Santa Fe Mining Conveying and Stacking System

Fluor Daniel Wright provided detailed design, equipment procurement, contract specifications, construction assistance and commissioning assistance for Rabbit Creek's new high-speed conveying run-of-mine materials. Included in the gold mine development were mill and heap leach operations.

The mill has a capacity of 1,500 tons per day, while the heap leach operation will peak at 3.5 million tons per year. The new 6,500-tons-per-hour run-of-mine high-speed conveying and stacking system will remove about 150 million tons of overburden and waste from the pit and help Santa Fe Pacific Mining economically access their ore body.

Client's Challenge

Santa Fe Mining had contracted Fluor Daniel Wright to work closely with their worked with Rabbit Creek staff to overcome the challenges of conveying run-of-mine material on high speed belts.

Fluor's Solution

The system included two truck dump stations, five 60-inch wide conveyors in series and a 72-inch x 200-foot track-mounted slewing stacker. Mine trucks discharge the waste into one of the two dump stations located within the open pit. Three conveyors in-series elevate the material 600 feet over a horizontal distance of 5,900 feet to a 1,200-foot long tripper conveyor mounted on a 200-foot-high berm.

The tripper conveyor feeds a second 1,500-foot long tripper conveyor installed at right angles to the first. This conveyor feeds the stacker. The stacker feed conveyor is moveable which enables the stacker to extend the berm. This allows waste to be deposited over a wider area measuring 1,500 feet by 4,000 feet.

Conclusion

A 6,500-tons-per-hour run-of-mine conveying and stacking system for overburden and waste was developed by Fluor Daniel Wright to help Santa Fe Pacific Mining economically access their ore body. The success of this project proved the viability of conveying the overburden removal at high speed. Fluor was retained at Rabbit Creek for follow-on work for a new, larger system to extend the pit.