Mine of the future
p. 43 · Read in the full issue
New Caledonia
“A FINANCIAL, social and technological challenge for the future, a major industrial achievement, the last great mining adventure of the 20th century” these were some of the expressions used during the inauguration of the new SLN nickel mine in Nepoui (250 kilometres north west of Noumea), aimed at keeping New Caledonia among the major nickel producers of the world.
In May, several dozen VIPs flown from Noumea discovered one of the world’s most technically advanced mining centres an investment of US$l5O million (the company’s largest for 20 years) which will employ 225 people, and an expected production of 800,000’tonnes of nickel ore a year during 15 years, meeting one third of the needs of the Doniambo refining plant in Noumea.
Kopeto 2, as the open-cut mine is called) spreads over 10km a. an altitude of 1000 metres, 20km in the coast. The mine had already been worked in the * , , . ’ . , ... ' TITT’ k. U ‘ 14 new , r,cb "‘f. kel d ?P° slt ,; of high oxidized ore (called “garmente” after Jules Gamier a French engineer who discovered ntckel m New Caledonta m 1863) were detected, and the decision was therefore taken to resume work.ng the deposits with new techniques.
Each of the 10 giant 50-tonne mine trucks is loaded by hydraulic shovels and scrappers in a few minutes. Rocks and rubble are removed with the first screening. The ore is then mixed with water in
order to be transported to the giant
“washing plant” down the valley
through a 7km pipeline. This technique
replaces the traditional cableways and conveyors. In order to reduce waste water is recycled before being sent back to the top of the mine with high pressure pumps through another pipeline. In the washing plant, the deads are eliminated, and the ore is graded according to the quantity of nickel it contains. Each operation, including the arrival of the trucks on the loading sites, is controlled by cameras and computers from within
the plant. Daily production 2300
tonnes. Privately-owned trucks then transport the nickel ore to the coast where it is stored in 60,000-tonne heaps.
A bucket wheel stacker-reclaimer loa ds it into ships at a rate of some 1200 tonnes per hour. When arriving at the Donianlbo plant in Noumea, the ore will be blended, dried, then heated m electric furnaces. This eliminates the remaining i i j • •• , & humidity and provides an initial reduction of metallic oxide. It will then go through an electric smelter to become ferron nickel Depending on the refining technique it will then either be turned into ingots or granules, or into 75 per cent nickel mdustnal matte for the , ■ ]. l ' - 1 m ' l ” pan a e Havre-Sandouville m France.
The opening of Kopeto 2 is seen as an event of great significance in New Caledonia for various reasons. It shows
that SLN sticks to a long-term policy of investment, despite the current slump in the world’s nickel industry, thus indicat ing its confidence in the business. By recruiting and training a majority of young people in the predominantly pro independence Northern Province, SLN plays a major role in the rebalancing of the New Caledonian economy, as was decided in 1988 by the Matignon Accords signed between the pro independence FLNKS and the pro- France RPCR. Creating 225 jobs in the unemployment-stricken Northern Prov ince is an immediate way of reducing the massive exodus of young Kanaks to Noumea.
The transportation of ore by trucks to the sea, and the transportation of staff by bu ? es h f e been P u ‘° ut to tender " thus mdlrec ' l >' .creating 50 more permanent £ d ““ d fi J° b > a^B f f •„ h H f , ■ c- i i r 5 rr beginners. Six levels of required qualm g hav[ befn idcntifie l A to s ethcrj
, , training nrmrrlmme
Xch started m 19 9 3j g wi ff c g st SLN USJI 33 miuion Th ,; province the terrj and the Euro P Community wi]| ad J „ 42 million F Xhc sta „ hav ' a|rcady rcceived 15j000 houß of train . j This new mine development makes environmental protection a priority settling dams are built and great care is taken in extracting laterites and nickel ore. □
Industrial achievement: SLN’s Kopeto 2 nickel mine north of New Caledonia