Completed Projects - Cemented Rockfill & Concrete Plants
Newmont Mining Corporation - Deep Post Mine
Minera Meridian LTDA - Chile
Getchell Gold Corporation - Turquoise Ridge Mine
Kahama Mining Corporation - Bulyanhulu Gold Mine
Cominco Limited - Polaris Mine
Homestake Canada Inc. - Eskay Creek Mine
Sistema Hidraulico - Portal de Entrada
Sistema Hidraulico - Portal Salida

Cemented Rockfill Plant
Newmont Mining Corporation
Deep Post Mine
Carlin, Nevada, USA

Cemented Rockfill Plant
Minera Meridian LTDA
El Penon, Chile

SIZE / CAPACITY 70 tons per hour SERVICES PROVIDED Conceptual Design Struct./Mech. Engineering Design & Supply Of Control System Supply/Fabrication of all Equipment Supervision of Equipment Installation Commissioning and Training SUPPLIED EQUIPMENT Two Aggregate Conveyors Pugmill Backfill Mixer Backfill Holding Hopper Backfill Mixer Support Structure 125 Ton Cement Silo Screw Conveyor 1350 Litre Colloidal Mixer Slurry Surge Tank Paristaltic Slurry Pump Dust Collection System Control Room/PLC/MCC System Pneumatic Control System

The Material Handling Team designed, manufactured, and commissioned this automated backfill plant. It is located in the driest location on earth, the Atacama dessert in northern Chile. This plant combines cementitious slurry with coluvium (aggregate), known as 'chusca'. A Thiessen Tornado slurry system is utilized to prepare slurry in multiple batches and store it in a holding tank. Aggregate is stockpiled above a tunnel conveyor and is then conveyed to a pugmill via a conveyor scale. The process is a hybrid system, using automated slurry batching combined with a continuous process at the pugmill where the aggregate and slurry are mixed before discharging to the backfill holding hopper and haul-truck. The system is mostly self-cleaning, using the Tornado's colloidal mixer and slurry pump to purge all lines, the pugmill and gob hopper. This project was particularly challenging due to the complexity of coordinating the continuous processes to sized truckloads up to 20 tonnes. Two variable frequency drives (VFDs), a conveyor scale, and a variable speed/reversing peristaltic pump were utilized within the system to ensure consistent, high quality backfill. The unique feature of this plant is the self cleaning purge cycle inherent within every batch. The system self-cleans in this manner and may continue this way for shifts of any duration. At the end of a shift, a wash formula, (water only), be run for a final cleaning.

Cemented Rockfill Plant
Getchell Gold Corporation
Turquoise Ridge Mine
Golconda, Nevada, USA

SIZE / CAPACITY 150 tons per hour SERVICES PROVIDED Struct./Mech. Engineering Design & Supply Of Control System Supply/Fabrication of all Equipment Supervision of Equipment Installation Commissioning and Training SUPPLIED EQUIPMENT 80 Ton Aggregate Storage Hopper Two Aggregate Weigh Hoppers Aggregate Transfer Chute Four Belt Conveyors Slump Mixer Two 125 Ton Cement & Flyash Silos Two Cement & Flyash Weigh Hoppers Water Weigh Hopper Seven Screw Conveyors Cement Storage Hopper 1000 Litre Colloidal Mixer Slurry Dispensing Head Control Room/MCC/PLC System Pneumatic Control System Six Dust Collectors Support Structures For All Equipment Fully Cladded and Insulated Enclosures

The Material Handling Team was the successful bidder in the design, manufacture and commissioning of Getchell Gold's Turquoise Ridge backfill system. The plant is comprised of silos, feeders, weigh-bins, diverters and mixers at various locations throughout the mine. Cement and flyash from surface silos and aggregate from the surface batch plant are fed through borehole feed lines to a series of transfer and weighing stations underground. The material is then mixed in a 10 cubic yard Besser mixer where it is fed into haul trucks to be used in their underhand cut and fill operations. The plant also includes a Thiessen Tornado 1000 on the surface which feeds cement slurry to the various underground levels where it is sprayed over development waste for the production of further cemented rockfill.

Concrete Batch Plant
Kahama Mining Corporation
Bulyanhulu Gold Mine
Tanzania, Africa

Cemented Rockfill Plant
Cominco Limited
Polaris Mine
Little Cornwallis Island, Nunavit, Canada

SIZE / CAPACITY 190 tons per hour (Screening Plant) 125 tons per hour (Mixing Plant) SERVICES PROVIDED Conceptual Design Struct./Mech. Engineering Design & Supply Of Control System Supply/Fabrication of all Equipment Supervision of Equipment Installation Commissioning and Training SUPPLIED EQUIPMENT 2000 Litre Colloidal Mixer Cement & Water Weigh Hoppers Calcium Chloride Weigh Hopper Four Screw Conveyors Three Cementitious Silos Dust Collection System Progressive Cavity Pump Cement Slurry Spraybars Truck Dump Hopper Cement Bag Unloading System Two Apron Feeders Two Belt Conveyors 375 Tonne Aggregate Storage Bin Rotary Hot Water Bath System 75 Tonne Surge Bin Vibratory Feeder and Screen Deck Control Room/MCC/PLC System Pneumatic Control System Two 10,000 Gallon Water Tanks Heat Exchanger

Located only 100 km from the magnetic north pole, the Cominco Polaris lead-zinc mine is the most northerly operating mine in the world. When working north of the seventy-fifth parallel, the Arctic Ocean only allows a six week window in mid summer to allow sea access by freighter. Polar bears, caribou, arctic fox and musk ox are seen almost daily, within the boundaries of the mine. In this project undertaken by The Material Handling Team, 27 truckloads of equipment had to be dockside in Montreal within a few months or the project would be delayed for a year. The Material Handling Team delivered all equipment as required. The plan called for 8" minus aggregate, permanently frozen by Arctic conditions, to be brought in by haul truck, conveyed and stored in a 375 ton bin. The rock was then fed by a series of apron feeders, vibratory feeders, and conveyors through a pre-heat stage and hot water rotary bath to a second 75 ton storage bin. Here, a Thiessen Tornado, employing four Colcrete-Eurodrill colloidal mills combined a cementitious slurry with the heated rock. 30 ton haul trucks were then loaded with cemented rockfill for use in the underground mine. The heated CRF had to withstand unbelievable ambient temperatures approaching -70 degrees C, with wind chill. A single Modicon PLC system with dual touchscreens was used to monitor and control the entire plant. The Material Handling Team also provided site supervision and startup assistance to Cominco in prime Arctic conditions, October to April.

Cemented Rockfill Plant
Homestake Canada Inc.
Eskay Creek Mine
Eskay Creek, BC, Canada

SIZE / CAPACITY 50 tons per hour SERVICES PROVIDED Conceptual Design Struct./Mech. Engineering Design & Supply Of Control System Supply/Fabrication of all Equipment Supervision of Equipment Installation Commissioning and Training SUPPLIED EQUIPMENT 2 Compartment Aggregate Storage Bin Aggregate Weigh Hopper Aggregate Belt Conveyor Teak Pan Mixer Cement Silo Cement Weigh Hopper Concrete Holding Hopper Dust Collection System Water Storage Tank Control Room with MCC/PLC System Mixer and Silo Support Structure Fully Cladded and Insulated Enclosures Pneumatic Control System

Eskay Creek Mine is located in British Columbia, north of Stewart and is one of Canada's premier gold mine operations. The Material Handling Team was commissioned by Homestake Canada Inc. to design and manufacture a cemented rockfill plant. This batch plant, located at the mine's lower portal, mixes aggregate, cement, and water, yielding a premixed cemented rockfill. The plant incorporates a 3000 litre Teka pan mixer. The entire process runs automatically using a Modicon programmable controller and touchscreen, which is connected via a communications network to other PLCs at the mine. This plant was prefabricated and shipped in modules. The Material Handling Team's contract included civil engineering, motor control center, erection supervision and operator training. This plant is equally capable of producing high quality concrete and shotcrete, in addition to cemented rockfill.

Concrete Batch Plant
Sistema Hidraulico
Portal Salida
Quibor, Estada Lara, Venezuela

SIZE / CAPACITY 60 cubic meters per hour SERVICES PROVIDED Conceptual Design Struct./Mech. Engineering Design & Supply Of Control System Supply/Fabrication of all Equipment Supervision of Equipment Installation Commissioning and Training SUPPLIED EQUIPMENT Aggregate Loadout Hopper Three Belt Conveyors Aggregate 3 Position Flop Chute Aggregate Storage Bins Three Cement Silos Three Screw Conveyors Cement Weigh Hopper Water Weigh Hopper Pan Mixer Concrete Holding Hopper Dust Collection System Pallet Lift System Equipment Support Structure Control Room/MCC/PLC System Pneumatic Control System

This project, as described previously in the Yacambu project, involves the same 24 km irrigation tunnel, in Los Andes spurs. As with the plant at Portal de Entrada, in the Yacambu valley, The Material Handling Team was contracted to design, supply, and commission a concrete batch plant at the Portal Salida featuring a Voeller pan mixer. This plant is also PLC controlled and included an Motor Control Center as part of the automated package. The project itself involves tunneling from the outlet of the tunnel in the Quibor valley, towards Yacambu. The tunnel, when completed, will be turned over to the Environmental and Natural Resources Ministry of Venezuela.