System aspects on in-pit crushing and coarse-particle pumping

The feasibility of pumping tertiary crushed raw ore together with mine water with centrifugal slurry pumps in series is briefly demonstrated in a comparison with truck transport to the processing plant. Pumping can also be effective if considered early in the mine planning because of less waste rock handling. Furthermore, in large-scale open-pit mining, only a 0.5 m-diameter pipeline is required for up to 20 Mtonnes per year. Tertiary crushing with an autogeneous type of crusher giving a comparatively wide particle size distribution may gain some effectiveness in the pumping, however the system integration potential can mainly be related to possible energy savings and increased throughput in grinding operations as outlined by Lindqvist (2008).Godkänd; 2008; 20080328 (ysko