Lornex Mining Corporation, Limited - Logan Lake, British Columbia

The Lornex mine is located in the Highland Valley area of British Columbia, Canada, one of the most,promising districts of low-grade porphyry-type copper mineralization in the world; Lornex is operated by Rio Algom Mines, Limited, a member of the Rio Tinto Zinc Group of London. Exploration from 1965 to 1968 disclosed an ore body of 293 million tons with a grade of 0.43% copper and 0. 14% molybdenum; this led to the decision to construct a 38,000 tpd operation, and production commenced in the fall of 1972. The ore is open-pit mined with 15 cu yd (11 5 m3 shovels, which load 100- and 200 -ton trucks. These trucks dump directly into a 60 in. by 89 in. Allis -Chalmers gyratory from two sides of the 14 ft 6 in. (4.42 m) deep dump pocket and across splitters mounted on the pocket sides. The unlined pocket would hold 1,000 tons level full. The crushedore discharges into a 300-ton surge hopper equipped with an automatic sonic level indicator to prevent over -filling. A 96 in. by 23 ft (2.44 m by 7 m) apron feeder delivers the ore from the surge hopper to a 72 in. (1.83 m) transfer belt equipped with a tramp iron metal detector. The transfer belt discharges to a 60 in. (1. 52 m) conveyor which conveys the ore about 3,000 ft (914 m) to the 475,000 ton ore storage pile located near the concentrator. Four 48 in. (1.22 m) pan feeders transfer the ore to the mill feed conveyors, which in turn supply the two 32 ft by 15 ft (9. 75 m by 4. 57 m) semi-autogenous mills, which easily accept the 10 in. (254 mm) product of the crusher. Each semi- autogenous mill is followed by a secondary ball mill. The unusually large open side setting of the crusher accounts for its 6,300 tph maximum capacity. Concentrator capacity is now 48,000 tpd. Eccentric removal is eased by the design of the door to the crushed ore pocket, which has the cart rails mounted on its outer surface and is lowered to a horizontal position in the pocket by an electric winch. The top of the door rests on wear bar covered concrete piers in the pocket. Another feature is a chute through the floor at the crusher base that extends into the crushed ore pocket. Dust and spills of ore on that floor during crusher repairs are easily swept into the crushed ore pocket. This feature is also used at Bougainville and Palabora and has been added to others after operation has commenced. The design follows the concrete rectangular box concept with four main service and maintenance levels shown in the sectional drawings, although a third additional section has been added at the maintenance