CENTRO DE BASIC X.

IDIOMAS UNASAM.
 UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL
“SANTIAGO ANTUNEZ DE MAYOLO”

CENTRO DE IDIOMAS UNASAM.

ANTAMINA MINE.

TEACHER:
ZANABRIA PEREZ, Walter.

Student:
MERCEDES DOMINGUEZ, José.
Cycle:
Basic X.

Huaraz, Abril del 2018.

 ANTAMINA MINE.

1. HISTORY.

The Quechua word "anta" means copper and gives rise to "Antamina", or copper
mine. From the times of the Chavin Culture, the men of ancient Peru, already
knew the properties of this mineral and used it for religious purposes. The works
in metals were used to communicate their beliefs, because the motives were
complex religious symbols.
In 1860, the Italian sage Antonio Raimondi, documented the properties of the
Antamina site in his emblematic work El Peru, which would be published in six
volumes between 1874 and 1913. The site was forgotten for decades and it was
not until 1952 when Antamina was He joined the exploration portfolio of mining
projects of Cerro de Pasco Mining Company.
In the decade of the seventies, Antamina passed into the hands of the State and
remained so until 1996. In that year, after a process of privatization, the deposit
was acquired by Canadian mining companies Rio Algom and Inmet.
These companies started the formation of what we are today: Compañía Minera
Antamina S.A. Thus, after a process of exploration and construction of the mining
complex, we began our test operations on May 28, 2001. On October 1, 2001,
we began to commercially produce copper and zinc concentrates, and other
byproducts.
2. LOCATION.
Antamina is a polymetallic mining complex that produces copper, zinc,
molybdenum, silver and lead concentrates. The mine is located in the
district of San Marcos, province of Huari in the Ancash Region, 200 km.
from the city of Huaraz and at an average altitude of 4,300 meters above
sea level. In addition, we also have the Punta Lobitos embarkation port,
located in the coastal province of Huarmey.
Shareholders of Antamina are:
• BHP Billiton (33.75%)
• Glencore (33.75%)
• Teck (22.5%)
• Mitsubishi (10%)

3. DESIGN OF ANTAMINA.

3.1 The Cut.

The mineral deposit of Antamina is of the copper-zinc, silver, molybdenum
and bismuth skarn type and is currently considered the largest in the world.
It is important to state that the exploitation method that we perform is the
open pit known as open pit, being one of the main characteristics in its
design the exploitation banks of 15 meters high.

3.2 Concentrator plant.

The Antamina concentrator plant is a fundamental space within the
production process, since the different types of ore that will be processed
are received here. We could say that the main function of this plant is to
receive the fragmented mineral to be able to direct it to the milling process
and later to the flotation zone, where with the help of a physical chemical
process recovers the valuable metals such as copper, zinc, molybdenum,
silver and lead.
Likewise, this process is carried out for periods according to the stages of
the mining plan.
 3.3 Tailings dam.
The exceptional tailings dam of Antamina - the highest in the world of its
kind - has the capacity to store 570 Mton. of sterile material or 330 Mm3
during the time of its useful life. The Antamina tailings dam is designed to
guarantee safety. It has a technical risk control system through key
instrumentation that guarantees an efficient operation.
Located in the Huincush gully and three kilometers from the concentrator
plant, this tailings dam has a starting dam of 135 meters in height and an
interior reinforced concrete plate. This elevation is protected, in turn, with
high density geo-membranes to avoid possible leaks from the tailings pond
to the outside.
Drainage tunnels, concrete injections - up to 80m. in the abutments - and
rainwater collector channels - with a final capacity of 25m3 / sec - they
complement a high-tech work, which guarantees the care of the
environment, as well as its structural stability.
It is built to be structurally fail-safe to remain stable against a Maximum
Credible Earthquake (MCE) and is prepared to contain extreme torrential
rains. The design considers the installation of geotechnical control
instrumentation to permanently monitor settlements, deformations,
changes in water levels and leaks.

4. CONCENTRATES OF ANTAMINE.
Concentrated Cu, Zn and byproducts such as Ag and Mo.

5. PRODUCTION PROCESS.

5.1 Blasting.
Mining in the pit is the initial part of our production process. There the
blasting of the ground is necessary to extract the mineral from the subsoil,
the same one that is carried out in a planned and sequential way during
the 24 hours of the day in shifts of 12 hours fulfilling the highest standards
of security in the work.
Once the material is fragmented by mining, the ore is loaded - still mixed
with stones and earth - by electric shovels to be moved to the crusher in
our heavy machinery fleet: Caterpillar and Komatsu.

5.2 Crushing.

In this part of our production process, the ore is transported to the primary
crusher where large blocks of ore are reduced by up to five inches. In this
way they are in optimal conditions to be transferred through the belt to the
concentrator plant.

5.3 Grinding.

The concentrator plant is responsible for receiving the ore sent by the
primary crusher and distributing it with the radial arm (stacker) in stockpiles
(ore piles) on the outside of the plant.
Then, when entering the ore to the SAG mill and, subsequently, to the
three ball mills, its size is reduced according to the requirements of the
next flotation stage.

5.4 Floatation.

Once in this stage, the transfer of the pulp (water and mineral) is carried
out to the flotation cells where copper and / or zinc, silver, lead and
molybdenum are recovered, according to the mining plan.
Later, the pulp is thickened to reduce water and provide an economical
and adequate transport. In this way the concentrates are stored in storage
tanks outside the plant.

5.5 P.

After that, the copper and zinc concentrates are sent to Punta Lobitos port
(Huarmey) through the 304 kilometer long pipeline, in a route of
approximately 50 hours. This stage of the production process is developed
thanks to the automatic fiber optic monitoring system. Likewise, there are
four valve stations that control the pressure and velocity of the
concentrates during their passage through the pipeline.
6. ANNEXES.