Name: Çayeli Bakir mine.
Location: The Çayeli Bakir mine is located on the Black Sea coast of north-eastern Turkey.
Mine Owner/s: Çayeli Bakir Isletmeleri, a wholly-owned subsidiary of First Quantum Minerals.
Brief Description: Çayeli Bakir is the largest underground base metals mine in Turkey. It produces copper and zinc. The operation has an estimated mine life to 2021.
Brief History: In 1992, investments and building work began at Çayeli Bakır for mine development. The operation produced its first concentrate in August 1994 and has undergone a series of technological changes since then, such as the completion of a shaft to replace truck haulage from underground, and the introduction of paste backfill.
Çayeli Bakır became a 100% Inmet Mining Company in 2004. In 2013, First Quantum bought Mining’s shares.
Products: The mine produces copper concentrate, copper and zinc bulk concentrate and zinc concentrate.
Geology/Mineralisation: The Çayeli Bakir deposit is a volcanogenic massive sulphide, with many affinities to bodies of the Kuroko type. Mineralisation is known over a strike length of 920 m.
The Main Ore Zone comprises massive sulphide conglomerates, breccias and sandstones, with more than 90% sulphide minerals and minor gangue. The major sulphides in the massive sulphide are pyrite, chalcopyrite and sphalerite with minor galena, bornite and tetrahedrite. Gangue minerals include barite, dolomite, quartz, sericite and kaolinite.
Reserves: Total proven and probable reserves as at December 31, 2017, were estimated at 4.1-million tonnes grading 2.7% copper, 1.72% zinc, 0.35 g/t gold and 16.32 g/t silver.
Resources: Total measured and indicated resources as at December 31, 2017, were estimated at 10.07-million tonnes grading 2.88% copper, 1.89% zinc, 0.45 g/t gold and 16.72 g/t silver. Total inferred resources are estimated at 1.31-million tonnes grading 2.38% copper and 4.3% zinc.
Mining Method: Çayeli Bakir’s mine design is based on underground bulk mining methods using delayed backfill to extract ore in a sequential manner. The primary mining method is retreat transverse and longitudinal longhole stoping, with paste fill and loose or consolidated waste -ock backfill. The stopes are mined in primary, secondary and tertiary sequencing.
Major Infrastructure and Equipment: Ore processing includes three stages of crushing primary and secondary ball mill grinding, conventional flotation using either standard or column cells, and water removal by thickening and pressure filtering to produce copper and zinc concentrates.
Prospects: The mine is approaching reserve depletion.
Contact Details:
Çayeli Bakir Isletmeleri
Tel +90 464 544 1 544