Vancouver-based Atico Mining has reported a landslide in the vicinity of its dewatering plant at its El Roble copper mine in Colombia.
The landslide occurred on April 1, and caused minor equipment damage, Atico said. This required a pause in operations.
Atico's operations team has said it will take between two to three weeks to complete repairs and undertake circuit testing. After circuit testing is completed, Atico will be able to resume full operations.
No injuries were recorded as a result of the incident.
Atico will not be adjusting its 2022 annual guidance, as it believes it will be able to make up lost production time throughout the rest of the year. The company projected to produce 15 million to 16.5 million pounds of copper, and between 12,500 and 14,000 gold ounces.
The mill has a capacity of 850 tonnes per day.
Atico completed the commissioning of its tailings dewatering facility in August 2021. Working with Responsible Mining Solutions, Atico installed a tailings pipeline extension from the mill and processing facilities; a filter plant; field services tankage for surry, process water, filtrate, and effluent management; and a containerised motor control centre.
The tailings facility also includes a CX5-80 ceramic disc vacuum filter, a filter-cake chute, and a filter-cake load-out.
The facility is designed to process 1,200 tonnes per day of copper flotation tailings materials. Atico plans to move towards dry stacking tailings storage.
