Mulatos Mine: Facilities

Ore Processing

The Mulatos Processing Plant currently consists of a conventional crushing plant with a capacity of 16,000 tonnes per day, a conveyor that can handle up to 20,000 tonnes per day, a heap leaching facility, a carbon-in-column circuit, and an electrowinning and refining plant. 
 
Crushing takes place in three stages: Ore is first crushed to 80%, passing a 15-centimetre screen in a primary jaw crusher; ore from the primary crusher is then conveyed to a coarse ore stockpile; apron feeders then take the ore from the stockpile to feed the secondary crusher via conveyor. Secondary throughput reports to tertiary crushers that crush ore to 3/8 of an inch or less.

Alamos "closed the crushing circuit" in early 2010 so that oversized material is now

«»

[1] [2] [3]

re-circulated through the crushing process. As a result, approximately 95% of the ore passes through the 3/8-inch screen to be delivered to the pad.  A more consistently crushed product is expected to improve recoveries, which should have a positive impact on production and gold costs per ounce.

After crushing, the ore reports to the leach pad via conveyor, where it is stacked and leached. The heaps are underlain by an impermeable plastic layer on top of a layer of compacted clay.