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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customer the equipment that will provide the performance and longevity needed to make the mine productive well into the future." El Castillo Operation and Maintenance Superintendent Nahum Zavala is equally satisfied with the project. He report- ed that the overland system is working well and said that not only is this a more efficient method of moving ore, it's also less expensive than running haul trucks, especially when the cost of building and maintaining roads is factored into the equation. And when it comes to performance, Zavala said they are getting exactly what they asked for. "We are getting the soft starts that we need with this equipment," Zavala said. "Because the coupling trans- mits the torque, it helps smooth out the start, so there is less stress on the belt and all of the other equipment. And because there are no shock loads, the belt and the rest of the equipment is going to last longer. So we have the smooth start we want, but then we have the power we need to pull the long conveyors. Overall, we are very pleased with this project." In its 2014 first quarter earnings report, Argonaut Gold credited El Castillo mine with 22,171 gold equivalent oz (GEOs) consisting of 21,976 oz gold and 10,737 oz silver oz (GEOs at 55:1 conversion rate). The mine had 39,924 gold oz loaded on the leach pads equating to 22,278 projected recoverable gold oz. New mining equipment increased the mine's capacity from 69,000 metric tons per day (mt/d) to 87,000 mt/d, or a 26% increase. The West overland con- veyor moved a new record of 1,345,339 mt of ore. The East crusher crushed and loaded 1,497,323 mt to pad. Mine plan has moved out of transitional ore into more oxidized material, which should result in improved recoveries in the future. This article was provided by Baldor-Dodge and previously appeared in the company's magazine, Solutions . E&MJ; added the mine's production information at the conclusion . JUNE 2014 • E&MJ; 91 www.e-mj.com A R G O N A U T G O L D This Dodge DM Moment coupling is specifically designed to make the rigid connec- tion between the output shaft of the gearbox and the head pulley. Custom-engi- neered for each application, the DM Moment coupling is capable of handling both the torque and the bending moment forces of the suspended weight of the drive package, including the gearbox, motor, fluid coupling and swing base. This design also allows for an alignment-free drive by eliminating the time-consuming process of aligning the gearbox assembly to the head pulley shaft. EMJ_pg88-91_EMJ_pg88-91 6/3/14 3:55 PM Page 91