Teck Resources selected an M15,000 IsaMill for its mill upgrade project at the Red Dog operations, which is expected to increase the average mill throughput by about 15% over the current mine life. The operation, located north of the Arctic Circle and one of the world’s largest zinc mines, required grinding equipment that could be retrofitted within the confines of their existing modular mill layout, while providing sufficient power to achieve their metallurgical targets, the company said.
The M15000 IsaMill will be operating in a quaternary milling duty treating lead pre-float tail prior to lead flotation and will reduce particles from 150 to 60 microns. The M15,000 is the newest addition to the IsaMill range, and uses a slightly longer and wider size to increase capacity more than the next available size, the M10,000.
“The remoteness of the site means high-energy efficiency and low installation cost is needed, which makes the horizontal IsaMill with its high-energy efficiency and small footprint ideal for this application to reduce cost while achieving the grinding duty,” said Paul Telford, general manager at Glencore Technology, which makes the IsaMill. “We have had a long relationship with the Red Dog site since 2007, having provided a Jameson Cell for their pre-float cleaning circuit, and two M5000 IsaMills for several duties in their zinc circuit.”
