STOP 2:
Highland Valley Copper MineThe second stop of our day will be at the Highland Valley Copper Mine midway between Logan Lake and Ashcroft along Highway 97C. From our first stop we will continue west along highway 97C for about a one hour drive to the town of Merrit where we will stop for lunch. After lunch we will turn north along highway 97C for about another 30 minutes until we reach the town of Logan Lake. From here we will head west again towards Ashcroft. The Highland Valley mine is aproximately 20 minutes from Logan Lake.
It is located 75 kilometres southwest of the city of Kamloops Being the largest open pit copper mine in Canada and one of the biggest in the world, it employs 950 people from Kamloops, Logan Lake, Cache Creek, Ashcroft, Merritt and Lower Nicola. In 2000, it produced a record 406 million pounds of copper and 4.3 million pounds of molybdenum; sales exceeded $350 million, with the copper going to Japan, other Far East destinations, and Canada; and the molybdenum shipped to Europe and China. The mine is so immense it is said to be one of the few human engineering feats visible from the moon. Every day, approximately 230,000 metric tonnes of material is extracted from its two open pits.
At this stop we will be going on an approximately two hour guided tour of the mine and mill. These free tours operate Monday to Friday at 1 p.m. but must be booked in advance. Please call mine security at 250-523-2443 to arrange for a tour.
GEOLOGY
At 0.4% copper, Highland Valley is still considered a low-grade mine, but it has a much higher concentration than the Brenda Mines ore deposit. This too is a porphyry copper-molybdenum deposit originating in the early to mid-Jurassic.
OPEN-PIT MINING
Mining is by open pit methods at the Lornex and Valley pits. 89% of the ore comes from the Valley Pit.
Valley Pit in the Foreground with Lornex Pit in the Background TECHNOLOGY
The mine uses two semi-mobile in-pit crushers to minimize haul distances. Several kilometres of conveyors carry up to 12,000 tonnes/hour of crushed ore to three stockpiles at Highland mill.
The mine operation uses sophisticated technology such as a computerized dispatch system which helps maximize mine production and minute-by-minute mapping, achieved by combining GPS navigation and survey with GIS mapping techniques.
Part of the Conveyor System Visible Against the Wall of the Valley PitORE PROCESSING
The Highland mill is the world’s third largest copper concentrator. The first of two stages of processing involves grinding the ore. The mills two fully autogenous and three semi-autogenous grinding lines are capable of grinding a total of 5,400 tonnes of ore per hour.
Crushers Inside the MillDuring the second stage the ore is reduced to sand-sized particles which then enter floatation circuits. The first floatation stage extracts copper and molybdenum from a slurry before copper and molybdenum are separated.
The molybdenum concentrate is then mixed with a leaching brine in sealed, pressurised, heated vessels where residual copper is dissolved, leaving a high-grade molybdenum concentrate.
Floatation Tanks
Closeup of a Floatation TankLastly, the copper and molybdenum concentrates are filtered and dried in gas-fired driers for shipping.
Three 1m-diameter pipelines then take the tailings 7 km overland from the mill to the Valley tailings pond.
Tailings Pond and DamAfter our tour of this impressive facility we will take a leisurely drive along Highway 97C to the town of Ashcroft approximately 30 minutes from the mine, where we will spend the night.
DAY 3 OVERVIEW HOME NEXT DAY