Jacobs Engineering Group announced it was awarded a contract by Aura Minerals provide a basic engineering package for the expansion of the process plant at its Aranzazu copper-gold-silver mine located in the state of Zacatecas, Mexico. Officials did not disclose the contract value, however noted the services are being provided from Jacobs’ offices in Mexico City, Mexico, and Toronto, Canada.
Under the terms of the contract, Jacobs is providing engineering services for the installation of a new fine ore stockpile withdrawal system, an additional primary ball mill, two tank flotation cells and a tailings thickener. The Aranzazu expansion project is expected to increase milling throughput rates from 2,600 metric tons (mt) per day to 4,000 mt per day by 2015.
“We are delighted to be working with Aura Minerals on this important phase in their expansion of Aranzazu’s plant capacity. We look forward to supporting their project goals by drawing upon our wide-ranging experience in base and precious metal expansion projects,” said Jacobs Group Vice President Andy Kremer.
Aura Minerals is a Canadian mid-tier gold and copper production company. The Aranzazu mine consists of both open-pit and underground mine operations and an upgraded mill that produces a copper-gold-silver concentrate using conventional flotation. In addition to the Aranzazu project, Aura Minerals’ portfolio includes the San Andres gold mine in Honduras, the Sao Francisco and Sao Vicente gold mines in Brazil, and the copper-gold-iron Serrote da Laje project in Brazil that Aura Minerals anticipates production start-up by mid-2015.
