Vizcachitas' comminution circuit is planned as a three-stage crushing circuit using a gyratory primary crusher, three cone crushers in open circuit and two HPGR as a tertiary stage. It is arranged in a closed circuit followed by ball mills.
The company said that its selection of HPGR and implementing dry stack tailings - a decision it made previously - underscores its dedication to making Vizcachitas sustainable with low energy and water consumption. It will also reduce dust emissions related to dry crushing due to the removal of coarse recirculation in the secondary crushing stage.
HPGR technology was initially chosen as the best alternative in its pre-feasibility study, which used its initial test work from 2009 and 2017-18. In the PFS metallurgical test work, it sent four samples to a laboratory for pressure bed testing to confirm equipment sizing.
"The results provided specific energy consumption readings of 2.17kWh/t in the case of a HPGR circuit, which results in a global specific energy consumption of the comminution circuit of approximately 14 kWh/t," the company said.
"As compared with the semi-autogenous grinding alternative, the HPGR showed a reduction of up to 20% in energy and up to 50% in grinding media consumption. These results confirm the advantages of adopting this technology at the project."
Los Andes Copper wholly owns the Vizcachitas project, a copper-molybdenum porphyry deposit 120 km north of Santiago.
