million contract extension from Anglo American to continue to provide mining services at Dawson South in Queensland’s Bowen Basin, Australia.

The 36-month extension will see Thiess continue to deliver coal mining, overburden removal and run of mine rehandling services.

“This contract extension builds on our long-standing relationship with Anglo American and reflects the team’s ability to create value for our clients globally,” said Michael Wright, CIMIC Group chief executive officer.

“We’ve been working with Anglo at Dawson for eight years, and I’m pleased the relationship continues to prosper.”

Thiess’ history goes back longer than that at the Dawson

Mine, however, as it was part of the original joint venture of Thiess Peabody Mitsui Coal that was established in 1962 to own and operate what was then known as Moura Mine.

More recently, a joint venture of Thiess and fellow CIMIC Group company Sedgman designed, built and commissioned the coal handling preparation plant at Dawson in 2008.

“We’re extremely proud of our strong performance at Dawson South,” said Douglas Thompson, CIMIC Group executive for mining and mineral processing and Thiess managing director. “This extension recognises our team’s ability to deliver project excellence within a costcompetitive culture.”

World Mining Magazine www.ogsmag.com

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news

Alio Gold to merge with Rye Patch Gold

A

lio Gold and Rye Patch Gold have agreed to join forces in a merger deal whereby each common share of Rye Patch will be exchanged for 0.48 common shares of Alio Gold, valuing Rye Patch at approximately C$128 million.

Existing Alio Gold and Rye Patch shareholders will own approximately 53% and 47% of the combined company, respectively, following the close of the transaction, which is expected on or about 25 May 2018.

Vancouver-based Alio Gold is a growth oriented gold mining company focused on exploration, development and production in Mexico.

Its principal assets include its 100% owned and operating San Francisco Mine in Sonora, Mexico and its 100% owned development stage Ana Paula Project in

Guerrero, Mexico.

Rye Patch’s assets are all located in Nevada, USA and include its 100%-owned Florida Canyon Mine, a past producing, open pit heap leach operation that was recently restarted and achieved commercial production in December 2017.

and a 100% interest in Wilco, a gold silver project with an NI 43-101 resource.

“This transaction is consistent with our strategy to create a leading mid-tier precious metals company,” said Greg McCunn, CEO of Alio Gold. “In addition to diversifying our asset base into one of the most

“This business combination creates a company with gold mining operations in two stellar mining jurisdictions, Mexico and Nevada” Rye Patch also controls a sizeable land package along the Oreana Trend in Nevada with a 100% interest in Lincoln Hill, a PEA stage, open pit gold-silver project

attractive precious metal producing regions in the world, this transaction provides us with increased scale and liquidity to drive long term shareholder value.

We see regional growth opportunities in Nevada and coupled with our high-grade, high-margin Ana Paula project, this transaction establishes a strong platform for future growth.”

“When I founded Rye Patch twelve years ago, I envisioned creating a midtier, North American gold producer,” stated William C. Howald, Rye Patch’s President and CEO. “This business combination with Alio Gold achieves that goal and creates a company with gold mining operations located in two stellar mining jurisdictions, Mexico and Nevada, with tremendous exploration upside. The Alio Gold management team has a positive track record in Mexico and combined with Rye Patch will expect to repeat that success in Nevada.”

World Mining Magazine www.ogsmag.com

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It makes complete sense! Autonomous Vehicles, Autonomous Refueling!

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Primary approvals in place at Carrapateena

O “Carrapateena is one of the largest mines under construction in Australia”

Z Minerals’ $916 million Carrapateena copper gold project has received approval from the South Australian and Commonwealth Governments, clearing the way for mobilisation of Phase 2 of construction from mid-April 2018 as scheduled.

The Mining Lease and Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) approvals conclude the primary approvals required for the project and follow the signing of a Native Title Mining Agreement between OZ Minerals and the Kokatha Aboriginal Corporation in September 2017.

“Receiving the Mining Lease and EPBC approval is the product of significant effort on the part of the State Government working closely with the Federal Department to ensure this project received a robust and thorough review. We greatly appreciate the efforts of both parties,” said OZ Minerals chief executive officer, Andrew Cole.

The company has also had its detailed operational plan approved by the South

Australian Government.

Located approximately 100 miles north of Port Augusta in South Australia, Carrapateena will be a 4.25Mtpa copper-gold underground mine with an estimated life of 20 years. It is one of the largest mines under construction in Australia and is expected to generate around 1000 jobs from construction through to production.

OZ Minerals is following a twophase work program for Carrapateena.

Phase 1, currently underway, sees construction of enabling infrastructure including a 550 bed accommodation village and airstrip, as well as the continued development of the dual access underground decline. Phase 1 is progressing on budget and on schedule.

Phase 2 comprises the construction of above ground infrastructure, including the processing plant, tailings storage facility, underground materials handling system, access roads and power line.

OZ Minerals is working towards an estimated commissioning date of Q4 2019.

Sedgman wins $40M in processing plant contracts

S

edgman has been awarded contracts worth $40 million by New Century Resources for the reconfiguration, refurbishment and operational readiness of the Lawn Hill processing plant facility and Karumba port in north west Queensland.

In November 2017, New Century Resources, in collaboration with Sedgman, completed a front-end engineering design (FEED) study on the restart of the

Century Zinc Mine, concentrate pipeline and Karumba port. Early works at the site commenced in December 2017 and the project is on track to re-commence production in the third quarter of 2018.

The project comprises civil, structural, mechanical, piping and electrical work for additions to the facility, as well as refurbishment, commissioning works and operations readiness services.

World Mining Magazine www.ogsmag.com

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Red Dog to lift throughput with third IsaMill

T

eck Resources has selected an M15,000 IsaMill for their mill upgrade project at Teck Red Dog Operations, which is expected to increase Red Dog’s average mill throughput by about 15% over the current mine life.

The operation, located north of the Arctic Circle and one of the world’s largest zinc mines, required grinding equipment that could be retrofitted within the confines of its existing modular mill layout, while

60 microns. The M15,000 is the newest addition to the IsaMill range, and uses a slightly longer and wider size to increase capacity more

“The IsaMill, with its high energy efficiency and small footprint, is ideal for this application” providing sufficient power to achieve its metallurgical targets.

The new mill will be used to treat lead pre float tail prior to lead flotation and will reduce particles from 150 to

than the next available size, the M10,000.

“The remoteness of the site means high energy efficiency and low installation cost are needed, which makes the horizontal IsaMill with its

high energy efficiency and small footprint ideal for this application to reduce cost while achieving the grinding duty,” said Paul Telford, general manager at Glencore Technology.

“We have had a long relationship with the Red Dog site since 2007, having provided a Jameson Cell for their pre float cleaning circuit, and two M5000 IsaMills for several duties in their zinc circuit. We are proud to continue the relationship with the new M15,000 IsaMill being installed at their site.”

Phase 2 drilling program starts at Eleonore South

T

he Phase 2 diamond drilling program has started on the Eleonore South gold property, a joint venture between Eastmain Resources (36.7%), Azimut Exploration (26.6%) and Goldcorp (36.7%).

Eleonore South is adjacent to Goldcorp’s Eleonore mine in the James Bay region of Quebec. Phase 2 consists of 5,100 metres in 29 holes, 40% more than the 3,600 metres

originally planned.

Phase 2 will build on the success of drilling and trenching programs conducted in 2017 by the ESJV, focusing on the Moni Trend and the Contact Trend.

Moni Trend: Test highly prospective targets along a

1-kilometre strike by drilling 2,200 m in 18 holes, including closely spaced holes on the high-grade Moni Prospect.

Contact Trend: Assess the grade and geometric continuity of three sectors that returned significant gold results and commence drilling in untested sectors over a

1.5-kilometre strike length by drilling 2,900 metres in 11 holes.

Although the Éléonore South Property is being explored as a three-way joint venture, Azimut is the operator of the current program. Almost 10,000 metres have been drilled on the property in 44 holes since September 2016, generating significant progress.

World Mining Magazine www.ogsmag.com

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Reliable motors for heavy-duty conveyor systems As heavy-duty conveyor systems need a high level of reliability, synchronous motors are the ideal choice for powering them, according to engineering experts at ABB, as they eliminate the need for gearboxes, increase the uptime and availability of the overall system, and reduce maintenance costs.

Mining companies are increasingly turning to heavy-duty conveyor systems to transport ore and other materials due to remote operating locations, greater transportation distances and higher throughputs. These conveyors play an essential role in production, which means they have to deliver extremely high levels of uptime.

As Jouni Tervaskanto, product manager for synchronous motors at ABB, explains. “Synchronous motors can supply the power and torque needed in heavy-duty applications. They operate at lower speeds than induction motors and can therefore drive the conveyor pulleys directly, without the need for gearboxes and couplings. Gearless operation makes the conveyor system

World Mining Magazine www.ogsmag.com

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much more reliable.”

Gearboxes contain parts that can wear

lubricate and maintain gearboxes.

Efficiency is increased because the

“Maintenance costs are reduced because there is no longer any need to inspect, lubricate and maintain gearboxes” down and the failure of just a single component can cause a site’s entire production to stop. Using synchronous motors without gearboxes increases reliability, availability and the lifespan of the equipment.

Gearless operations also bring other advantages, says Tervaskanto.

“Maintenance costs are reduced because there is no longer any need to inspect,

friction losses between gear components are eliminated. Gearless drive systems need less instrumentation and they also fit into a smaller footprint, which is very important when space is restricted.”

Designing the motor to match the conveyor

Each heavy-duty conveyor system is unique. The type of ore or other material

ABB motors for conveyor systems transported, belt lengths, gradients, angles and overall clearance in tunnels determines the kind of conveyors used. Varying ambient conditions also impact on choice. High altitudes can mean extreme temperature swings, for instance. Low temperatures and low humidity levels all influence the kind of conveyor needed.

By tailoring each motor for its specific application, the highest levels of reliability and the longest possible lifetimes can be achieved.

“Designing a motor to match the exact needs of an individual conveyor system requires broad application and industry know-how on the part of the motor manufacturer,” says Kulchada Sanguannam, ABB sales manager for mining motors. “At ABB, for example, the engineering team takes a wide range of parameters into consideration in their design work.”

Design considerations

Typically, the following five points need extra attention when designing motors for mining conveyor systems: bearings, frame, mounting, protection class and excitation.

In addition to the normal configuration with two sets of bearings, motors can be designed with one or even no bearings (bearingless or ‘overhang’ design). In the latter case, the conveyor pulley and rotor are mounted on the same long shaft. These special bearing configurations are preferred by some conveyor manufacturers to optimize the overall system. Reducing the number of bearings helps to increase reliability, but it can only be done if the conveyor itself is sufficiently robust and installed on a strong base.

The motor frame can be tailored for easier transportation in tunnels and other areas where space is restricted.

This requires the motor manufacturer’s R&D and engineering teams to have

advanced finite element method (FEM) tools to calculate material strengths and ensure that the modifications are made safely without compromising the strength of the frame in critical areas.

Motor mounting arrangements are designed on a case-by-case basis. One advantage of large synchronous motors over induction motors is that their larger air gap makes them more tolerant of rotor movement.

IP class (ingress protection) is important in conveyor motors because mines are typically dusty, humid and corrosive environments. ABB’s synchronous motors for conveyors have protection up to IP55. Air entering the synchronous motor is filtered, and the frame is designed to avoid leaving any openings where unfiltered air could enter. A high IP class makes cleaning the external surface easier, with no risk of dirt being washed inside the housing

The overall reliability of industrial electric motors, and especially motors that are deployed in tough conditions like mines, is heavily dependent on the quality of the insulation system. The MICADUR® Compact Industry (MCI) system, used in ABB’s large synchronous motors, is based on vacuum pressure impregnation (VPI) and has proven extremely reliable in even the harshest environments. It has been in use at ABB for several decades and gone into tens of thousands of large motors and generators.

Logistics and assembly should also be taken into account at the motor design stage. Transportation of large items of equipment like motors involves special arrangements, particularly if the mine is in a remote location with limited access.

This can be solved by transporting the rotor and stator separately to reduce the weight of the individual packages.

“Designing a motor to match the exact needs of an individual conveyor system requires broad application and industry know-how on the part of the motor manufacturer” and damaging the motor.

Excitation for conveyor motors is usually supplied by direct current taken from the conveyor system’s variable speed drives. The DC is fed to the rotor via brushes and slip rings – components that are sensitive to environmental conditions. The motor manufacturer should optimize the choice of brush material (for example, silver), to ensure that brush wear is consistent and stable, and that replacement needs can be anticipated well in advance. This requires application experience and know-how covering the behavior of brush designs and materials in different conditions.

Further considerations

Factors specific to each application – like temperature and humidity conditions – should be taken into account by the design team and resolved in collaboration with the conveyor manufacturer and customer.

Other items can also be designed to be removable to help with transportation.

Where a legacy conveyor motor is reaching the end of its operating lifetime, it may be possible to design a ‘drop in’ replacement - even when the original drawings are no longer available. ABB can often design replacements for motors from other vendors, too. Advanced engineering tools like FEM are used to tailor for a precise fit and ensure high reliability.

Heavy-duty conveyor motors play a crucial role in any mine’s operations and if support is needed it must reach the site fast. The motor manufacturer should be capable of responding from a local support unit.

ABB has supplied equipment for mining conveyor systems around the world. The largest of these systems extend to several kilometers, include very steep gradients, and can carry more than 10,000 tons of material per hour. www.abb.com\motors&generators World Mining Magazine www.ogsmag.com

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energold new frontiers in drilling

Chief Finance Officer Steven Gold tells Martin Ashcroft why Energold Drilling is the natural choice for remote drilling programs, for social, environmental and operational reasons World Mining Magazine www.ogsmag.com

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T

he mining cycle starts with exploration, either to expand mines currently in production or discover sites where new mines can be built. All mines have a limited life, so it is essential to replenish reserves and resources to maintain a steady supply of metals and minerals.

As resources in one area are depleted, so miners look elsewhere for fresh deposits, accepting the inevitability that these are likely to be ever more remote and hard to access.

As it is with low-hanging fruit, the easy pickings have already been gathered.

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“The next big discovery is not going to be made in the developed world,” says Steven Gold, Chief Finance Officer of Energold Drilling. “It’s going to be in the developing world. We are the gold standard when it comes to drilling in undeveloped jurisdictions.”

The company we now know as Energold was founded in 1973 as Windflower Mining Ltd by its current President and CEO, Frederick W. Davidson. Originally a junior gold exploration company, often working in remote, densely forested locations with limited infrastructure and access, it was reorganized in 1994 with a portfolio of properties in the Dominican Republic, part of a divestiture from TOTAL, at which time it was renamed Energold Mining Ltd. Energold realized that traditional mineral drilling methods left a lot to be desired when working in remote areas. When a project encountered rough terrain and thick forest, the traditional approach was to cut down trees and develop a road infrastructure.

So Energold developed a new, highly mobile, modular drilling rig, which could be transported on a one metre wide footpath. When the drilling

program was completed the rig could be dismantled and carried away, leaving behind a minimal environmental footprint. The portable rigs proved so successful that Energold began to hire them out to other mining companies.

In 2005 the company was renamed Energold Drilling Corporation to reflect its new focus on contract drilling services.

Energold has since turned ‘frontier drilling’ into a speciality with its manportable drilling rigs, attention to detail, local recruitment and a socially and environmentally responsible business approach.

Growth

Headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Energold Drilling Corp is now a diversified global drilling company serving clients in other industry sectors as well as mining; such as oil & gas, water, and seismic and geothermal drilling. The company has grown from six drilling rigs in 2006 to over 250 rigs today, drilling in 24 countries around the world including in North America, South America, Africa, Asia, Central America, the Caribbean and the Middle East.

energold new frontiers in drilling

“About 65 to 70 per cent of our business is in mineral drilling, with the balance being oil & gas, geotechnical and water,” says Gold. “Of that mineral drilling, about 80 per cent is with the man-portable modular rig. Once you’re drilling it’s no different from conventional drilling. The value in what we do is that we can get our rigs to harder to reach spots. But our rigs drill as deep as anyone else’s rigs. The vast majority of our revenue on the mineral side is from the portable business, but we also do conventional drilling.”

In January 2011 Energold completed the acquisition of UK-based Dando Drilling International, a company with a 150 year history in the design and manufacture of specialty/customized drilling rigs and associated equipment for water well, mineral exploration and geotechnical drilling applications.

Since 2012 one of Energold’s strategic objectives has been to use Dando Drilling’s design and manufacturing expertise to target the mineral exploration sector with a new range of modular rigs.

“If you want to drill in Nevada you can put a big rig on an 18 wheeler and take it down the highway,” says Gold. “But if you want to drill in a remote area where there’s no electricity or there are social issues, you need our rigs to do that. We built this business on rigs that you, me and two other people can take apart and move piece by piece.”

While a conventional rig might weigh over two tonnes, Energold’s frontier drills can be dismantled for easy transportation, with the heaviest piece weighing only 400 pounds. The modular rig is designed to be taken apart in less than 45 minutes and its components

can be transported inside small fixed wing aircraft, pick-up trucks, dug-out canoes or carried by local labourers and/or mules on footpaths. The drill’s light weight and small size reduce flying hours on helicopter supported jobs. Being totally modular also means that repairs can be effected in the field rather than returning the rig to a shop.

Only the failed or damaged part is removed for repair or replacement.

Land permitting and reclamation are also made easier because of the small environmental footprint. The rig can be setup in a four by four metre space.

Safety and performance

Energold measures its performance on three fronts; operational, social and environmental. At the operational level, safety is the prime consideration.

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Gold. “You’re dealing with enough power to pull a Volkswagen out of the ground at 500 feet. You’re dealing with extremely strong machinery, heavy pieces of metal, and volatile fuels. There’s any number of things that can go wrong.

We are not always the cheapest but we win contracts on our safety record.”

Energold can count the world’s largest mining companies among its customers, which enhances its credibility in the marketplace. “Any Fortune 500 company would have very stringent safety demands when it hires a driller, and we work for everybody, so our reputation is well known,” says Gold. “If someone cuts their finger on a drilling rig and has to put a Band Aid on, as immaterial as that might seem, the operation would shut down so the incident could be investigated. Everything’s accounted for and nothing is taken for granted.

It’s as much about safety as it is about performance.”

Performance is more easily measured.

How many metres can you drill in a given amount of time? How good is your organisation of the core samples?

But running an efficient and productive program is an operational prerequisite.

Any customer would expect that from any contractor. In today’s marketplace, however, other considerations differentiate the world-class operator

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“If you want to drill in Nevada you can put a big rig on an 18 wheeler and take it down the highway.

But if you want to drill in a remote area where there’s no electricity or there are social issues, you need our rigs to do that”

from the rest.

Drilling companies often have a hard time because their activities disrupt communities and leave scars on the landscape. The social and environmental effects of drilling have taken on greater importance in recent years, however, and Energold’s experience gives it an advantage in working in developing countries with sensitive communities.

“A big Fortune 500 company coming to work in these small communities will carry a tremendous amount of bureaucracy,” says Gold. “We’ve built our business on working quickly with our client, and with government agencies.

We’re experts in working in these small remote towns and villages in hard to get to regions. The efficiency of a drilling program doesn’t start and end with the drill bit turning. It’s coordination with local government, it’s safety issues, it’s co-ordination with the local villagers, it’s hiring procedures, it’s housing, it’s everything.

“We have a local office in every country in which we operate. This allows us to work faster. If we get a new job in Peru, for example, we don’t have to set up a local office. When our clients hire us they know that we’re already there, so they don’t have to wait three or four weeks. We’re ready to go today.”

Hiring local people is a vital element

energold new frontiers in drilling

of the Energold approach. “You can get a drilling contract for 2000 metres or 25,000 metres,” says Gold, “but on every drill rig there are two crews of ten. Of those twenty people we would have two from Canada, because we have to be represented there, but 90 per cent would be local.” These would include ‘drill helpers’ whose responsibilities would be to transport the rig, assemble and disassemble it, and to insert and transfer rods, among other tasks. A drill helper can eventually become a fully fledged driller and drill supervisor, endorsing Energold’s social approach based on long term relationships with local communities and host governments.

“It doesn’t end there because our crews need to eat, so we hire the local restaurant,” continues Gold. “We hire the local hotel. Everything’s local. We’re probably impacting 50 - 75 people for every drilling rig. If the customer has a lot of drilling targets they can hire five rigs or more. On a small sites we might have just one rig, but on others sites we can have up to ten rigs.”

Energold is the largest man portable rig

“We’re one of the largest drillers in the world, and we’re ready to work for anyone because we have the expertise, the infrastructure and the management to do that”

operator in the world but its strengths extend further than the flexibility of its modular frontier drills. The company combines a global presence with intimate local knowledge and its fleet of conventional, underground and modular drill rigs provides a comprehensive range of drilling services from early stage exploration to mine site operations.

“We’re one of the largest drillers in the world, and we’re ready to work for anyone because we have the expertise, the infrastructure and the management to do that,” concludes Gold.

“If you’re spending operational capital in a challenging jurisdiction we should be your first call. Our experience precedes us; our safety record precedes us. We’re very competitive as far as rates are concerned; we’re well managed, we’re well funded. We can drill a hole as well as anyone else and we can get to remote jurisdictions better than anyone else.”

It’s no surprise, then, that demand is exceeding expectations for 2018.

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agnico eagle high quality, low risk Agnico Eagle is a Canadian mining company with a rich history of precious metal production. With operating mines in Canada, Finland and Mexico, its portfolio continues to expand through acquisition as well as exploration and development projects.

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Agnico Eagle celebrated its 60th anniversary last year, after an eventful history decorated with achievements. The company was formed in 1957 as Agnico Mines, taking its name from the chemical symbols for silver (Ag), nickel (Ni) and cobalt (Co). It’s better known as a gold producer these days, of course, after a series of mergers and acquisitions.

The Eagle arrived in the shape of Eagle Gold Mines in 1973, a merger overseen by the company’s legendary president and chairman, Paul Penna, and which resulted in the creation of Agnico Eagle Mines Limited. Eagle brought with it the Joutel Mine, which produced a million ounces of gold from 1974 to 1993.

This was followed by the acquisition of Dumagami Mines in Quebec. Holding one of the largest gold deposits in Canada, Dumagami was renamed LaRonde, and has since become Agnico Eagle’s flagship mine. Located in the Abitibi region of northwestern Quebec, LaRonde has produced more than 5 million ounces of gold since it opened in 1988.

Its 2.2 kilometre deep Penna Shaft is now the deepest singlelift shaft in the western hemisphere.

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LaRonde achieved commercial production of its deep extension in November 2011, where approximately 87% of its ore is now mined. Gold production is expected to average 363,000 ounces per year from 2018 through 2019, reflecting the higher gold grades expected at depth. LaRonde currently has a mine life lasting through to 2024. Ore is processed at the LaRonde mineral processing complex, which includes copper and zinc flotation as well as precious metals recovery and refining. The plant has a daily capacity of 7,200 tonnes of ore, and has been expanded four times since it opened in 1988.

Gold was solidified as the company’s priority when it acquired Goldex in 1993, the owner of the largest unexploited gold deposit in Quebec. This was followed by the purchase of the Lapa gold deposit in 2000, and, in 2005, a gold deposit in northern Finland which would become the Kittilä mine. The Pinos Altos project in Mexico was added to the portfolio in 2006, and in 2007 the purchase of Cumberland Resources gave Agnico Eagle 100% control of the Meadowbank gold project in Nunavut, Canada.

Agnico eagle high quality, low risk

“The company was formed in 1957 as Agnico Mines, taking its name from the chemical symbols for silver (Ag), nickel (Ni) and cobalt (Co)”

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Canada

Goldex is an underground mine just outside Val-d’Or, Quebec. It started production in 2008 with an estimated mine life of 10 years, but new zones are being developed for another eight years of production at about 118,000 ounces of gold per year. The Deep 1 project achieved commercial production on 1 July 2017.

Goldex is unique because of its partnership with the Quebec government in the restoration of the nearby abandoned Manitou mine tailings site. The tailings from the Goldex mine are sent through a 25km long pipeline to the Manitou site where they neutralize the acidic waters in the area, the result of years of poorly confined tailings generated between 1942 and 1979. Not only do the Goldex tailings neutralize and help rehabilitate the site, the system eliminates the need for a tailings pond at the Goldex site itself.

Agnico Eagle acquired the Akasaba West gold-copper deposit in 2014. Less than 30km from Goldex, the deposit could create flexibility and synergies for the company's operations in the Abitibi region by using extra milling capacity at both Goldex and LaRonde, while reducing overall unit costs. The public hearing process has been completed at Akasaba West, and permitting activities are expected to continue through early 2018. Mining is expected to begin on the project in 2020.

The Lapa underground mine is also located in the Abitibi region of northwestern Quebec, just 11km east of LaRonde and 49km west of the Goldex property. One of Agnico Eagle’s smallest but highest grade mines, Lapa has gold grades almost twice as rich as the company’s average, but

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has now reached the end of its mine life. The LaRonde mine has assumed responsibilities for the management and administration of the Lapa mine, and progressive transfers of Agnico Eagle personnel from Lapa are underway throughout the company. Ore from the LaRonde Zone 5 development project will be treated at the Lapa circuit, which will become available after the closure.

Another mine reaching the end of its life is Meadowbank, which Agnico Eagle acquired in 2007 with the purchase of Cumberland Resources. The Meadowbank open-pit gold mine in the Kivalliq region of Nunavut – approximately 300 km west of Hudson Bay and 110 km by road north of Baker Lake – is Agnico Eagle’s first Low Arctic mine.

The mine became the company’s largest gold producer, achieving commercial production in March 2010 and producing its two millionth ounce of gold in 2015.

Agnico Eagle has approved the Amaruq satellite deposit at Meadowbank for development pending the receipt of the required permits, which are currently expected to be received in the third quarter of 2018. Production at Amaruq is forecast to begin in the third quarter of 2019.

The company is exploring options to extend production at Meadowbank into 2019 to bridge any gap between its closure and the commencement of production at Amaruq.

The Meliadine mine development, also in Nunavut, has one of Agnico Eagle’s largest mineral resources with reserve grades more than three times the company average. After receipt of the final permit in May 2016, the company approved construction of the Meliadine project in February 2017. Operations are expected to begin in the third quarter of 2019.

Agnico eagle high quality, low risk

“The tailings from the Goldex mine are sent through a 25km long pipeline to the Manitou site where they neutralize the acidic waters in the area”

Canadian Malartic, 25km west of Val-d’Or in Quebec, is now the largest operating gold mine in Canada, and one of the world’s largest pure gold producing mines. Osisko Mining built a large open-pit mine there and began commercial production in May 2011. In June 2014, Agnico Eagle and Yamana Gold each acquired a 50 per cent share of Osisko, creating the Canadian Malartic General Partnership and Canadian Malartic Corporation to operate the mine. The 55,000-tonnes a day open pit mine produced a record 585,029 ounces of gold in 2016, with another 600,000 ounces expected in 2017.

This deal also involved a number of exploration properties, but in December last year, Yamana agreed to sell its 50 per cent interest in them to Agnico Eagle for US$162 million. The biggest assets involved are the Kirkland Lake project in northeastern Ontario and the Hammond Reef Gold project, outside of Atikokan in northwestern Ontario. The transaction does not affect

the Canadian Malartic mine and related assets (including Odyssey, East Malartic, Midway and East Amphi), which will continue to be jointly owned and operated through the Canadian Malartic Corporation.

Key deposits in the Kirkland Lake area include: Upper Beaver, Anoki and McBean, Amalgamated Kirkland and Upper Canada. Hammond Reef is an advanced stage gold project covering approximately 31,145 hectares with well defined mineral resources.

"The purchase of the CMC asset portfolio enhances our longer-term development pipeline, and provides us with potential production growth post our current mine buildout in Nunavut," said Sean Boyd, Agnico Eagle's Chief Executive Officer. "The Kirkland Lake property package enhances our current mineral reserves and offers nearterm exploration upside, while the Hammond Reef project provides good optionality to a potential rise in the gold price."

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Agnico eagle high quality, low risk

“The company is exploring options to extend production at Meadowbank into 2019 to bridge any gap between its closure and the commencement of production at Amaruq”

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Finland

The Kittilä mine in northern Finland is the largest primary gold producer in Europe, and hosts the company's largest mineral reserves. Located in the Lapland region, approximately 900km north of Helsinki and 150km north of the Arctic Circle, it is also the company’s longest-life mine, with a mine life estimated through 2034.

Kittilä achieved commercial production on 1 May 2009, becoming Agnico Eagle’s first mine to open outside Canada.

The orebodies were initially surface mined from two open pits – Suuri (from 2008) and Roura (2010) – with underground operations added in October 2010. Since open-pit mining was completed in 2012, Kittilä has been an underground-only operation.

In 2015, a new sub-parallel zone of mineralization – known as the Sisar Zone – was discovered by exploration drilling from the underground ramp being driven northward. In 2017, the company budgeted around $10.0 million for 40,000 metres of exploration drilling and 8,000 metres of conversion drilling at Kittilä. Drilling is ongoing to further evaluate the Sisar Zone, where mineralization has now been outlined between 775 and 1,910 metres below surface.

The aim of the deep drilling program is to expand the mineral resources to the north of the current mine plan and demonstrate the economic potential of the Sisar Zone, which could potentially provide an additional source of underground ore to the Kittilä mill with relatively little additional underground development.

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“Kittilä achieved commercial production on 1 May 2009, becoming Agnico Eagle’s first mine to open outside Canada”

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Mexico

In 2006, Agnico Eagle acquired the Pinos Altos project in Chihuahua State, in the mountainous region of northern Mexico, 220 km west of Chihuahua itself. It is an open-pit and underground mining operation containing substantial reserves of gold and silver.

Pinos Altos poured its first gold in July 2009 and achieved commercial production in November of that year, while underground mining began in the late spring of 2010.

Shaft-sinking began at Pinos Altos in 2012 to increase the underground design capacity to 6,000 tonnes/day.

Completion and commissioning of the shaft project was achieved in July 2016. The nearby Creston Mascota satellite operation was built in 2010 as a stand-alone pit and heap leach operation. It poured its first gold in December 2010, and achieved commercial production on 1 March 2011.

Pinos Altos had proven and probable reserves containing 1.4 million ounces of gold and 38.1 million ounces of silver as of 31 December 2016, while Creston Mascota had reserves containing 102,000 ounces of gold and 909,000 ounces of silver. Pinos Altos expected to produce 170,000 ounces of gold in 2017, and to average 175,000 ounces of gold per year from 2018 to 2019. Creston Mascota expected to pour 40,000 ounces of gold in 2017, 30,000 ounces of gold in 2018, and 5,000 ounces of gold in 2019 when it is expected to complete operations.

Agnico Eagle continues to evaluate the sequencing of additional satellite zones, which could provide additional ore to the Pinos Altos complex. Drilling data is being incorporated into preliminary studies along with metallurgical testing and geotechnical data in order to optimize the development potential of remaining satellite resources.

Further drilling was carried out in 2017 to evaluate this potential. At the Sinter deposit, final permitting activities are underway, and a potential production decision could be announced with the 2017 year-end results. Elsewhere, additional drilling is planned to further evaluate the underground potential at Cubiro, and surface potential at Reyna de Plata. In 2017, the company planned 34,000 metres of exploration drilling and 2,000 metres of conversion drilling at Pinos Altos, including Creston Mascota and Madrono.

Madrono is a recently acquired prospect surrounded by the Pinos Altos mine property, a mere half a kilometre from the Creston Mascota pit and the Bravo Zone. Previous mining in this area included small-scale bonanza production from underground mine development on three levels in the 1930s. Mapping and sampling of historical mine workings quickly identified high-potential targets. Agnico Eagle is now undertaking a first campaign of drilling on the Madrono prospect, which includes at least three gold-silver veins: Madrono, Santa Martha and La Curva.

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In November 2011, Agnico Eagle acquired the La India property from Grayd Resource Corporation and within 22 months had completed its design, permitting, construction and start-up. Mining began in September 2013, with initial leaching the following month. The first gold from La India was poured on 20 November 2013 and commercial production was officially achieved in February 2014. The mine has now reached its design capacity, with 100,000 ounces of gold production expected in 2017 and a mine life of approximately six more years, although studies are underway to look at potential expansion options.

The La India mine is located approximately 200km east of Hermosillo in Sonora, Mexico. The property includes the La India mine site, the Tarachi gold resource and several other prospective exploration targets, situated in the prolific Mulatos gold belt. The Pinos Altos and Creston Mascota mine complex is approximately 70km southeast of La India, providing operating synergy between the two properties.

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In 2017, the company planned a program for 21,000 metres of exploration drilling and 5,000 metres of conversion drilling at La India. A second phase of drilling has commenced under the Main Zone to evaluate the potential to extend mineral reserves and mineral resources below the current pit design.

“The 2.2 kilometre deep Penna Shaft at Agnico Eagle’s LaRonde mine is the deepest single-lift shaft in the western hemisphere”

Agnico eagle high quality, low risk

“Pinos Altos poured its first gold in July 2009 and achieved commercial production in November of that year, while underground mining began in the late spring of 2010”

Agnico Eagle’s strategy is based on building a growing, high-quality, low risk, sustainable business which delivers on its performance and growth expectations. This also involves maintaining a high quality project pipeline to replenish mineral reserves and production.

The company is also committed to providing economic development opportunities in its host communities and countries, seeking, wherever possible, to procure goods and services from qualified local businesses to share the benefits of mining with its partners, and to create value for its shareholders while operating in a safe, and socially and environmentally responsible manner.

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Mining is an uncertain business, but one thing about it is inevitable. Minerals become harder to find and more difficult to extract as time goes on. It’s like low hanging fruit, upside down.

“Mining is getting deeper all the time,” says Rune Lindhjem, a product manager with Devico who works with clients to help optimize their drilling programs.

“When you start mining you start at the surface but as you exhaust the resources you have to go deeper.”

Every metre drilled adds time and cost to the operation, but the development of directional core drilling and sidetracking/branching has made a huge contribution to accuracy and efficiency, saving the cost, effort and uncertainty involved in drilling multiple single holes.

Accuracy is a significant challenge in drilling, as Lindhjem explains. “When you drill a hole in the ground, a lot can happen as you get deeper,” he says. “There will always be what we call ‘natural deviation’. It can be because of differences in the hardness of the rock, or wear of the drilling equipment. Whether you’re drilling slowly or pushing hard can also make a difference. It’s virtually impossible to drill a straight hole, and the deeper you go, the more variation you get.”

When miners began to use borehole survey tools on a regular basis they discovered that most of their holes ended up a long way from where they were planned.

Geologists dreamed of steering the borehole to hit precise targets. Then Viktor Tokle invented a steerable core barrel in the 1980s and formed Devico in 1988 to bring it to market.

In 2000 Devico launched the DeviDrill wireline system, the most significant improvement in the development of the technology. The company also developed its own suite of borehole survey tools, which have added to the global

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success of the company.

Headquartered in Norway, Devico is now the global market leader in directional coring services. Its highly trained engineers work together with the drilling contractor to ensure that the operation runs smoothly and efficiently. They also work with the project geologists to prepare and optimize drilling plans, suggesting the depth at which directional drilling should be started, for instance, and calculating how long a correction needs to be to redirect the hole towards the target.

The DeviDrill is a steerable wireline core barrel. Using a normal drill string it is fully compatible with the N-size wireline system, eliminating the need for additional water pumps, drill strings or drill rig. Devico’s survey tools are also an integrated part of the package, measuring the trajectory as the hole is progressing.

Devico technology makes it possible to control borehole deviation and steer the hole accurately towards the target, while collecting core samples at the same time. To put it simply, when you’re drilling a hole, it helps to know where you’re going, and when you find something, it helps to know exactly where you found it. “There are many types of instruments,” explains Lindhjem, “but the most common are types of compass, like a magnetometer or a magnetic sensor to detect the horizontal direction of the hole.

They also use inclinometers that use gravity to detect inclination. By stopping every few metres and checking the direction and the inclination you can calculate your coordinates and make sure you hit your target.”

DEVICO DRILL TRULY, MINE DEEPLY

“By stopping every few metres and checking the direction and the inclination you can calculate your coordinates and make sure you hit your target” World Mining Magazine www.ogsmag.com

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“We saved them a lot of drilling at Kittilä”

Kittilä

Devico has mining customers all over the world, but one, in particular, has used its services continuously for a very long time. Agnico Eagle’s Kittilä mine is located in the Lapland region of northern Finland, approximately 900 kilometres north of Helsinki and 150km north of the Arctic Circle.

It’s cold up there. To put its latitude in perspective, Kittilä is also 150km north of Rovaniemi, which is recognised worldwide as the official home of Santa Claus. The cold has been one of the challenges of the project. Before the DeviDrill is run down the borehole it is normal practice to do a water test to verify that everything is working properly. The Devico engineers in Kittilä have successfully developed new procedures for winter testing, to avoid the water freezing inside the DeviDrill before it goes into the borehole.

Kittilä is a long life mine. Exploration in the area began in 1986 and the mine achieved commercial production on 1 May 2009, becoming Agnico Eagle's first mine to

“With natural deviation, if you drill a 1000 metre hole you could end up 100 or 200 metres to the side. With directional drilling you can aim at a target well within 10 metres”

open outside of Canada. It is now the largest primary gold producer in Europe, but since open-pit mining was completed in 2012, Kittilä has been an underground-only operation, with a mine life estimated through to 2034.

Devico started working in Kittilä in March 2009, and is still there now – an unusually long-term association in the industry. “We saved them a lot of drilling at Kittilä,” said Lindhjem. “Back in 2010 they drilled 19 mother holes. We did our directional drilling at various depths from those, and completed 58 branch holes. It was calculated that if all the holes had been drilled from the surface it would have required 81 kilometres of drilling. It ended up being 50 kilometres, so we saved 31 kilometres of drilling. That reduced the drilling cost by about 25 per cent or so, not to mention the time savings.”

The cost of drilling is the most obvious benefit, but there are other savings, too. “You save on drilling but you also save on core handling and logging,” said Lindhjem. “The geologists always want to log the core. If you’re drilling from the surface and your target is at 1000 metres, you’re not going to find very much in that first 1000 metres, but you have to move the drill to a new site and retrieve the core as you go along, so there’s a lot of core handling and logging to be saved by using directional drilling from the 600-700 metre level.”

Sidetracking – starting a new hole from inside a mother hole – enables metres to be saved and targets to be hit more accurately. “With natural deviation,” said Lindhjem, “if you drill a 1000 metre hole you could end up 100 or 200 metres to the side. With directional drilling you can aim at a target well within 10 metres. You also want to hit the target at different points. You want to hit it in a grid, based on your models. That’s an option you get with directional drilling.

We also collect core samples during the steering process, so that provides a complete record of the geology.”

Core drilling for minerals typically involves drilling long sections in bedrock before reaching the ore deposit. As natural deviation changes the drill path, the value of the information gained from the borehole is reduced. The DeviDrill has been proved to work well in both igneous and sedimentary rocks, however, so directional core drilling offers the option to drill truly, when mining deeply.

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At Smith Power Products, Inc. we understand the rigors of off-highway diesel engines and mobile machinery. Which is why our industrial products are designed to meet these tough everyday standards. We emphasize performance and reliability to provide you with a product that maximizes your production and prootability.

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For installation of a new feeding hopper: with the MOS H3 series working in-pit, the related CAPEX expenses will be optimized and significantly reduced. Rock breaker booms, rollers screen and rock crusher are no longer necessary.

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Azerbaijan’s Non-Ferrous Metal Industry at a New Stage of Development Azerbaijan is known throughout the world as an oil and gas country. In order to provide steady and sustainable development of the country, the government has diversified its economy, supporting the development of a non-oil sector, and creating favourable conditions for local and foreign investors. One of the most promising areas in this non-oil sector is, namely, a mining industry. Therefore, AzerGold Closed Joint-Stock Company (AzerGold) was established according to the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev dated February 11, 2015. The company’s activity covers the study, exploration, development and management of non-ferrous metal ore deposits located in the territory of Azerbaijan.

In a short time, AzerGold has addressed organizational issues and started operating. At the moment, AzerGold is actively operating its own Chovdar gold and silver mine in Dashkasan district, in the west of Azerbaijan.Mineral extraction by the method of oxide – open pit mining started in 2016 after extensive construction and repair works. It is planned to extract about 500,000 ounces of gold and silver in total within the scope of oxide phase to be continued until 2021.

Having successfully passed the procedures of KYC (Know Your Customer) and Due Diligence, AzerGold cooperates with a renowned Swiss company Argor-Heraeus SA on gold refining. In the first year of the mine operation – during April-December of 2017, the export of gold and silver has contributed approximately US$77,340,000 to Azerbaijan’s economy, which has brought AzerGold to a leading position in non-oil exportation business.

At the same time, AzerGold is carrying out active exploration works on other mine sites. When referring to non-ferrous metals in Azerbaijan, we must first mention the Filizchay polymetallic deposit located in Balakan district, in the north of the country, which is considered the “pearl” and the biggest deposit of the region and the second in Europe.

The deposit has more than 120 million tons of precious and non-ferrous ore reserves such as copper, zinc, lead, gold and silver. The scoping study of Filizchay deposit is under preparation by world-known SRK Consulting company and is expected to be ready by April 2018. The next steps for exploitation will be defined by this study.

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The preliminary drilling works in another deposit – Mazimchay will be finalized next year and its reserves will be evaluated accordingly. Due to the fact that the Mazimchay deposit is located near Filizchay, leads to the increase of reserves of the latter and the economical efficiency of both projects.

Another promising mine is Ortakand-Khanagha located in the southern part of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and distinguished with detection of particular gold, complex copper-porphyry, epithermal sulphide ores. Since the results of geophysical studies made by the method of electro and magnetic exploration are very reassuring at the moment, drilling works are expected to be carried out at the mine in the near future. If it is determined that the amount of reserves estimated after drilling works is cost efficient according to above-mentioned results, the preparation of mining works, feasibility study and implementation of construction works, as well as the operation of the mine in 2021 are to commence.

Daghkasaman mine located in the north-west of Azerbaijan is considered a promising area in terms of detection of gold, gold-polymetallic deposits. It is planned to undertake geological surveys at this mine in 2022.

There are three copper-porphyry deposits in Garadagh mine located in Shamkir district near Daghkasaman. Over recent years, the economical efficiency of those deposits has been achieved by increases in the copper price in the world market. Towards the center of the country, Kurakchay mine, located in the territory of Goygol district has been always considered a promising area due to the presence of splattered gold deposits, several occurrences and mineralization points. This mine is scheduled to be explored again according to requirements of international standards.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is one of the most significant areas of AzerGold’s policy. Ninety per cent of the people working at Chovdar mine represent neighbourhood communities which is an important aspect of the company’s social policy. Regular meetings are organized with local communities and their needs are studied within the frame of CSR. Other social support projects are being and will be performed to improve the social welfare of local communities. AzerGold pays considerable attention to

environmental protection. More than 6,000 trees and shrubs have been planted in an aera of more than 10 ha within the scope of tree-planting events held in Chovdar mine during a year.

Generally, the five-year strategic development plan of AzerGold includes the development of mining production, exploration of ore deposits, strengthening of human resources, social responsibility and environmental protection, establishing international co-operation and other targets.

Azerbaijan is rapidly developing due to the economic reforms implemented in the country, socio-political and socio-economic stability, as well as the conducive environment created for foreign investors. The favourable conditions provided in the country, the application of technologies and innovation, the exchange of experience, as well as co-operation with foreign and local partners, all ensure the dynamic development of the young AzerGold.

The precious-metal-rich deposits of Azerbaijan are indicative of great potential. Establishing co-operation with foreign investors will be one of AzerGold’s priority areas, in order to realize its potential at the next stage of development. AzerGold is open to co-operation.

The company’s representatives regularly attend events of international importance, developing new business relationships, informing potential partners in detail on perspectives of deposits existing in Azerbaijan, and sharing best practices extensively.

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RIO TINTO VALUE OVER VOLUME

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At a time when the mining industry’s costs are rising and productivity is struggling, shareholder returns require strategic investment and an element of discipline. Rio Tinto has outperformed its peers with its world-class assets and has some quality growth projects in the pipeline.

C

apital investment in mining infrastructure has been somewhat stagnant of late, with new mines as rare as hen’s teeth. Much more common has been the disposal of non-core assets and the mothballing of marginal ones.

There were reasons to be cheerful, therefore, when Rio Tinto officially opened its Silvergrass iron ore mine in Western Australia at the end of August. The US$338 million project is the 16th mine in Rio Tinto’s world-class iron ore operations in the Pilbara region and will produce

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low-phosphorous ore crucial to maintaining its premium Pilbara Blend product.

“Silvergrass is a great example of our value-over-volume approach in action, as the mine will deliver the high-quality, low-cost ore used to maintain the world-class premium Pilbara Blend product our customers love so much,” said Rio Tinto chief executive J-S Jacques. “Silvergrass is a further demonstration of our longstanding commitment to the Pilbara region in Western Australia where we’ve invested more than US$20

billion over the past decade.”

The brownfields expansion project will lower mine operating costs as a result of the construction of a ninekilometre conveyor system to replace traditional road haulage routes linking Silvergrass to the existing processing plant at Nammuldi.

More than 500 jobs, as well as opportunities for indigenous contracting, were created during the construction of the mine. Contracts worth more than $180 million were awarded during the construction phase, including contracts to Western Australian company Decmil and Perth headquartered company RCR Resources.

In May this year Rio Tinto approved an investment of $30.9 million to complete the project feasibility study on its Koodaideri iron ore deposit

rio tinto value over volume

“Silvergrass is a great example of our valueover-volume approach in action, as the mine will deliver the high-quality, low-cost ore used to maintain the world-class premium Pilbara Blend product our customers love so much”

in the Pilbara, which could be its next major mining development in Western Australia. “The Koodaideri development will require an expected 1600 construction jobs and a further 600 operational staff if approved,” said Rio Tinto Iron Ore chief executive Chris Salisbury. “We remain firmly focused on our value over volume strategy and maximising returns through enhanced productivity. We are examining the Koodaideri project as an option to help us maintain our low cost competitive position and assist in maintaining the Pilbara Blend product quality.”

The feasibility study will focus on obtaining necessary consent and permits, increasing the company’s understanding of the orebody and technical elements, and providing the data necessary to validate the project.

Pre-feasibility study information for the project was released in an investor seminar in November 2016, which included a 40Mtpa capacity dry crushing and screening plant, non-process infrastructure, product stockyards, rail loop and load-out and a 170 kilometre rail link to the main line. It suggested a capital requirement of approximately US$2.2 billion, with potential for construction to commence in 2019. The final decision on the progression of the Koodaideri iron ore development will follow the completion of the feasibility study and subsequent review by the Rio Tinto investment committee and board.

Aluminium

Also in Australia, Rio Tinto is expanding in Queensland, too, continuing its 50 year history of operations in Cape York with a US$2.6 billion investment to build a mine and port to expand production from one of the world’s premier bauxite deposits.

Rio Tinto (originally as Comalco) has mined and shipped bauxite from Weipa on the Western Cape York Peninsula in Queensland since 1963, but the original reserves are gradually being depleted and with continued demand for bauxite, the business has identified significant reserves south of the Embley River.

The Weipa operations consist of two continuous mining operations at East Weipa and Andoom, two beneficiation plants, 19 kilometres of railway to transport mined bauxite to the port area, two stockpiles and two ship loaders. Rio Tinto also owns and operates two diesel engine power stations, which supply the mine, Weipa town and the neighbouring community of Napranum.

A key milestone for the future of the Weipa operations was reached with the Rio Tinto Board approving funding for the Amrun project in late 2015.

The project includes the construction of a range of infrastructure including a processing plant and port near Boyd Bay, a dam, tailings storage facility, roads and a ferry terminal on the Hey River to transport workers from Weipa to the mine.

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rio tinto value over volume

Construction on the project is well under way with first shipment planned for the first half of 2019.

In June this year Rio awarded an A$100 million contract to Aggreko Australia Pacific to build and operate a new 20MW power station at the Amrun bauxite project. A team of more than 20 Aggreko employees including engineers, project managers and technicians will come together to deliver the installation by December 2017 with go-live set for April 2018.

Once operational, Amrun will replace production from Rio Tinto’s existing East Weipa mine and increase annual bauxite exports. Planned initial output is 22.8 million tonnes per year with a range of options for future expansions up to 50 million tonnes per year.

Rio Tinto’s existing bauxite operations have hardly been slacking of late, however, with record bauxite ore production of 12.9 million metric tons in the second quarter of 2017.

The record output was a 7 per cent increase year-on-year, and a 14 per cent increase quarter-on-quarter. Total production for the first half of 2017 was 24.2 million metric tons, a four-

per cent increase year-on-year.

Rio Tinto attributes the record production total to corresponding record production at its Gove and Weipa operations, with Gove besting Q2 2016 production by 27 per cent and Weipa producing four per cent more bauxite year-on-year.

Debottlenecking at Gove and recovery from severe weather at Weipa are credited with buoying production in the quarter and half year.

“A key milestone for the future of the Weipa operations was reached with the Rio Tinto Board approving funding for the Amrun project in late 2015”

While some product is shipped to international customers, the majority of Weipa bauxite is supplied to the Queensland Alumina Limited and Rio Tinto Aluminium Yarwun refineries, both located near Gladstone on the central Queensland coast.

These refineries produce alumina as feedstock for Australian aluminium smelting operations and for sale on the international market.

The Gove Operation is located on the Gove Peninsula in North East Arnhem land in the Northern Territory. It is situated on extensive deposits of high grade bauxite, a burnished red ore with high aluminium oxide content.

Bauxite mining began there in 1970 to supply the export market.

Diamonds

While we’re in Australia, it’s worth mentioning that Rio Tinto owns and operates the Argyle diamond mine in the remote East Kimberley region of Western Australia. It is one of the world's largest suppliers of diamonds and the world's largest supplier of natural coloured diamonds, including World Mining Magazine www.ogsmag.com

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the highly coveted rare pink diamonds.

The Argyle diamond deposit, located in the AK1 pipe, was mined using conventional alluvial and open pit mining from 1983 to 2013. Over this period more than 800 million carats of diamonds were mined. In 2013 a new era of underground mining of the AK1 pit took over to access the pipe at further depth.

Block cave mining techniques – where the ore body is undercut, allowing it to break up and ‘cave’ under its own weight – are now being employed to extend the life of the Argyle mine until at least 2020. The block cave is expected to generate on average 20 million carats per year.

The Argyle underground mine is a challenge both in size and complexity.

There are around 40 kilometres of tunnels. The main thoroughfares in the underground network are four tunnels – two to carry vehicles, one for ventilation and one for moving ore. There are two large underground crushers and conveyor belts transport the ore from deep in the mine to the surface.

When Argyle was first established, it became apparent that purposedesigned processing machinery would be needed to recover and sort the high volume of characteristically small stones produced by the mine.

This included the development of sophisticated X-ray sorting technology to assist in the efficient identification and collection of the small diamonds.

Today, the Argyle processing plant is one of the most efficient in the world.

It is capable of processing up to 11 million tonnes of ore per annum operating 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year.

Argyle produces diamonds in a range of colours, including white, champagne and pink gems. The majority of Argyle’s diamonds are sold as “rough” or uncut diamonds.

These are sorted and prepared for international sale by Rio Tinto’s sales and marketing team in Antwerp, Belgium. The majority of customers are Indian based companies and the Indian cutting industry has been an important platform for developing the market for the small, coloured diamonds that characterize the Argyle production.

Rio Tinto also owns a 60 per cent interest in, and operates, the Diavik

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Diamond Mine in Canada's remote Northwest Territories, 220km south of the Arctic Circle. The design, construction and operation of the Diavik mine is an epic saga of success on a grand scale in the most forbidding of places. Diavik commenced production in 2003 and has an annual production of some 6-7 million carats of predominantly large, white gem-quality diamonds. It is expected to continue to produce high quality gems to 2023 and potentially beyond.

Rio Tinto now has a new joint venture partner in the Diavik mine, as Dominion Diamonds recently sold

its 40 per cent share to Washington Companies.

Also in Canada, Rio Tinto has become involved in a joint venture with Shore Gold, which acquired from Newmont Canada in June, all of Newmont's participating interest in the Fort à la Corne joint venture, resulting in Shore owning 100% of the Star-Orion South Diamond Project.

Shore concurrently entered into an option to joint venture with Rio Tinto Exploration Canada, granting RTEC an option to earn up to a 60% interest in the project on the terms and conditions contained in the option agreement.

rio tinto value over volume

Copper

Although Rio Tinto lists many of its assets in Australia and Canada, its copper interests are focused elsewhere, particularly in Mongolia. One of the most exciting developments in copper and gold mining for several decades, Oyu Tolgoi contains reserves and resources that make it one of the world’s largest known copper and gold deposits. The project is expected to be a significant contributor to Mongolia’s economic development.

Situated in the southern Gobi desert of Mongolia, approximately 550 kilometres south of the capital Ulaanbaatar, and 80 kilometres north of the Mongolia-China border, Oyu Tolgoi is jointly owned by the Government of Mongolia (34 per cent) and Turquoise Hill Resources (66 per cent, of which Rio Tinto owns 51 per cent). Since 2010, Rio Tinto has also been the manager of the Oyu Tolgoi project.

After decades of exploration and drilling, the first major discoveries at Oyu Tolgoi were made in 2001, leading to several years of further exploration which revealed the impressive scale of the deposit. While exploration continues, even with the reserves currently identified, Oyu

Tolgoi is expected to operate for over 50 years. Some $6.4 billion has been invested to develop the open-pit mine, concentrator and associated infrastructure at Oyu Tolgoi, with an additional $500 million of capital costs for initial development of the underground mine.

To this point, all of Oyu Tolgoi’s concentrate has been produced using ore mined from the surface using open pit mining. However, the majority of the value of Oyu Tolgoi, up to 80 per

cent, lies deep underground. In May 2015, Oyu Tolgoi’s shareholders, Rio Tinto, Turquoise Hill Resources and the Government of Mongolia, agreed upon a plan to progress the next stage of underground development, using block-caving mining techniques to extract the ore and transport it to the surface to the concentrator.

Block-caving, while technically challenging, is one of the safest and most cost-effective methods of mining ore from deep below the ground.

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rio tinto value over volume

Fourteen kilometres of lateral tunnels have already been constructed at Oyu Tolgoi, and over time, up to 200 kilometres of tunnels, at depths of up to 1,300 metres, will be built to allow safe mining of the deepest parts of Oyu Tolgoi’s ore body.

In the United States, Rio Tinto Kennecott is a fully integrated mining operation located just outside Salt Lake City, Utah. Kennecott is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto. For more than 110 years, Kennecott has been mining and processing minerals from the rich orebody of the Bingham Canyon Mine. In 1989, Rio Tinto acquired the Bingham Canyon Mine and other facilities in the Salt Lake Valley. Kennecott produces copper, molybdenum, gold, silver and sulphuric acid to be shipped around the world.

In Arizona, the Resolution Copper Project is a proposed world-class copper mine that is said to have the potential to supply 25 per cent of the current US annual demand for copper for 40 years. Resolution Copper is located near the town of Superior, 65 miles east of Phoenix, Arizona, in an

area known as the ‘Copper Triangle’ with abundant historic mining activity.

Some of the region’s mines have now closed, as their orebodies had become uneconomic, but the Resolution Copper project offers an opportunity to reinvigorate the area’s economy with an industry the state and its people know well.

Resolution Copper Mining (RCM) is a limited liability company owned 55 per cent by Resolution Copper Company, a Rio Tinto PLC subsidiary, and 45 per cent by BHP Copper, a BHP-Billiton PLC subsidiary.

In late 2014 the Resolution Project passed an important milestone when legislation was passed that provides

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for an exchange of land between the company and the US Government.

The Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act provides for 2,400 acres of federally-owned land above the copper deposit to be exchanged for 5,300 acres of highquality conservation and recreational land owned by Resolution Copper.

By allowing the company access to this land near the deposit, Resolution Copper will be able to fully understand the deposit, and how to safely develop it.

The exchange will be completed when a final environmental impact statement (EIS) is issued under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The EIS will outline mitigation plans to protect land, cultural sites, and air and water quality on property included on both sides of the exchange. Once the final EIS is released, Resolution Copper’s property will become public land, and will be managed by the Government.

In South America, Rio Tinto has a 30 per cent interest in Escondida, in Chile, which is managed by BHP Billiton, giving it regular input on strategic and policy matters. The Minera Escondida copper mine in Chile’s Atacama Desert is the world’s largest copper-producing mine. In

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“Earlier this year Rio Tinto applied for exploration permits in Chile’s northern region of Arica, as the company searches globally for new deposits worthy of being developed into mines”

2012 it accounted for five per cent of global copper production and around 15 per cent of Chilean copper production. Escondida produces copper concentrate, through a flotation process of sulphide ore, and copper cathodes, using a leaching process of oxide and sulphide ore.

Earlier this year Rio Tinto applied for exploration permits in Chile’s northern region of Arica, as the company searches globally for new deposits worthy of being developed into mines. The company wants to start drilling in an area at an altitude of 2,100 metres, about 58km from Arica city, close to the border with Peru and Bolivia, according to the local Spanish language newspaper El Mercurio.

The so-called Palmani project aims to discover and characterize the mining potential of the area, which could eventually be developed into a mine, according to information provided by the country’s Environmental Assessment Service (SEA).

Rio Tinto also has an interest in Grasberg, in the province of Papua in Indonesia, one of the world’s largest copper and gold mines in terms of ore reserves and production. Until recently it was owned and operated by Freeport Indonesia (PTFI), a subsidiary of USbased Freeport-McMoRan Copper &

rio tinto value over volume Gold Inc. Rio Tinto has a joint venture for a 40 per cent share of production above specific levels until 2021, and 40 per cent of all production after 2021.

The Indonesian government has taken a tough line on foreign owned mining assets, however, resulting in Freeport reducing its stake in the company to 49 per cent, with the government now owning the majority 51 per cent share. There is as yet no indication as to whether this will affect Rio Tinto’s interests.

Lithium

The lightest metal on Earth, lithium is in great demand as it is used in a vast array of products, most notably batteries for hybrid and electric cars. Rio Tinto Borates' Jadar project in Serbia is a significant, world-class lithium-borate resource.

Rio Tinto discovered Jadar in 2004.

It is a unique deposit near the town of Loznica, in Western Serbia, some 160 kilometres from its capital Belgrade.

The deposit contains Jadarite, a new mineral unique to Serbia, which has not been found anywhere else in the world.

Jadar has been ranked as one of the largest lithium deposits in the world. If developed, it is said to have the potential to supply more than 10% of global demand for lithium.

Borates are essential building blocks for heat resistant glass, fibreglass, ceramics, fertilisers, detergents, wood preservatives and many other household and commercial products. They are used in insulation that makes buildings energyefficient, and to produce TV, computer and smartphone screens.

Rio Tinto has recently elevated Jadar to become its most likely growth project, revealing that if it gets approvals and the economics support it, it will start construction in 2020 and reach first production in 2023. The company has so far spent around US$90 million on Jadar.

In July this year Rio Tinto signed a memorandum of understanding with the Government of Serbia relating to the implementation of the Jadar Project. The MOU will enable the formation of joint working groups between the government and the company to progress the Jadar Project through the study and permitting phases. Under current plans, Jadar will

be an underground mine, with the opportunity for future expansion if demand warrants it.

“Jadar has been ranked as one of the largest lithium deposits in the world. If developed, it is said to have the potential to supply more than 10% of global demand for lithium”

At the 2017 Global Metals & Mining Conference in Barcelona in May, Rio Tinto’s chief executive J-S Jacques described his approach to delivering superior value for shareholders as being about a long-term strategy built on world-class assets; maximising cash through a value-over-volume approach; developing a highperformance culture across the Group and allocating capital with discipline.

“We have world-class assets and the best balance sheet in the industry,” he concluded. “This creates a strong platform for the future.“

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NEW PATENT PENDING AXLEWEIGHR IN-MOTION AXLE-SCALE - WEIGHS TRUCK AT THE JOB SITE! Rinstrum’s new In Motion Axle Scale is a fast, accurate and economical way to weigh trucks and verify your net payload. The patent pending precast concrete design is semi portable and can be moved from jobsite to jobsite. Contractors, farmers, and plant managers will find this low cost scale indispensable to their operations. At 1/3 the price of a full length scale Rinstrum’s axleWEIGHr is excellent value Payload:

Always know what payload you are carrying. Roll across the scale at 2-3 mph and the easy-to-use controller will totalize the net payload for each truck as it passes over the scale. Up to 250 different trucks can be stored in memory. A door mounted printer records all transactions and data is captured to digital memory via USB storage drive, or Ethernet connection.

Convenient: The small footprint of this scale easily

integrates into the flow of traffic. No need to stop on the scale. Simply drive across at a constant speed (2-3 mph) and the scale will automatically do the rest.

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vehicle weight by truck ID, commodity, time and date. Use the optional truck ID clicker system to identify the truck and select the commodity on the large remote display. Each trucks tare weight is saved in memory and then recalled when the truck crosses the scale for single pass operation.

Data can be printed or stored to a convenient USB storage drive for easy transport to the office PC.

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can be expected. Company testing as well as extensive field trials have shown that with flat and level concrete approaches ±0.2% or better accuracy can be achieved.

truck scale, the axle scale is great value for the user that does not have legal for trade requirements. Save time and expense by not driving to a faraway truck scale and install the axleWEIGHr at the job site.

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designing and manufacturing weighing systems for over 20 years. Our global manufacturing network has facilities in the United States, Germany, Australia and Sri Lanka in addition to an extensive network of dealers, OEM’s and service companies. Our Troy Michigan facility proudly manufactures the axle scale and other weighing products in the United States.

For more information please contact us at: Call Toll Free 1 877 829 9152 or +1 248 680 0320 from outside the United States Rinstrum in-Motion Axle Scale – Proudly made in the USA www.rinstrum.com World Mining Magazine www.ogsmag.com

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Doran Manufacturing Lee Demis Director of Business Development 2851 Massachusetts Avenue Cincinnati, OH 45225 Ph: (513) 699-6230 Email: Demis_Lee@Doranmfg.com Web: www.doranmfg.com

Dyno Nobel 2795 East Cottonwood Parkway Suite 500 Salt Lake City, UT 84121 Phone: 800-732-7534 Fax: 801-328-6452 Email: marketing@am.dynonobel.com Customers in the mining industry choose Dyno Nobel for quality products, reliable service and technical expertise. Dyno Nobel is the market leader in North America with facilities in Australia, Canada, the United States, Indonesia, Mexico, South America and Papua New Guinea.

With a customer driven focus, Dyno Nobel develops practical products that will benefit customers in real time. Customers can count on real solutions to their pain points of today, helping them to reduce costs and increase production. Renowned for excellent safety performance and innovative explosive products and services, Dyno Nobel continuously delivers groundbreaking performance through practical innovation.

Established in 1953, Cincinnati, Ohio based Doran Manufacturing LLC. is a global leader in tire pressure monitoring systems and other transportation safety technology. Doran 360TM TPMS continuously monitor tire pressure and temperature data using wireless valve stem-mounted tire pressure sensors. Doran TPMS data can be integrated with telematics to communicate tire pressure and temperature data off equipment via wifi, gps and more for remote visibility of tire data.

LumAware Advanced Photoluminescent safety products include Personal Protective Equipment (PPE – Helmets, Safety Vests) Exit Signage and more that makes workers performing tasks in low light/no light conditions safer, and illuminates exits and escapeways in emergencies.

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mining equipment rentals

GEA Group Peter-Müller-Str. 12 40468 Düsseldorf Germany Tel +49 211 9136-0 chemical@gea.com GEA is one of the largest supplier for process technology and components for sophisticated production processes for many industries worldwide. Across a broad range of mining and mineral operations, GEA offers technologies, equipment & services in evaporation and crystallization, drying, cooling, calcining and conditioning, classification, thickening and dewatering, crud treatment and solvent extraction and wastewater management.

United Mining Rentals (UMR) was born out of a specific niche in the market for both short and longer term rentals for both new and used, Sandvik & Getman equipment for both underground & surface mining and also tunnelling applications.

Coupled with +35 years of experience in the mining business, UMR provides both sales and rental of new & used mobile equipment for various mining & tunnelling operations across the world. In addition, our sister company, QME Mining Services Division (which operates as an International mining and tunnelling contractor), also operates a large fleet of predominately Sandvik equipment.

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mineral processing

Salter Cyclones Salter Cyclones specialises in fine solids removal with its own Hydrocyclones and Multi-Gravity Separators. These achieve powerful and precise separations in practical, compact, reliable, operator friendly and economic systems.

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MINPRO

MINPRO International have subsidiary offices in 4 countries all of which have the same business, supplying mineral processing equipment and engineering for the mineral processing industry worldwide. Our main products are AKER Flotation Machines; Hydraulic Roller Mills, Semi Mobile Modular Concentrators, Hydro Cyclone Batteries as well as Polyurethane wear parts for the mineral processing industry.

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Adrok is a cutting edge service technology company headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, with exclusive global patents to Atomic Dielectric Resonance (ADR) imaging technology. This innovative technology has been developed for use in Oil and Gas, Mining and Civil Engineering sectors. Adrok’s technology has been used in several projects around the world to explore the sub-surface geology and locate accurately and identify precisely the fluids present at great depths providing high resolution without drilling the underground. This subsurface imaging scanner generates ‘virtual borehole’ logs of subsurface geology from the surface. It is lightweight, field rugged and portable, to enable cost-effective mobilisation.

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software

GEA Group Peter-Müller-Str. 12 40468 Düsseldorf Germany Tel +49 211 9136-0 chemical@gea.com GEA is one of the largest supplier for process technology and components for sophisticated production processes for many industries worldwide. Across a broad range of mining and mineral operations, GEA offers technologies, equipment & services in evaporation and crystallization, drying, cooling, calcining and conditioning, classification, thickening and dewatering, crud treatment and solvent extraction and wastewater management.

Formed in 1997, Canary Systems provides integrated geo-monitoring solutions for a broad range of mining applications, including open pit, tailings, SW-EX, and underground. We help clients better manage risk, monitor performance, and increase the safety of their operations by tying together the loose ends: the hardware required for automatic or semi-automatic data acquisition – and the software to collect, store, and analyze data in a simple and efficient way on a single combined powerful platform.

We provide turnkey solutions – including system architecture, hardware and software development, telemetry, and instrumentation – as well as individual components customized to and augmenting existing project needs.

Canary Systems, Inc. Mining Group 4732 Oracle Road, Suite 112 Tucson, AZ 85705 USA Tel: 520.887.9800 info@canarysystems.com www.canarysystems.com

Salter Cyclones specialises in fine solids removal with its own Hydrocyclones and Multi-Gravity Separators. These achieve powerful and precise separations in practical, compact, reliable, operator friendly and economic systems.

sump

Salter Cyclones Limited Tel: + 44 1242 697771 Fax: + 44 1242 690895 Email: sales@saltercyclones.com Web: www.saltercyclones.com

scales & weighing equipment

IVAC Industrial Vacuum Systems Ltd., manufactures a powerful pneumatic powered vacuum/ delivery system that allows you to pick-up and deliver your most difficult materials. The materials can be wet or dry including gravel, sand, slimes, sludge’s and water. The powerful, virtually maintenance free vacuum system is able to deliver the materials short or long distances, even up too kilometres through a pipeline or hose. Its is ideal for sump & ditch clean-up, tanks, under conveyors, around crushers and mills anywhere shovels, vacuum trucks or water hoses are being used for your clean-ups today!

Contact: Brad Fryburger Brad.Fryburger@rinstrum.com +1 248 680 0320 Website: www.rinstrum.com

World Mining Magazine www.ogsmag.com

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IVAC Industrial Vacuum Systems Ltd. 35-111 Chartrand Avenue, Logan Lake, BC V0K 1W0 Canada Phone 604-628-3367 Email zereko@zereko.com http://industrialvacuumunit.com

Motors, drives, mechanical power transmission – all from one supplier.

We have delivered reliable products to the mining industry for decades and being a valued partner with our customers is something we care about very deeply. One way we can help increase reliability is to make sure all the components in your system fit together seamlessly. When you are specifying a power train for your application, we can design and deliver a complete solution with variable speed drives, motors, couplings, bearings, gearing and pulleys.

Take your energy efficiency to the next level with the best possible cost of ownership. With our expertise and extensive product and service offering you can ensure safe processes for machines and people.

To learn more, call ABB or visit www.abb.com/powertrain-mining.

What can United Mining Rentals offer your company?

At a time when fiscal responsibility is becoming exponentially more important, in an industry where the highest safety standards and productivity must be maintained, providing your operation with the best fleet at a minimal cost is fundamental to any successful and profitable business. United Mining Rentals (UMR) has over 30 years of experience in the Mining & Tunnelling Industry and we are proud to offer rental and ownership opportunities for the full range of new Sandvik and Normet equipment. We trust you will find the product that suits your Mining or Tunnelling operation, backed by the numerous advantages associated with theUMR rental, or rent with an option to purchase models that will reduce cost of ownership and help maintain productivity.

Our full range of new Sandvik and Normet products are backed with full Factory Warranty, Technical Support, OEM Parts and a global network of local and regional OEM service centres. With such a robust range of support services, renting with UMR reduces maintenance costs and guarantees availability hence improving productivity for our customers whilst also eliminating rebuild down time.

Striving to provide quality at a reasonable price, UMR offers an innovative model of flexible rental or rental/purchase options tailored to suit every kind of end user in the Tunnelling and Mining industries, allowing customers to avoid tying up capital and invest it in the future purchase of rented equipment. Our rental/purchase option offers an attractive allowance for paid rentals against pre-agreed purchase price easing upfront capital spending and is a way of investing in the ownership of the Equipment at a pre-determined date.

For all mining equipment rentals visit www.unitedminingrentals.com

EUROPE United Mining Rentals Ltd. Coolfore Road, Ardbraccan, Navan, Co. Meath, C15 KXY3, Ireland.

NORTH AMERICA United Mining Rentals Ltd. Suite 1200, 220 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5J 2W4, Canada.

Tel: +353 87 1491945 Tel: +1 647 267 8193 Email: info@unitedminingrentals.com www.unitedminingrentals.com Our philosophy at UMR is simple – Downtime costs money. This philosophy inspired our aim to provide solutions to one of the major contributors of downtime in the mining and tunnelling industries: low availability of equipment. To ensure our customers don’t experience any downtime, we offer rentals and rent to purchase plans for new Sandvik and Normet equipment on a global basis, making use of the vast network of Worldwide Service Centres provided by two of the world leaders in Mining and Tunnelling Equipment. We also offer the option of bridging units to keep our customer’s operations running smoothly until their new rental unit arrives.

We recognise that each customer has different requirements so we offer very flexible terms. Our first option is rent to purchase which allows for purchase of the equipment following a minimum one year rental period with a percentage of the rental payments deductible from the pre-agreed purchase price. Another option we offer is variable term rental from a minimum of 1 year upwards allowing the customer long term rental, consisting of 2-3 years allowing the customer to return the equipment with no commitment to purchase. We also offer a “Rolling Replacement” option, which allows the customer to return equipment to UMR following a 3 year rental and replace with new equipment for another 3 year term or pre-agreed period.

RENTALS AVAILABLE: Trucks and Loaders Underground Drilling & Bolting Roadheaders Exploration & Surface Drilling Lifting & Installations Scaling & Charging Underground Logistics Spraying

Our business model is designed with Mining Companies & Tunnelling Contractors in mind, who often have short or long term contracts, as well as Start-up mining operations which may wish to defer spending capital on expensive equipment for use in another area until positive cash flow is realized. Fixed rental payments simplify budget planning, and can be 100% Tax deductible against business income.

By using a reliable rental provider such as UMR for a long term rental the costs of acquiring, running and maintaining the right equipment for the job can be greatly reduced, as renting equipment can generate significant savings by avoiding depreciation, the total cost of the purchase price, and unnecessary unit and component rebuild costs.

UMR Equipment comes with a managed service tailored to each customer’s requirements covering bridging units, full technical support and immediate reaction to warranty issues ensuring availability at all times.

Making that vital decision whether to buy or rent is not just a matter of budget, but of business strategy. So weigh up the numbers, and make the right decision for your business.

For all mining equipment rentals visit www.unitedminingrentals.com

Are equipment trips slowing down your ore?

Operate to constraints to maximize flow.

Pavilion8ÂŽ drives your operation to maximum potential The Pavilion8 Material Flow Management application provides real-time visibility of complex multiple conveyor systems in a mining facility. By taking advantage of existing data, the application improves performance by initiating preventive or corrective measures prior to a system trip.

Discover how a Pavilion solution can help you operate your facility at maximum efficiency.

Discover.rockwellautomation.com/Mining Pavilion8 is a registered trademark of Rockwell Automation, Inc. Copyright Š 2015 Rockwell Automation, Inc. All Rights Reserved. AD2015-45-US