Phoenix Mine Acquires Unique Material Handling Solution

Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Newmont Mining Corporation is one of the world’s largest gold producers, with active mines in Nevada, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Ghana, and Peru; and some smaller operations in Bolivia, Mexico and Canada.

Over the last 50 years, its operations in Nevada have grown to include 14 open-pit mines, four underground mines, and 14 processing facilities. Located near Battle Mountain, Nevada, its Phoenix open-pit gold, silver and copper mine began production in 2006 and boasts one of the largest milling operations in North America. Currently, the operation has reached 11-million-tons of annual production.

Newmont prides itself on discovery and development, and on identifying innovative ways to extract additional value within existing operations and projects. For example, Newmont reports that the Phoenix Mine initially had a projected life of 20 years; however, current exploration may reveal deposits that will significantly extend the mine’s life. As such, the Phoenix Mine, like others owned by Newmont, is focused on a number of continuous improvement projects which emphasize equipment productivity, cost reductions, and increased mill capacity.

Throughout the Newmont organization, processing upgrades are subjected to considerable analysis, testing and validation – all with the goal of eliminating waste, re-work, and accelerating speed in arriving at a successful processing solution. Recently, the Phoenix Mine acquired a unique material handling solution – a new, one-of-kind portable groundline conveyor – to aid in meeting a tight testing timeframe.

The Phoenix Mine was charged with the goal of establishing an effective secondary crushing circuit to reduce feed size, hopefully resulting in an increase in SAG mill capacity. Originally, all pit-run material was processed through a gyratory crusher which fed a stockpile preceding the SAG mill. Robert Tucker, process maintenance general foreman for the Phoenix Mine, supervised the setup and ongoing testing of an additional 1200 HP cone crusher, which is at the heart of a new secondary circuit.

“Initially, we are averaging an additional 150-tons-per-hour of throughput to the SAG mill,” says Tucker. He explains that from the gyratory, material is crushed down to a 5-inch topsize before being fed to the secondary cone where it is crushed down to an inch and a quarter. Oversize is screened and sent to a pebble crusher before being sent to the SAG mill. The undersize material is crushed in a single pass through the SAG mill.