Brazillian gold and copper mine water evaporation solution
This open pit copper and gold mine producing high-quality copper concentrate needed a complete water management solution. The mine is located in Goiás State, Brazil, just 4km from nearby community, Alto Horizonte. First commissioned in 2007 and currently producing between 43,000 and 48,000 t of copper and 55,000 and 60,000 oz of gold per year, the mine currently has three open pits which they plan to ultimately combine into a large single pit.
Our client needed to mitigate the risk of water impacting on their production and as such the site urgently required a water management solution that could deliver both dewatering for their central pit and effluent management for their Tailings Storage Facility (TSF). The need was a direct result of Goiás’ tropical climate and subsequent high rainfall totaling on average 1500mm (59.1 inches) annually. A failure to address the site’s water volume presented extreme potential economic, environmental, regulatory, and social ramifications for our client This included potential loss of production and revenue, possible site shutdown, fines, non-compliance, and a potential environmental incident.
Ubicación - Goiás State, Brazil
Tipo - Gestión del agua
Industria - Gold and Copper mine
Producto - 22 x Land Based Water Evaporators
Caudal m3 + GPM - 2,970 m3/hour (13,200 GPM)
Aplicación - Deshidratación de pozos
Resultados
El equipo de Minetek diseñó, fabricó e instaló con éxito un sistema de 10 unidades evaporadoras de agua de acero inoxidable, además de un sistema de bombeo de alta resistencia totalmente automatizado e integrado en el sistema operativo de la central eléctrica. Los evaporadores pueden evaporar agua con un nivel de pH comprendido entre 1,8 y 14+, incluida el agua de salmuera. Cuando funciona las 24 horas del día, el sistema de evaporación mecánica evapora más de 2,9 millones de galones de agua residual de salmuera al día. En consonancia con la necesidad urgente del cliente de contar con un sistema de gestión del agua, el paquete completo del sistema de Minetek se entregó varias semanas antes de lo previsto. Los especialistas en proyectos de Minetek proporcionaron apoyo para la instalación y trabajaron con el personal de la central eléctrica para poner en marcha el sistema con éxito.