OUR TRACK RECORD
BARRICK - CERRO CASALE PROJECT (NOW NORTE ABIERTO)
The Details
TIMEFRAME: 2010 – 2011
CLIENT: Barrick
LOCATION: Chile
COMMODITY: Gold | Copper
SERVICES: Subject Matter Expert | Owner's Representative
GOLD OUTPUT
>800koz/a
PROCESSING THROUGHPUT
58 Mt/a
CONTRIBUTIONS
De-risking of plant design
Capex savings
Project Background
Barrick is the world’s 2nd largest gold producer, and in 2010 they were looking to develop their Cerro Casale gold-copper deposit in Chile. At the time, Cerro Casale had 1.2bt of ore reserves containing 23Moz of gold and 5.8Mlb of copper. The large, low-grade orebody was to be processed at 58Mt/a, requiring substantial capital investment and presenting significant design risks and challenges for Barrick.
Chemech's Contribution
Cerro Casale ore had competency and hardness values in the top 5% of comminution property databases, and processing this ore at high throughputs presented significant risks to Barrick. Due to their recent success with the Boddington Gold Project, which treated 35Mt/a of ore with similar properties, Chemech were engaged by Barrick in 2010 to independently review the DFS design of the Cerro Casale comminution circuit.
The independent review of the comminution circuit initially involved review of the metallurgical data, design criteria, equipment sizing/selection, plant layout and surge capacities. The results of the review, including key risks and opportunities, were then presented in a workshop with Barrick and other SMEs in Santiago, Chile. Valuable outcomes from the workshop were subsequently captured in Chemech’s independent review report, which provided a basis for the comminution circuit detailed design.
The Final Outcome
The success of the independent review led to Chemech joining Barrick’s owners’ team in 2011, reviewing the detailed design of the comminution circuit and providing technical input into equipment specification and procurement. Chemech’s valuable input into the design and specifications reduced the technical risk and provided several options for significant capital cost savings. Chemech worked collaboratively with Barrick’s selected Engineer, spending several weeks in their Santiago project office.
Due to permit challenges and ownership changes, the project did not proceed beyond the design stage, and is currently an undeveloped project in Newmont’s portfolio.
Cerro Casale was one of the hardest and most competent orebodies tested to date and at such a large throughput scale presented significant processing risk. Engineering experience was limited for such a large-scale comminution circuit processing extremely competent ore, and Barrick therefore engaged Chemech during the Feasibility due to their success with Newmont on the Boddington Project which had a highly competent ore. Chemech's initial review identified key risks and opportunities for the comminution circuit. Their input was invaluable as they not only possessed deep knowledge of the design details, but they also brought their Boddington commissioning and ramp-up experience to the table. They were able to provide practical and cost-effective design improvements as well as technical risk reduction opportunities, especially with regard to specification and purchase of the major equipment items. Chemech's diligent application of their technical knowledge and experience added value to the Cerro Casale comminution circuit design.
- Mike Nelson, Project Director – Cerro Casale Project