ITM: Today, then, mining is not only cassiterite and tantalite?
Coast:
The main product is still the tantalum concentrate used for the production of oxides in João Del Rei. As a by-product and,in smaller volume, there is the cassiterite for the production of nho. Among the minerals less we have, since 2010, a mix of feldspar, which caters to large brands of porcelain-
such as Eliane and Portobello. In mid-2011, when I came to here, I proposed a mineralogical study of this feldspar and we presence of spodumene, the
minerals that carry lithium in composition. It was the embryo of the
Lithium Project. Today in commission-production of concentrate Lithium has the potential to become more important than tantalum.
TM: What is the destination of these products?
Coast:
Niobium serves a niche very specific, which is that of the
aerospace industry. Tantalum oxide serves the production of
alloys of tantalum, metallic tantalum and tantalum tips for
components of mobile phones, tablets and microcomputers,
among other devices. Special alloys of aluminum,
available in more than 20 varieties - with titanium and
for example - are intended for the automotive industry.
and, to a lesser extent, electrical and electronic equipment and
domestic.
ITM: What is the geological profile,reserves and mine resources?
Coast:
The cape below the surface is of fibrotic. Underneath it is a layer of solid amphibolite,needs to be detonated and removed to reach the pegma-
tito Pegmatite contains 350 ppm / t (350 g / t) of minerals of tantalite and cassiterite, between 1 and 1.2% lithium,mostly from Spodumene, and a range of other minerals that make up the feldspar concentrate: feldspa-
o, kaolin, quartz and albite, among others. The pegmatito is between 20 and 25 m thick and a power from 300 to 400 m. It is a very horizontal and consistent body in relation to their size and thickness, so that their
feature is practically the same as your reservation, with loss of
of about 3% only. In 2016, we declare 24.5 Mt. Added to 4 or 5 Mt deposited in dams,we have about 29 Mt in lithium resources.
ITM: And with lithium?
Coast:
With lithium it's a bit different. After the concentration is generated in a dense part and for the most part not dense. About 15% of the material is
taken to the feldspar plant, going through separate for the removal of the iron contained therein, and classification sieves to meet the specifications of our clients. The remaining 85% go to the lithium plant,
where they are submitted to a new comminution in a ball bearings, magnetic separation, also for removal iron, and chemical concentration by flotation. Following are the stages of thickening, filtration,drying and packaging. The production end of concentrate has moisture below 2%, 6% oxide content
lithium and less than 1% iron.
ITM:
What have been the in mineral research?
Coast:
When I arrived at the sa, in 2011, the life of the minewas estimated at four years only. We set up a team of geology and we started investing
in mineral research. Between 2011 and 2012 we made 4 thousand m of holes
and we expanded the resources from 3 to 15 Mt, expanding the operation of
2015 to 2029. With the validation of this work by Coffey Mining,in 2013, we were able to to carry out another 2 thousand m holes in greater depth between 2014 and 2015, which led us to resources of 24.5 Mt, validated by the SRK Consulting, increasing the service life of the mine to 2038. In these two survey campaigns were invested close to $ 10 million.
M: How is the mining done?
Coast:
It is an open field,in benches, through the phases drilling, rock clearing
and loading of the sterile stacks of ore and ore into the ore patio. On loading used backhoe loaders and large excavators and,in transportation, off road trucks of 40 t. The operation is outsourced two major partners: Me-in the drilling and disassembly, and MTSul, in loading and trans-
bearing. ROM production is about of 1 Mtpa for the processing of
300 thousand pounds / year (180 mtpa) of tantalum, 200 mtpy of feldspar and 90 mtpa lithium.
Coast: The of primary crushing (crushing jaws), secondary (crusher
conical), sieve classification vibration and tertiary crushing by
a VSI (impact crusher). The pro The next stage is concentration
followed by the concentration of for magnetic separation, for
tantalite and cassiterite of less dense minerals. We have,then the tantalite concentrate, which contains from 25 to 30% of tantalum oxide, being ready to be marketed. The cassiterite concentrate is sent to a company for the production of tin oxide. The of this production, rich in tantalum, returns to the plant,blended with the tantalite already produced to generate the tantalum final concentrate.