, sydvaranger Tough fast-track to Sydvaranger

The refurbished primary crushing station beside the Bjørnevatn open pit now treats ore from the new Hyttemalmen and Kjellmannsåsen pits. Bjørnevatn, closed in the 1990s, will be restarted in 2011-12.

to come into production. The project with Corus covering 45% of planned Norwegian iron is a joint initiative of the Norwegian output over five years. The Anglo- Up at latitude 69° 45’N Australian firm Tschudi Shipping Company and Dutch steelmaker had successfully registered Northern Iron Ltd has Australian entrepreneurs who utilized Sydvaranger concentrates prior been rewriting history. Some 86 together formed Northern Iron Ltd to the 1996 closure. years after Sydvaranger A/S first started mining in Norway and 13 (NIL) in Perth, WA during 2007 to Planning and engineering provided years since production acquire the Sydvaranger assets Syd- for a production rate of 7 Mt/y ore, ceased, the firm commenced con- varanger Gruve AS, known as SVG, centrate shipments from rede- is the local operating company. In veloped facilities. A drilling fleet January 2010 OM Holdings became a ICELAND supplied and supported by Atlas Ar tic Circ Copco is one component of the significant shareholder. le new project economics. NIL’s intention was to restart pro- FINLAND SWEDEN duction as quickly as possible in order NORWAY RUSSIA

ESTONIA to convert high iron ore prices and SCOTLAND

NORTHERN LATVIA IRELAND

IRELAND DENMARK Chasing the iron ore boom demand to quick cash flow, explains LITHUANIA UNITED KINGDOM RUSSIA WALES ENGLAND John Sanderson, who became the com- BELARUS NETHERLANDS BELGIUM POLAND GERMANY Late in 2009 the process plant at the pany’s Chief Executive Officer in No- LUXEMBOURG CZECH REPUBLIC UKRAINE SLOVAK REPUBLIC FRANCE MOLDOVA port of in Norway shipped vember 2009. By combining process- LIECHTENSTEIN AUSTRIA SWITZERLAND HUNGAR Y

SLOVENIA ROMANIA CROATIA iron ore concentrates for the first time I T A L Y ing equipment already on site with BOSNIA- PORTUGAL MONACO SAN- HERZEGOVINA ANDORRA MARINO YUGOSLAVIA BULGARIA since 1996-7 – when the mine at nearby new systems the Coffey Mining project SPAIN MACEDONIA st ALBANIA

Bjørnevatn closed. The 21 century steel team in Perth which NIL engaged was GREECE TURKEY

economics have created fresh interest able to fast-track concentrator rede- MOROCCO SYRIA

TUNISIA MALTA CYPRUS in several Northern European iron velopment. Prospects also improved ALGERIA LEBANON ore resources, both new and preworked, in January 2009 when Northern Iron Sydvaranger is the northernmost iron ore mine in but Sydvaranger was the first venture reached a five-year offtake agreement Europe.

Blasthole Drilling in Open Pit Mining 113 Tough fast-track to Sydvaranger

for Atlas Copco Drilling Solutions based in France, attended a general briefing in late February. The quo- tation was to be submitted by 1 April and had to include a Maintenance & Repair Contract (MARC) as well as the equipment. Once the quotation had been provided details were explained and discussed at meetings in May and June, attended by Messrs Manin, Pedersen and Berglund plus André Gullholm, the -based Business Line Manager for Atlas Copco Surface Drilling Equipment. The orders, including provisional figures for the MARCs, were con- firmed in July 2008, with Atlas Copco providing the rock breaking, drilling, lighting and other auxiliary equipment and Pon Equipment, the Caterpillar dea- ler in Norway, supplying Terex-O&K mining class excavators plus wheel The Atlas Copco DML rig, fitted with a QAS 40 generator set and a Secoroc TD80 hammer for high pressure drill- loaders, haul trucks, general purpose ing of the 8 inch diameter blast holes. excavator, dozers and graders all from Caterpillar. EPC Skanexplo, which yielding 2.9 Mt/y concentrate over 4.2 Mt at 33% (total) Fe and 16.8 Mt claims to have developed Scandinavia’s a 30 year mine life, with early stage grading 32 % (total) Fe. most extensive system for delivery of ordering of a new mining fleet help- To restart mining the Bjørnevatn explosives directly into shot holes, has ing NIL to schedule start-up for mid- open pit, which is adjacent to the pri- a 5-year contract to truck explosives to 2009. The dedicated eight kilometer mary and cobbing plant, will the holes and has constructed an emul- rail line running north from the mine require quite extensive pre-stripping sion blending factory on-site. OTR sup- to Kirkenes (the most northerly in the and some zones within the pit that may plies and maintains tires. world) was reopened and Sydvaranger need highwall stability control. So SVG was able to ship a first cargo of iron ore decided to mine 14m high benches at Equipment mobilization in November 2009. Hyttemalmen and Kjellmannsåsen first, although both are further from the Preparation work for the two new pits Equipment selection for crusher. Hyttemalmen will probably started in August 2008 and blasting a remote mine site work for two years, Kjellmannsåsen approvals came through in November. for 4-5 years, with the Bjørnevatn pit Mobilization of the Atlas Copco drill- Although Kirkenes is the northern kicking in during 2011-12. However, ing equipment fleet started in February terminus for the Norwegian passenger SVG does not intend to open up the 2009 and the MARC was finalized in shipping route it is pretty remote. The underground workings any time soon. March. The Contract has three compo- 35 km2 mining concession south of the The modified redevelopment plan was nents: Atlas Copco’s investments and village of Bjørnevatn is only a few based on initially producing 2.65 Mt/y personnel costs – estimated in advance hundred meters from the border with and later 3 Mt/y of concentrate with a – are covered by a monthly manage- Russia and the nearest major town is P80 of 53 micron. ment fee; the team’s repair and main- Murmansk. The Algoma type Banded For mining equipment, refurbish- tenance operating hours are invoiced Iron Formation deposits extend 12 km ment was not an option and reliability monthly, work being planned using along a north-south strike and typically was essential. In February 2008 Coffey Atlas Copco’s ProMaint software; the dip 70-80°. The mine planning study Mining invited preferred bidders to third part is a supplementary element determined the optimal mine schedule the site so these companies could de- for rock tool maintenance introduced on the basis of a probable reserve of cide whether or not to proceed. Anders during negotiation of the main MARC. 111.5 Mt. The former Bjørnevatn open Berglund, who is Business Line Man- As well as equipment maintenance pit and underground workings have a ager – Parts & Services at Atlas Copco Atlas Copco’s service contract at Syd- probable reserve of 90.5 Mt at 32 % Anlegg og Gruveteknikk AS in Oslo, varanger includes extensive operator (total) Fe while the undeveloped Hytte- Norway, recalled that he, Oslo General training, notes Anders Berglund. malmen and Kjellmannsåsen deposits Manager Gunnar Pedersen and Daniel The MARC defines a number of respectively have probable reserves of Manin, the Regional Business Manager Key Performance Indicator measures

114 Blasthole Drilling in Open Pit Mining Tough fast-track to Sydvaranger

The main MARC team totals 23 people, including two breakdown mechanics per shift and five planned preventive maintenance mechanics per day. that Atlas Copco has to meet – cover- despite the summer Midnight Sun, the 14,000 bit regrinds will be required ing availability, mean time between lighting towers were well used during annually, each taking 20 minutes on breakdowns, mean time to repair, out- mobilization. average. standing work and the Lost Time Injury Two of the ROC L8s came equipped Frequency Rate. Berglund noted that for bench drilling and two with a Mine production builds up the Australian safety regime in place is reverse circulation system for grade stricter than normal Scandinavian prac- control drilling; one of these was later Serious mining started during the tice but this is a good thing, he said, converted for production drilling. The quarter to June 2009. The SVG miners, because it drives development of safer hydraulic top-head drive DML ma- including twelve full-time drillers maintenance routines. Working with chines, selected with the larger benches mostly trained by Atlas Copco, work the Contract Manager in the Atlas at Bjørnevatn in mind, are fitted with two 10-hour shifts with a blasting break Copco office on-site are the Contract the 24-bar HP (High Pressure) option from 16.00 to 20.00 hours. The MARC Administrator, Planner and Store so they can also be used for DTH drill- service crews work two 12-hour shifts. Supervisor. The main MARC team ing. Each DML rig is equipped with a At the start of operations a significant totals 23 people, including two break- Mammoth Wrench breakout tool. proportion of both the SVG and Atlas down mechanics per shift and five The L830 rigs drill 140 mm (5.5 inch) Copco personnel worked on a fly-in, planned preventive maintenance me- holes with Secoroc COP 54 Gold DTH fly out basis, using purpose-built ac- chanics per day (one shift). Another hammers and the DMLs have TD 80 commodation very close to the mine. team of three to five people works on DTH hammers for drilling 203 mm However, during fourth quarter 2009 the rock tools MARC in a separate (8 inch) holes. The ROC D9 has a both Atlas Copco and SVG started building, using Secoroc Grind Matic Secoroc COP 2560 top hammer drill local recruitment and a training pro- BQ2 machines. and is used with T45 Speedrods and gram organized in cooperation with First machines to arrive were eight 76 mm (3 inch) bits. All the drilling the Norwegian Government and a lo- QAS 20 lighting sets from Atlas Copco rigs have been fitted with a water mist cal technical school. The majority of Airpower and two ROC L830 down-the- system for dust suppression and all people on site are Norwegian with about hole (DTH) drilling rigs. Two more fluid tanks and piping are heated for 20% from elsewhere in Scandinavia L830 rigs, together with two DML drill- winter use. The rock tool maintenance and Europe. John Sanderson says the ing rigs ordered from the Atlas Copco MARC is by no means insignificant. whole SVG operation will need 350 Drilling Solutions operation in Texas, The magnetite ore is extremely abrasive people with full rate production on a were on site by August 2009. SVG also and bit wear rates are unavoidably high. two-shift basis. added an Atlas Copco ROC D9 top- On the basis of the test mining results Late completion of the new primary hammer rig for bench preparation work and SVG’s planned output rates Atlas mill delayed commissioning of the at this time. Berglund commented that, Copco calculated that from 10,000 to process plant from the scheduled July

Blasthole Drilling in Open Pit Mining 115 Tough fast-track to Sydvaranger

Sydvaranger Mine Production left Kirkenes on the MV Great Ambi- 2009 tion in late November 2009. At the start Period Ore tonnes Waste tonnes of loading John Sanderson commented: “The journey to production has not May – June 72,000 357,000 been without challenges and obstacles July – September 343,000 618,000 but we now look forward to focusing October – December 378,000 675,000 on building a solid company supplying 2010 high grade iron ore concentrates to the Period Ore tonnes Waste tonnes world steel industry”. January – March 875,000 1,360,000 In practice progress continues chal- lenging because the process plant at April – June 978,000 2,216,000 Kirkenes has attained neither rated July – September 911,000 2,386,000 throughput nor target product qual- Nameplate quarterly ore tonnage = 1,600,000 tonnes ity for various reasons, mostly but not only to do with refurbished plant units. start-up until October so a reduced output rose by 131 % and waste by 101% The company therefore implemented a mining target of 250,000 t/month was relative to fourth quarter 2009. By April US$25 million Production and Quality introduced in early August. The mine ore plus waste production was above Improvement program in February management team took advantage of plan, leading to a 43 % increase in 2010. Intended to get the plant up to the delay to determine the best combi- the second quarter, followed by a 3% rated capacity and to achieve target nations of Secoroc drill string compo- rise in the third (see Table). Of July- product quality, this rectification pro- nents for production drilling and also September ore production, Kjellmanns- gram was completed ahead of schedule to assess the value of pre-split drilling åsen contributed 497,000 t and Hytte- and under budget but achieving full with the ROC L830 rigs. Senior mining malmen 414,000 t. nameplate capacity will require further engineer Andrew Buechner remarked John Sanderson says that Sydva- work on the comminution circuits, esti- that the ore/waste boundaries are sharp ranger management is confident the mated to achieve 90 % of nameplate by and the host gneiss is softer to drill Atlas Copco drilling rigs were the right October 2011 and 100 % by April 2012. than the magnetite but blasts create a choice and is, overall, happy with the fair amount of large slabs. On the other set-up and service so far. “We are con- Looking forward hand fragmentation of the hard banded fident that it will get even better”, he ore is good. The required powder factor concluded. Offsetting the output rate and qual- is 0.9 kg/m3. ity issues, Northern Iron has been With the start of commercial pro- Great ambition, hard graft relatively fortunate on the marketing duction during October-November front. Chinese steelmakers have been 2009 the mining rate started to ramp- The first concentrate shipment, a spot prepared to buy the concentrates at dis- up again and January-March 2010 ore sale of 69,500 t to the Chinese market, counted prices and rising demand plus improved product quality have enabled Northern Iron to increase concentrate sales tonnage and halve the initial discount. In July 2010 NIL delivered a trial concentrate shipment to Corus and the two firms are negotiating a modified contract based on anticipated product quality. Recently the first iron ore cargo to travel the Northern Sea Route was shipped from Kirkenes to China, in more than one third less time than the conventional routes take. Acknowledgements

Kyran Casteel of Mineral Industry Intelligence & Information visited the operation in 2009 and 2010. This article first appeared in Atlas Copco Mining & Construction magazine No 1. 2010.

The HB 4200 hydraulic breaker in action. Eight QAS20 provide light and power.

116 Blasthole Drilling in Open Pit Mining