EcuaCorriente opens state-of-the-art lab at Mirador mine

EcuaCorriente, the Ecuadoran unit of Chinese consortium CRCC-Tongguan, opened a soil and materials laboratory for its Mirador copper mine in Zamora Chinchipe province.

After 18 months of construction and an investment of more than US$2 million, the laboratory is a state-of-the-art facility equipped with leading-edge technology to perform tests and analyses of soils, rocks and construction materials, supporting EcuaCorriente's aim to position Mirador as a national and international benchmark in geotechnical testing and research.

“The laboratory is not only a milestone for the Mirador mine, but for mining development in Ecuador and Latin America. There are no laboratories of this type installed in any mine in the world and that says a lot about EcuaCorriente's commitment,” Denys Parra, CEO of Peruvian engineering services consultancy Anddes, which advised on the design, told BNamericas after the ribbon-cutting event.

Anddes' work included the design and implementation of the laboratory, recommendation of the equipment that was purchased and monitoring of the purchases. Company personnel are also training EcuaCorriente's staff in using the facility.

According to Parra, Brazilian mining firm Vale has a major laboratory in one of its mines but the load levels that the major equipment will reach in the Mirador laboratory have not been seen anywhere else, due to the projected height of the tailings dam at the Mirador mine.

César Vásquez, manager of EcuaCorriente's tailings management department, told BNamericas during a tour of the laboratory that the tailings dam is expected to rise to 320m over the years from the current 135m.

Vásquez did not rule out that in the future EcuaCorriente could establish agreements with other mining companies to use its laboratory.

The technician added that the laboratory could carry out special tests in the future for the Panantza-San Carlos copper project, also being developed by Ecuacorriente, but noted that the operation would likely require its own laboratory when it becomes a fully-fledged mine, due to its projected production capacity.

Between the start of operations at the Mirador mine in June 2019 and June this year, EcuaCorriente paid out around US$1.26 billion in taxes in Ecuador and has invested U$15.1mn in community projects, company president Xue Shuenseg said during the inauguration of the laboratory.

EcuaCorriente plans to invest US$196mn in the remainder of this year in various works for Mirador Phase II of Mirador.

This phase is intended to increase production from the Mirador I (south) deposit to 80,000t/d and develop the Mirador Norte pit, which will produce 60,000t/d to take total production volume to 140,000t/d by 2028.

Capex planned for the rest of 2024 includes works such as the construction of interceptor channels, access roads and equipment for the Mirador Phase II beneficiation plant, the company recently told BNamericas.

LABORATORY CHARACTERISTICS 

The laboratory will play an important role in the analysis of tailings deposits by determining the physical-mechanical properties of soils and rocks. It will also carry out statistical analyses that will serve as feedback for dam stability studies and is equipped to carry out the 14,000 annual tests required by Mirador in Ecuador, instead of having to send samples abroad. 

Around 20 civil, mining and geology engineers have been trained by the national laboratory Novacons, Anddes and equipment manufacturing company GDS Instruments.

Although the laboratory was only officially inaugurated on Thursday, it has been in operation since July.

"This laboratory is an extraordinary achievement, not only because it is the first of its kind in Ecuador and one of the few implemented in a mine in the world; its design and advanced equipment represent a standard that few facilities can match in our region, including high-precision rock and soil equipment and testing, as well as automated systems for complex geotechnical testing and mining facility designs, with the utmost scientific and technical rigor," Anddes CEO Denys Parra said.