Hoisting by Conveyor at Gaspe Copper Mines, Ltd.

CIM Bulletin, 1964

The ores of Gaspe Copper Mines, Limited, are located in Needle and Copper mountains in the Gaspe Peninsula. Two underground zones are mined by modified room-and-pillar trackless methods, and the surface ores are mined by open-pit methods. The position, shape and attitude of the orebodies suggested that a high-lift conveyor installation would be practical, and a preliminary investigation confirmed that such a scheme should be economic. Consequently, the entire crushing plant was placed underground and an 844 foot vertical-lift conveyor hoisting system was designed. This paper describes the crushing, dewatering and conveying system, with particular reference to the history, design, operation, maintenance and cost experience of the main high-lift conveyor. This conveyor is 2,267 feet long, on a slope of 19 degrees. The 42-inch steel cord belt is driven by an 800-hp. motor. The installed cost of the conveyor, including rock work and concrete, was $765,000. The jaw crusher discharge product is minus 5 \I.I inch and that of the secondary crushing plant is minus 1 inch. Initially, water was a problem in conveying and it was necessary to install dewatering equipment. This included screens, classifiers, pumps, cyclones, thickeners and filters. The main conveyor system is controlled by one operator with the aid of closed circuit TV and miscellaneous trouble indicators. Total operating and maintenance cost, including belt reserve, is 2.0 cents per ton of ore hoisted.

Keywords: conveyor belt, Gaspe peninsula, Murdochville, ore, pulley, conveyors, Cost, Costs, Mine, Mines, Ore, Ores