JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Construction of the first sulphide process line at Canadian gold-miner Goldcorp’s Peñasquito project, in Zacatecas, in Mexico, has been completed with the commissioning of the line advancing on schedule.

The primary crusher has been completed and has filled the coarse ore stockpile with 230 000 t of crushed ore in preparation for initial milling, the feeders and conveying systems have been completed and the lead and zinc flotation circuits were essentially completed, the company reported.

The semiautogenous grinding (SAG) mill and two ball mills were also being commissioned.

“Reaching mechanical completion on time and on budget is a tremendous accomplishment and a testament to the excellent team assembled at Peñasquito,” said Goldcorp president and CEO Chuck Jeannes.

It expected the production and shipment of the first concentrates to take place in the second half of the year.

Further, the company reported that the construction of the second sulphide process line was progressing toward planned completion in the third quarter of 2010.

Many of the components were already on site, including the wraparound drive motor for the SAG mill and the motors for the two ball mills. The mill shells for both the SAG and ball mills had arrived in Mexico in early July and were en route to the site.

Each of the two process lines have a designed throughput of 50 000 t/d of ore. The throughput at the mine would be boosted to 130 000 t/d by the fourth quarter of next year, when the high-pressure grinding roll circuit was completed.

The Peñasquito mine was expected to reach commercial production on January 1, 2010.

The commissioning of the last of the initial haul trucks has been completed, with all 57 of the 300-t trucks operating in conjunction with four electric shovels.

The mining rate was averaging in excess of 500 000 t/d.

Further, a stockpile of 4,2-million tons of sulphide ore has been established ahead of the primary crusher, the company reported.

In addition, a number of mine optimisation initiatives, which included an independent power plant and in-pit crushing and conveying, were advancing.

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