The activities on pouring the foundation for the first mill at Copper Concentration Plant 3 (MOF-3) are in full swing. Further twelve mills are expected to be constructed in the immediate future. By the end of June 2022, three of the four foundation blocks will have been completed. For construction of these four blocks alone, a record amount of concrete (20,000 m3) will be used for the foundation.
The main purpose of constructing this facility is to crush ore and prepare it for grinding in order to expose minerals and further concentration. The mill in the future will be an ore-milling complex with semi-autogenous milling technology, i.e. coarse-crushed ore from the underground mine will be fed into the so-called “bath”.
The conditional ore “flour” will be passed through the chemicals in the bath to separate the copper from the ore, i.e. for concentration. Further, the milled product after the verifying classification will be transferred to the tailings facility for concentration. Summarizing the above, the mill is an integral part and the main process that sets the pace and efficiency of the subsequent concentration.
The construction was started in January 2022. The following activities have been performed at the site: drilling and earth works (excavation, backfill). Construction and reinforcement of the foundation body began in late April. The works took three weeks and 900 tons of high-strength reinforcement bar were used for it. Labor and equipment pool available were involved in the construction of the foundation body.
For example, about 20 units of equipment were involved daily, including 6 truck cranes and a tower crane. The construction man-power worked in three shifts, about three hundred people were involved on a daily basis. The concrete for foundation was poured using five concrete placer pumps, 35 concrete mixing drums and 3 concrete mixer stations. Due to the fact that the heaviest equipment units are located in the mill, the newest two 25-ton cranes are currently being installed. Such hoisting cranes have not yet been used in Enter Engineering’s previous construction projects.
The process of pouring concrete for the foundation of the future mill began on April 29. The total length of the mill foundation is 250 meters, width — 26 meters. Completion of three foundations is scheduled for June 2022. Construction of the fourth foundation block will commence in July as applicable.
All construction works being performed by Enter Engineering’s specialists strictly meet the technical codes and standards, and each stage of construction is being supervised by technical supervision body, which guarantees high quality and durability of the structure.
