The George Fisher Mine is located about 20 kilometres north of Mount Isa. Xstrata Zinc is working with MIPAC on improving production at its George Fisher Mine, an underground zinc/lead mine located about 20 kilometres north of Mount Isa in north-west Queensland.
The mine currently generates 3.5 Mtpa of ore; a P49 hoisting system accounts for 2.9 Mtpa of primary crushed ore, with remaining ore trucked to the surface.
“A feasibility study has found that the operation can be expanded to 4.5 Mtpa by increasing production at the north end of the mine,” MIPAC managing director Eddie De Rivera says.
“We are helping to achieve this increase by introducing a new materials handling system which includes underground crushing, conveying and storage, an L72 hoisting shaft, surface conveying and surface crushing facility.
“The facility is also required to alleviate current operational limitations within the existing secondary and tertiary crushing facilities.”
As part of configuring, testing and commissioning the PLCs and SCADA systems, MIPAC engineers are using an RSLogic 5000 PLC system and Wonder Ware InTouch.
The control system will control the surface crusher facility including one of the largest cone crushers on site, the Metso Nordberg HP5 Cone Crusher, as well as supporting systems such as feed conveyors, and interface to the stockpile conveyor system.
"We will invest more than 2,500 hours of design work in this system, which will be installed in March 2012,” Mr De Rivera says.
"We are delighted that our work will play its part in achieving operational excellence for Xstrata Zinc, leading to increased productivity, improved production quality and boosted profit margins.”
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