1

ExpansinAntapaccayTintaya
DanteGarca*&JulianoVillanueva
ConcentradoraAntapaccay,Xstrata,Peru

ABSTRACT

The construction phase of the Glencore Xstratas 70 000 tonnes per day copper concentrator near
Cusco, Peru ended in 2012. Plant startup was accomplished during the last quarter of 2012.
Comminutionisachievedbyprimarycrushing,SAGmillingandpebblecrushing,followedbyball
milling. The Concentrator is a single line configuration, comprised of one 40 ft. diameter x 22 ft.
long(EGL)SAGmilldrivenbya24,000kWgearlessdrive.TheSAGmillfeedstwoballmills,each
26ft.indiameterx40ft.long(EGL)witheachdrivenbya16,400kWgearlessdrives.
ThisexpansionrepresentsthefirstGlencoreXstrataStandardConcentrator,whichisthefirst40ft.
SAGmillinPeru,andwhichfeaturesthehighestpowerSAGmillintheworld,a6.5kmoverland
conveyorwithgearlessdrive,theuseofanoldpitasatailingsdamandthehighesttorquetailings
thickener in existence. This paper reviews the history, background, grinding circuit design and
operations startup focusing on safety, startup strategies, main issues and improvement
opportunities.Themainstrategiesusedwerepeoplerecruitingandtraining,benchmarkingrelated
tootherrecentstartups,strategiccontractswithvendorsandconsultants,phasesforstartupand
reagentstrategy.

RESUMEN
La etapa de construccin de la Planta Concentradora Antapaccay para minerales de cobre con
capacidaddetratamientode70000TM/da,pertenecienteaGlencoreXstrata,terminafinesdel
ao2012.Eliniciodeoperacionesseefectuduranteelltimotrimestredelao2012.
Lasoperacionesdeconminucinseefectanconelchancadomedianteunachancadoragiratoria;
luego con un molino de bolas tipo SAG; chancado de Pebbles mediante chancadoras cnicas y
finalmentemoliendafinaconmolinosdebolasconvencionales.
La Planta Concentradora est diseada segn configuracin en lnea simple. Incluye un molino
SAG de 40 x 22 pies, (EGL), accionado por un motor tipo gearless con potencia instalada de
24,000kW.Estemolinoalimentaadosmolinosdebolas,cadaunode26piesdedimetrox40pies
delongitud,(EGL),accionadoscadaunoporunmotortipogearlessde16,400kW.
EstaexpansincorrespondealprimerConcentradorEstndardelaEmpresaGlencoreXstrata,que
incluye el molino SAG ms grande del Per, cuya potencia de motor corresponde al ms grande
del mundo. Se integra adems una faja tipo Overland con una longitud de 6.5 km, accionada
tambinconmotorestipogearless.Paraeldepsitodelosrelaves,seutilizaeltajoagotadodela
MinadeTintaya
Esteartculodescribelahistoria,antecedentes,caractersticasdediseodelcircuitodemolienday
las operaciones del inicio de produccin. Se enfatiza en los aspectos de seguridad, estrategias de
arranque de planta y oportunidades de mejora. Destacadas estrategias fueron las relacionadas a
seleccin y entrenamiento de personal, de generacin de contratos con los proveedores y
consultores,fasesdearranque,usodereactivos.Todoellosecontrastamuyfavorablementeconel
arranquedeplantasconcentradorassimilares.

1930s: Skarn mineralization, located on Atalaya in the northwest margin of Antapaccay

South,hasbeenminedsporadicallysincetheseyears.

1985:Tintayacommencedproduction.

1996: Tintaya was acquired by BHP Billiton following their acquisition of Magma Copper
Company.

1998:TheAntapaccayporphyrycentreswerediscovered.

2006:XstrataCopperacquiredTintayaandtheAntapaccaycoppergoldprospectfromBHP
Billiton.

2010: Xstrata approved a US$ one and a half billion investment in Antapaccay following
approval of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment by the Peruvian Mining
Ministry.

OurAntapaccayopenpitmineandprocessingfacilitiesarelocated4,100metresabovesealevelin
the Yauri district of Espinar Province in southern Perus Cusco Region. Antapaccay is situated
approximately10kilometresfromTintaya.Figure1showsAntapaccayslocation.

Figure1:AntapaccayTintayalocation

BACKGROUND
Socialmanagement
TintayaAntapaccays Social Management involved the following voluntary dialogue and
agreementprocesses:

Framework Agreement 2003: Voluntary agreement between Espinar province and Tintaya
occurredin2003.ACitizenParticipationProcesswasconductedwith72communitiestoidentify
andcarryoutsustainabledevelopmentprojects.Meetingswitheachcommunitywereheldatleast
onceaquartertodiscuss/defineprojectimplementation.
Development Table: A Dialogue Process was held with six communities in the direct area of
influence (Espinar District) by CooperAccin; CONACAMI, OXFAM and Xstrata Tintaya. The
Dialogue Process was designed to identify projects that would enhance development and
coexistence with the communities in the direct area of influence of our operation. Biannual
participatorymonitoringandatleastquarterlymeetingsareongoing.
CaipaBilateralProcess:ABilateralDialoguewasheldwiththefourcommunitiesintheCaipa
Microbasin(EspinarDistrict)andXstrataTintaya.TheBilateralProcessincludedacomprehensive
programmetoimprovecattleforthelivestockfarmingdevelopmentoftheCaipaMicrobasin.Bi
annualparticipatorymonitoringandatleastquarterlymeetingsareongoing.
RegionalMiningFund:RepresentativesoftheCuscoregion,UNSAACandXstrataTintayaagreed
toaFiveyearfundthatcontributestothedevelopmentoftheCuscoregion,undertheSolidarity
withthePeopleMiningProgrammethatwassignedwiththecentralgovernmentin2006.

Mineralisation
The copper mineralization of the Antapaccay project is located mainly in intermediate intrusive
rocksasdissemination,veining,andhydrothermalbrecciasandincontactwithpremineralrocks
like diorites, and sedimentary rocks (limestone, chalky lutites, limonites and sandstones) that
formed mineralized breccias through contact, exoskarn and stockwork in sedimentary rocks,
with a marked domination of chalcopyrite over bornite up to 350 m deep. At greater depth, this
roleisinvertedandisassociatedwithalevelofgypsumanhydrite.
Two apparently isolated bodies have been identified. The south body is the larger and extends 1
300minaNWSEdirectionandvariesinwidthfrom250until430m.Thenorthbodymeasures
300mNWSEandis450mwide.
Contact with limestone generates the conditions for metasomatism to occurring generating
irregularbodiesofgranitemagnetite+/pyroxeneexoskarnwithpatchesofmostlychalcopyrite.In
addition,zonesofintenseveiningofgreyquartzstockworkwithastrongcontentofborniteand
chalcopyrite always occurs near hornfelsintrusive contacts, reaching several meters into the
hornfels.
BasedontheGeometallurgicalandResourcesmodel,theprojectseconomiccoppermineralization
is distributed in the following form: 1.9% Cu oxide, 70.0 % Cu sulphide porphyry, 12.9% mixed
porphyry, 6.5% porphyrybrecciagypsum, 5.9% mineralized breccia and 2.8% skarn, with the
highest grades found in the mineralized breccias and the skarn. Figure 2 shows Antapaccays
geology.
OreTypeSampleDefinition
GeometallurgicaloretypeswiththeprefixUGMweredefinedbytheprojectgeologistsbasedon
mineralization with seven UGMs (17) initially identified for metallurgical purposes. These ore
typesformedthebasisforcomminutionandflotationtestwork.

Figure2:Antapaccaygeology
During the flotation variability program, an eighth ore type was identified. This one contained
nativecopperwhichsubsequentlyhadadetrimentaleffectoncopperflotationrecovery.
Table1showsthedescriptionofeachoretype,itsrelativetonnage,distributionandcopperhead
grade (based on geological core logs and resource model at beginning of metallurgical test
program)representingtheLOMLifeofMine.
Table1:AntapaccayoretypeUGMs
UGM Description

Orekt

Ore
%

%Cu

PorphyrySulphide

328035

65.9

0.56

PorphyryMixed

55255

11.1

0.63

PorphyryBreccia

31702

6.4

0.54

BrecciaMineralisation

29098

5.8

1.11

Skarn

13678

2.7

0.98

Other

22963

4.6

0.42

Oxidised

9002

1.8

0.42

PorphyryMixedwith
NativeCu

8345

1.7

0.42

498078

100.0 0.60

Total

Themainoretypes,UGMsoneandtwohaveverysimilarcharacteristics.Intermsofcompetency,
bothcouldbeconsideredasregularwithtorespecttoSAGgrindingandhardwithrespecttoball
grinding(Dechert,2006).

Themajorityoftheoretypescanbeclassifiedasbeingofmediumhardnessandlowabrasiveness.
Table2showstheaverageresultsforeachoretypefromthecharacterizationprogram.
Table2:Summaryofcomminutionresultsfromcharacterizationprogram
Ore
Type
UGM1
UGM2
UGM3
UGM4
UGM5
UGM6

JKDWT JKDWT
A*b
ta
47.7
60.2
42.9
54.6
66.6
48.6

0.8
1.5
1.0
0.8
1.0
1.1

SMC
Dwi
(kWh/t)

SMC
Axb

5.7
5.5
5.8
5.8
4.8
6.6

46.4
49.4
45.3
51.6
63.2
46.3

SPI
LEIT
(min) (kWh/t)
79.4
74.5
72.7
72.4
61.0
90.8

5.6
5.7
5.2
7.9
7.3
8.2

AI

0.1
0.2
0.1
0.1
0.0
0.1

BRWI BBWI
(kWh/t) (kWh/t)
13.5
13.5
11.6
12.1
10.8
14.3

17.6
16.7
15.5
14.7
10.0
14.6

Flotationtestwork
Flotation test work consisted of a characterization program and a variability program which
includedonehundredandfortyseven(147)samples.
The most abundant ore types responded well to very simple processing parameters. At primary
grindsizesof150to200mP80,over90%ofthecopperwasrecoveredinconcentratesthatgraded
about37%copper.Goldwas80%recoveredinthefinalconcentrate.
Regrinding the rougher concentrate ahead of the cleaning stages was determined to be an
important factor influencing the copper concentrate grade. However, the concentrates could be
processedatregrindsizesof30to50mP80.
Thereweredifferencesinmetallurgicalresponsebetweensomeoftheoretypes.Theporphyryand
breccia samples performed well with very little variation in response in individual sub samples.
The skarn and other rock classifications demonstrated considerably more variability in
metallurgical response. These ore types contained many nonsulphide forms of copper that
negatively impacted metallurgical response. The rock type classification proved useful in
delineatingmetallurgicalresponseandorehardnessforthedeposit.
Theconcentrateswereessentiallyfreeofsignificantdeleteriouselements.

CONSIDERATIONSANDGRINDINGCIRCUITDESIGN
TheAntapaccaymineexploitsadepositoftypemassiveporphyriticwithlowgrade,thereserves
are520millionmineraltonneswithacopperheadgradeof0.60%.Themineprovidedemployment
tomorethan6000peopleduringtheconstructionpeakandtoabout1460peopleintheoperating
stage. The construction of the project was accomplished between 2010 and 2012, and the life of
mineisexpectedtobe22years.Progressiveclosingofthewastedamsandthetailingsdamsfrom
Tintaya mine will be done in conjunction with the Antapaccay operation. The closing of the
Antapaccayfacilities attheendoftheoperationimpliesremediationoftheland,thewastedams
andthetailingsdam.
Xstrata Project Development made a strategic partnership with Bechtel to act as the main
engineeringcompanyfortheirprojects,FLSmidthformillsandflotationequipment,andSiemens

formillsmotors.BechteltogetherwithGraaandMonterowerethemainconstructioncontractors.
On the other hand Xstrata itself made strategic procurements of mill liners, grinding balls and
flotationreagents.

Circuitdesignandequipmentselection
Xstrata Copper in 2008 had six potential large scale copper concentrator projects in their project
execution pipeline. One of the largest capital cost items and also the longest lead time items on
someoftheprojectsarethoseoftheequipmentfortheprimarygrindingcircuit.Thegeneral
engineeringphilosophyfortheselectionofsuchequipmenthasbeentoselectthelargestproven
equipmentavailable.Thiscurrentlycorrespondstoa12.2m(40ft.)diameterSAGmilland7.9m
(26ft.)x12.2m(40ft.)ballmills.
Withthedeliveryofthistypeofequipmentbecomingcritical,thedecisionwasmadetoplacean
ordertosecureaproductionslotforeithera11.6m(38ft.)or12.2m(40ft.)SAGMillandtwo7.9m
(26ft.)ballmillsforoneofthefirstprojects.Thedecisionwhethertoselectan11.6m(38ft.)ora
12.2m(40ft.)SAGmillforthefirstproject,initiatedtherecommendationthatanevaluationofall
oftheprojectsbecarriedoutbyindustryexperts,withafocusontheAntapaccayproject.
Theselectionofgrindingequipmentforanyprojectisgenerallyacomplexissueandwithoutthe
constraintsofextendedequipmentdeliverycyclesisstillnormallyacriticalpathiteminthedesign
cycle.Assuchtheevaluationmethodologytobeusedinthecurrenteconomicclimateneedstobe
relativelyconservative,butalsocarriedoutbyexperiencedpersonnel(Vanderbeeketal.,2006).
AnevaluationoftheavailabledataforthesixprojectswascarriedoutbyconsultantsSteveMorrell
and John Starkey who were specifically chosen due to their extensive experience in the industry,
andalsoduetothefactthattheyusetwofundamentallydifferentapproachestoSAGmilldesign.
Steven Morrell was the initiator of the core model used by JKSimmet, subsequently marketedby
theJuliusKruttschnittCentre,Queensland,Australia,whilstJohnStarkeywastheinventorofthe
SAGPerformanceIndex(SPI)testingmethodologynowmarketedbyMinnovex,Toronto,Canada
(SGSLakefield).Bothofthesemethodshavehadsignificantbackingbyoperatingcompaniesinthe
mineralsworld.AreviewofavailabletestdatawasalsocarriedoutonafewoftheprojectsbyM
Ericksonof FLSmidth.AdditionallyWalterValeryfrom Metsomadeathroughputforecastusing
modellingandsimulationsofthecomminutioncircuit.
Theprimaryobjectiveforthereviewerswastoevaluatetheexpected throughput ofthedifferent
oretypesfromeachprojectthroughtheproposed12.2m(40ft.)SAGmillandthetwo7.9m(26ft.)
ballmills.Thedesiredthroughputsforeachprojectrangedfrom80000tonnesperdayto120000
tonnesperday.
Theprimaryfindingsofthegrindingevaluationwereasfollows:Thethroughputspredictedbythe
two grinding consultants were in reasonable agreement with each other. All of the other South
American projects were SAG limited at rates lower than desired, with some significantly lower
than desired. The suggested one 12.2 m (40 ft.) SAG mill and two 7.9 m (26 ft.) ball mill
configurationdoesnotfitalloftheproposedprojectsbecausetheSAGlimitationreducestheball
millload,andinsomecasesthepreferredgrindingconfigurationisoneSAGandoneballmill.The
decisiontosecuretheproductionslotfora12.2m(40ft.)SAGmillwasstillthecorrectdecision,but
further evaluation of expected SAG mill performance, final power selection, primary grinding
circuitconfigurationandsizingofballmillsisrecommendedforfutureprojects.

During the initial SAG mill performance review it was very quickly identified that desired
throughputs for some projects may not be achieved. At the same time, bid adjudications on mill
motorsizingandvendorselectionwerecontinuing,andthepotentialforincreasedmotorratingvia
enhanced cooling systems was raised. The end result was the decision to upgrade the SAG mill
motor size to 24 MW, via the addition of extra cooling capability, at a relatively low incremental
capitalcost.Theratedmillmotorwasincreasedprimarilyasaconservativesafetymeasuretoallow
for increased confidence in predicted throughput based on the preliminary nature of grinding
characterizationtestworkcompletedatthattime.Thereforealinearincreaseincapacityfromthe
datapresentedabovebasedonthe21.0MWmotortotheproposed24.0MWmotorshouldthusnot
beassumed.

PlantOverview
Themetallurgicalplantconsistsofa1524mmx2879mm(60inx113in)primarycrusherlocated
closetotheproposedmine,a6500moverlandconveyortothecopperconcentrator,a12.2m(40
ft.) SemiAutogenous Grinding (SAG) mill and two 7.9 m (26 ft.) ball mills to prepare feed for a
conventionalflotationcircuittorecoverthecopper,goldandsilvercontainedinthefeedoretothe
copperconcentrate.Thecopperconcentrateisthickenedandfilteredonsitepriortobeingtrucked
totheportofMataraniforshipmenttosmelters.Flotationtailingsarethickenedanddeliveredto
the existing Tintaya open pit for disposal. The nominal throughput of the concentrator is 70 000
tonnesperday.Figure3showstheflowsheetandFigure4showsthegrindingmills.

OPERATIONSSTARTUP
Safety
Themostimportantissuefromoperationsstartupwassafety.During thefirsttwomonthssince
startupwehad61dayswith255072manhourswithoutlosttimeincidents.

Strategies
ThedevelopmentofthestartupstrategiesbeganinNovember2011andinvolvedpeople,strategic
contractsandconsulting.Thepeopletrainingstrategiesincludedvisits,teambuildingandlessons
learnedfromotherstartupswithteamsfromLasBambas,AlumbreraandAntamina;trainingsfor
supervisors and operators in Alumbrera and Antamina; technical visits for superintendents and
supervisors to Confluencia (Los Bronces), Esperanza, Andacollo, Chuquicamata, Valle Central,
Cerro Verde, Toquepala, Cerro Corona and Conchn Refinery; training courses with suppliers
(Tecsup,Sandvik,Yura,Cytec,MolyCop,Mepsa,Renasa,OricaandFlomin);andparticipationin
congresses.
Theobjectiveofthestartupphasesstrategywastoproducecopperconcentratewiththeminimal
possible equipment; we developed a startup plan with three phases taking into account the
equipment priority in order to fulfill the objective. Each phase, beside the main equipment
considered the secondary equipment as belt conveyors, pump with boxes and cyclone batteries
(Rondestvedt,Bustos&Torres,2011).
For the reagents strategy we added two collectors and one frother in order to improve the
recoveries.

Figure3:Antapaccayconcentratorflowsheet

Figure4:Antapaccayconcentratorgrindingequipment

StartUpBenchmarks

24/10/12InitialoperationoftheSAGMillusingstandardore

08/11/12Endof50%chargetestandplantshutdownforreadjustment

10/12/12Firsttestswithpebblecrushers

11/12/12FirstCopperConcentrateShipment

11/01/13ImpactmeterinstalledforSAGMill

Figure5showsthegrindingthroughputevolution.

Figure5:Grindingthroughputevolution

ImprovementOpportunities
Severalpotentialimprovementstotheoperationarebeingconsidered:

Installationofstandbysecondaryequipmentinordertoimprovetheavailability.

ProcessingofcrushedpebblesinballsmillsusingaSABC2circuittoprocessmoretonnage.

PrecrushingofSAGmillfeedinordertoincreasethethroughput.

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CONCLUSION
The successful startup of the Antapaccay Concentrator was due to the implementation of
strategiesthatweredevelopedbeforethestartup.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many people and organizations contributed to the activities described above the authors would
liketothanktoallofthem.

REFERENCES
Dechert,C.(2006)AntaminaDesignthroughtooperation,ProceedingsofSAG2006,Vancouver,
Canada,pp.1126.
Rondestvedt, C., Bustos, M. & Torres, L. (2011) Carmen de Andacollo startup of Tecks new
copperconcentrator,ProceedingsofSAG2011,Vancouver,Canada,pp.114.
Vanderbeek,J.,Linde,T.,Brack,W.&Marsden,J.(2006)HPGRimplementationatCerroVerde,
ProceedingsofSAG2006,Vancouver,Canada,pp.4561