Engineering & Mining Journal

JUN 2014

Engineering and Mining Journal - Whether the market is copper, gold, nickel, iron ore, lead/zinc, PGM, diamonds or other commodities, E&MJ takes the lead in projecting trends, following development and reporting on the most efficient operating pr

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Argonaut Gold Inc., a Canadian gold mining company, acquired its El Castillo gold mine in 2010. Located in the state of Durango, Mexico, the open-pit, heap-leach mine has approximately 1,285 hectares of mineral concessions and surface rights, and hosts 1.23 million oz of proven and prob- able gold reserves. When production began, ore was being hauled from the pit using 100-ton trucks, but in 2012, mine management made the decision to invest in an overland conveyor system as a more cost-efficient method to move the crushed rock. For help, Argonaut turned to Goodfellow Crushers, an orig- inal equipment manufacturer (OEM) specializing in the min- ing industry that had already supplied crushers for the El Castillo project. Goodfellow CEO Kurt Goodfellow said Argonaut Gold was looking for some very specific results. "They wanted a system that could run 1,500 to 1,800 tons per hour that would run up and over their pit to the leach pads," explained Goodfellow. "To accomplish this, we needed to build three 48-in. conveyor systems, totaling 1,890 ft in length. The project also needed to include a series of 21 portable transfer conveyors, better known as grasshoppers, along with a large telescoping radial stacker." 88 E&MJ; • JUNE 2014 www.e-mj.com A R G O N A U T G O L D Mine officials wanted a packaged solution that would provide a smooth, soft start, but was also powerful enough to pull a heavily loaded belt up 1,890 ft with a 226-ft lift. The solution: a Baldor-Dodge MagnaGear right-angle reducer and a custom 500 HP Baldor-Reliance motor with an integrated backstop, mounted on a heavy- duty swing base. A Baldor-Dodge fluid coupling provides the soft start. The rest of the Baldor-Dodge package includes a custom-engineered moment coupling, MDX pulleys and bearings. Conveyor System Helps Mexican Gold Mine Improve Efficiencies A properly engineered overland conveyor system helps a mine eliminate long truck hauls "...when the Baldor industry team does the work, we can rest assured that it was done right, and that's a big help," Kurt Goodfellow, CEO, Goodfellow Crushers. EMJ_pg88-91_EMJ_pg88-91 6/3/14 3:55 PM Page 88

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