Copper Mining Experience
BHP Pinto Valley Copper Mine
We have been selected by BHP Copper Inc., an indirect fully-owned subsidiary of BHP Billiton Ltd., to restart copper mining operations at the Pinto Valley Mine near Globe, Arizona.
We are providing contract mining services including:
- Mining equipment supply.
- Drilling, blasting, loading, and hauling of ore and waste.
- Mining approximately 33 million tons per year.
- Maintenance of equipment and facilities.
Kennecott Copper
During an expansion of Kennecott’s copper concentrating facility at Bingham Canyon near Salt Lake City, Utah, our project team installed the nation’s largest SAG mill at the time—36 feet in diameter, with a 16,000 hp gearless ring motor capable of producing 112,000 tons per day of concentrate.
Quadra Mining Ltd
Our contract for Quadra Mining Ltd., based in Vancouver, British Columbia, called for operating the restarted Robinson Copper mine near Ely, Nevada. At this copper-gold ore open pit operation we performed:
- Topsoil stripping.
- Drilling, blasting, loading, and hauling ore and waste.
- Dump and haul road maintenance.
- Equipment maintenance.
Ok Tedi Copper/Gold Mine
In the mountainous jungle of Papua, New Guinea, Washington Division provided overall design, procurement, and construction of the Stage 1 mine services facilities and systems for the Ok Tedi Copper/Gold Mine. This included:
- An equipment maintenance workshop, warehouse, offices and worker amenities.
- Roads, fuel storage and dispensing system.
- A15,000 tonne-per-day extraction plant.
- 14 km of tailings pipeline and a 24 meter-high rockfill dam for tailings disposal.
- A town site for 1,250 people.
- A hydroelectric dam and power station.
Tonopah Copper Mine
Under an Equatorial Mining Limited contract, we provided contract mining services at the Tonopah Copper Mine on the western flank of the San Antonio Mountains, 200 miles north of Las Vegas, Nevada. This open-pit operation, with a production capacity of 10 million tons annually, included:
- Site preparation.
- Mine start-up.
- Operations and equipment maintenance.
- Reclamation.
Our services included drilling, blasting, loading, and hauling and overburden removal.
