INTRODUCTION

To successfully carry out the business of mining, numerous disciplines and

professional expertise are usually involved. Depending on the scale and
complexity of the mine operation, these disciplines may cover and address
technical, social, legal, environmental, economical and political issues.
However, for the purpose of this report focus is placed on technical disciplines
which involve the following departments at Etoile Mine:

1. Geology Department

2. Surveying Department

3. Workshop and Maintenance

4. HMS Plant

5. Mine Operation

However, because of the interdependency that exists across these departments, it is

essential that members of each department, especially technical personnel, are
equipped with basic knowledge of the activities in above mentioned
departments. For this reason, as a new Mining Engineer joining the Etoile team
of technical personnel in the Mining Department, it is very necessary that I have
an understanding of the activities in each of the above mentioned departments.
Therefore, an integration program was design where I had to spend a little time
familiarizing and acquainting myself with the routine activities of each
department at Etoile Mine. At the end of the integration program, this report was
prepared, mainly, to show an appreciation and understanding of the various
activities in each department at Etoile Mine.

Method of Data Collection

This report was prepared based on the data collected from the mine site and whose
source has been categorized in three:

• General literature review from existing documentation

• Visitation of specific departments to observe processes and activities

• Interviews with personnel

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Location of Etoile Mine

The Etoile copper-cobalt mine is located in the Katanga Province of DRC,

approximately 15Km from Lubumbashi town and 6Km from Ruashi township. In
figure 1.1 the location of Etoile Mine is shown.

Fig. 1.1 Location Map for Etoile Mine

Briefly About Etoile Mine

MINE DE L’ETOILE also known as KALUKULUKU was first recorded in 1902 by

Eriosson when a mineralized block of ore was discovered. The first prospection and
exploitation was done by Union Minière du Haut Katanga in 1906. Then in 1911
Gécamines took over the mine and continued with the exploitation.

On 29th November, 2003, Chemaf acquired the total concession for the Etoile mine
(License number 577) from La Generale Des Carrieres et Des Mines (Gécamines)
and continued with mining.

Etoile Open Pit Mine is part of an integrated operation of Chemaf consisting of

Etoile Mine itself and the closely located Usoke processing plant. Now, the Etoile
mine provides oxides for the nearby Usoke processing plant and in the long term it
will provide mixed ores and sulphides.

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 GEOLOGY

(9th August, 2010 – 12th August 2010)

Introduction

The geology section or department at Etoile Mine is essentially responsible for

evaluating known ore bodies and finding more ore. Responsibilities also relate to
geologic factors in the design, planning, and operation of a mine; to characteristics of
the ore that is handled in the mineral processing plant at HMS and Usoke.

The geology section at Etoile Mine comprises groups assigned to ore sampling and
grade control and analytical laboratory work (quality control section).

Objectives in Mining Geology

The ultimate objectives of the mine geologists at Etoile mine are to keep the mine in
ore and to see that geological conditions are taken into account throughout the life of
the mining operation at Etoile. The more immediate objectives are to fulfill these
responsibilities at the current stage in the sequence of development and mining. The
objectives, in both long-term and short-term, are centered on the ore body, and the
closely located plant facilities: HMS1 and HMS2, and more importantly the Usoke
processing plant.

Typical Activities at Geology

Mining takes place in geologic media, and the dictates of geologic

conditions prevail throughout the life of a mining operation. The
geologists at Etoile Mine are responsible for ore quality control and
play a pivotal role in guiding the mining team on where to mine and
where to send the material extracted from the pit. They evaluate
the significant conditions and their impact on the mine.

Ore Body Evaluation

In this process, the ore bodies that were outlined in earlier exploration works are
verified and delineated during production; their limits and changes in character are
defined, and new ore reserves are sought. In this, continuous development work,

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 drilling, and other sampling techniques provide for geologic resources to be included
in mining reserves as their classification is changed from possible to probable to
proven ore and a mine plan is devised. The geologist’s periodic inventories of ore
reserves are made with a number of geologic provisions, including provisions for the
differing mineralogical zones in the minable ore and for alternative cutoff grades on
the periphery of each ore body.

In the short term, geologists at Etoile mine are responsible for ore-grade control and
for the designation of ore boundaries in stopes and benches.

Ore Grade Control

Grade control at Etoile mine is a process that covers the disciplines of mining
geology (resource estimation, ore reserves, mapping, sampling, definition of ore
blocks), mining (control of dilution, ore loss, ore dispatch, stockpile management),
and milling (ore blending, tailings monitoring, metal recovery). The objective of
grade control at Etoile mine is to maximize the value of the ore mined and fed to the
processing plant. That is, quality control of tonnage and grade of ore being produced.

Presently, virtually all grade control at Etoile open pit mine is based on samples
collected from blast-holes on pit benches and samples collected from stockpiles. A
team of ore samplers are assigned to collect samples at the end of each drill slot
completed or at stockpiles. These samples are then sent to the laboratory for further
analysis.

In addition, trained prospectors, ore spotters or grade controllers are also assigned to
observe the material mined on every bench an excavator may be operating on. These
personnel are there to guide the excavator operator on which material or portion to
excavate and the dump truck operator on where to send the material mined. Through
observation, they are able to tell the grade of the ore mine.

Good grade control is an iterative process rather than a specific job function.
Geologist at Etoile Mine play a key role in this very important process as is
explained above. Good grade control process is vital for the operations at Etoile
Mine because it maximizes the company profits and ensures optimum economic use
of the depleting asset (ore).

Analytical Laboratory Work

When samplers in the field collect samples, they send them to the laboratory where
the material is further tested and analyzed. The analysis provides the chemist with
information such as the type of mineralization occurring in the sampled materials,
and their respective grades or percentages. The results are then sent to the geologist
for further analysis and classifications to be used in the planning and the extraction
processes.

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Etoile Mine Stratigraphy

The Etoile deposit is hosted by Late Proterozoic Katangan sediments and is part of
the Central African Copperbelt which runs for 450km from Ndola in Zambia
northwestward along the Lufilian Orogenic arc to Kolwezi in the Democratic
Republic of Congo (Angro American Corporation, 1997).

Regionally, the Kibaran-age metasediments underlie the Katangan, which in turn is

overlain by Kalahari sediments. The stratigraphic column of the Katangan is shown
below:

UPPER KUNDELUNGU SUPERGROUP (Ks) Arenites and Limestone

Petit Conglomerate -Mixtite
LOWER KUNDELUNGU SUPERGROUP (Ki) Arenites and Limestone
Grand Conglomerate Mixtite
ROAN SUPERGROUP (R) .
Mwashya Group (R4) sandstones and Dolomites
Dipeta Group (R3) sandstones, pelites and dolomites
Mines Group (R2) ore bearing dolomitic shale
RAT Group (R1) Roche Argilo Talqueuse, mainly sandstone

The base of the Roan is not exposed along the Lufilian arc in Shaba, but is frequently
seen in Zambia. At Etoile mine, the orebodies themselves are hosted by the Mines
Group (R2) which is further subdivided as follows:

• ORE BODIES INFÉRIEURE (OBI) COMPRISES: EARLIER

FORMATION

o La Brèche des RAT………………………………….. [20m]

FOOTWALL

o Les RAT grises ……………………………………….[3m]

o D. Strat (Dolomie Stratifier)………………………… [5m]

o RSF …………………………………………………...[5m]

o La base des RSC (roche siliceuses cellulaire)…………[10m]*

• ORE BODIES SUPERIEURE (OBS) : RECENT FORMATION

o Occupe le sommet des RSC……………………………[10m]*

o Les SDB (Schistes Dolomitiques de Base)…………….[5m]

o BOMZ (black ore mineral zone)……………………….[2m]

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 o SDS (SD 3b; SD 3a; SD 2d; SD 2c; SD 2b; SD 2a)…[30m]

o CMN (Calcaire à Minerai Noir)………………….. [50m]

o RGS (Roche griseous siliceous )……………..…..[100m]

HANGINGWALL

NB: The Brèche des RAT constitutes the Footwall of the formation and the RGS the
Hanging wall

The Lower Roan is made up predominantly of a footwall formation consisting of

argillaceous material, conglomerate, quartzite and sandstone followed by the ore
formation which comprises dolomites, dolomitic shale and quartzite.

• Dolomite 55%

• Siliceous 45%

Etoile Mine-Ore Reserves Estimates

Ore reserve estimates are assessments of the quantity, tenor and the degree of
certainty of a mineral that may be profitably and legally extracted from a mineral
deposit through mining and or mineral beneficiation. Estimation of ore reserves
involves not only evaluation of the tonnage and grade of a deposit but also
consideration of the technical and legal aspects of mining the deposit, of
beneficiating the ores, and of selling the product. Thus geologists are part of a
number of professional disciplines involved in ore reserve estimation.

In the case of Etoile, a number of private evaluation companies have been involved,
in the past, in the Etoile project for the ore reserve estimation. However, in brief, the
mineralization at Etoile Mine has a sub-vertical configuration, extending between
altitude 1250 and 970m at a depth of 280m. The Etoile deposit is distributed in three
zones and whose total reserves accounts for 14,783,805 Tonnes at 3.65% Cu and
0.62% Co. However the three known zones include:

 Oxide Zone

 Mixed Zone

 Sulphide Zone

Oxide Zone

This zone starts at 1250m level on surface to 1200m level below ground. The
thickness for the Oxide Zone can be estimated at 50m. This portion of the geological
reserves accounts for 6,614,790 Tonnes of the total deposit at 3.97% Copper and
0.7% Cobalt. From the total calculated reserves, the oxide deposit accounts for 45%.

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 The Mineralogical compositions of the oxide zone include:

• Malachite

• Cuprite

• Azurite

• Chrysocolle

• Hétérogénéité

• Sel rose de cobalt (Pink Cobalt)

• Pseudo Malachite (Phosphate of malachite)

Mixed Zone

This zone starts from 1200m level to 1060m level. The total elevation is 140m and
this portion of the geological reserves accounts for 4,262,890 Tonnes of the total
deposit at 2.52% Copper and 0.51% Cobalt. From the total calculated reserves this
portion accounts for 29%.

The Mineralogical compositions of the mixed zone include:

• Malachite

• Digenite

• Cuprite

• Chalcosine

• Bornite

• Carrolite

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Sulphide Zone

This zone starts from 1060m level to 970m level. The total elevation is 90m and the
geological reserves for this deposit account for 3,906,125 Tonnes of the total deposit
at 4.37% Copper and 0.51% Cobalt. From the total calculated reserves this portion
accounts for 25%.

The Mineralogical compositions of the sulphide zone include:

• Chalcosine

• Bornite

• Carrolite

• Pyrite

• Chalcopyrite

Ore reserves estimation or calculation is very important to any operating mine as it

converts resources to reserves thereby extending the mine life. Geologists are
therefore important in as far as extension of the mine life is concerned.

Survey

(13th August 2010 – 17th August 2010)

Introduction

The survey department is responsible for preparing and updating the entire surface
plans of Etoile mine on a timely basis, say monthly. They are responsible for
maintaining an accurate plan of the mine as a whole and updating of maps of the
surface layout to account for new buildings and other structures, as well as surveying
the open pit mine operations in order to keep a record of the mining operation.

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 Each month Etoile Mine surveyors measure the quantity of work done by the mining
contractors, MCK, and calculate their contract earnings. More importantly, the team
of surveyors at Etoile Mine carries out the measuring process to calculate ore
production, in volume or mass units, from the mining operation. In addition to this,
the volume of the ore stock piles and dumps of waste accumulating on the surface of
the Etoile mining property are also surveyed.

Some of the duties undertaken by surveyors in open-cut operations include:

• Stockpile Monitoring

• Blast Control

• Machine Control

• Reconciliation

• Volume Calculations

• Road and Ramp Set Out

• High Wall Surveying

Stockpile Monitoring

Stockpile surveys are conducted periodically, say monthly, in order to monitor the
amount of ore material which has been mined and is available.

At Etoile open pit mine, when ore is mined it is generally stored on temporary
stockpiles. Depending on demand levels it may be stored in a ROM (run of mine) or
stock pile prior to being transferred to the processing plant at Usoke or concentrate
preparation plant at HMS. The HMS plant will usually have stockpiles of ore ready
to be loaded into the crusher at any given time.

Topsoil stockpiles are also monitored. Any topsoil that is excavated can be used for
rehabilitation at a later date, so it is usually stored in stockpiles ready for future use.
Surveyors will monitor these stockpiles and provide volumes for topsoil that is
available.

Blast Control

Machines can not dig through solid rock hence blasting is required prior to
excavation. This process involves the use of overburden drills to drill a pattern of
holes, which are then loaded with explosives and detonated. Surveyors are involved
in this process by setting out pegs for an area to be prepared for drilling, pegs for

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 drill operators to know where to drill, as well as surveying the material once it has
been blasted.

Using survey pegs placed for the drills, the drill operators will drill an evenly spaced
pattern as per drill and blast engineering design. In the event that an explosive or
series of explosives have not detonated in a blast, surveyors will place pegs on the
shot ground where at the coordinates of where the hole was initially drilled. Before
normal excavations can commence, the explosives need to be located and removed
safely by delicately digging around the suspected area. When an explosive is located,
surveyors will keep a record of its final position on permanent plans.

Once a blast is complete, the blasted material needs to be surveyed. This process is
done by walking over the material and surveying it using GPS, or by the use of
reflector-less lasers, and or automated scanners. As blasted material expands,
calculations need to be completed to determine the amount of swell created from the
blast. The swell factor will have an effect on volume figures and therefore change the
amount paid to contractors.

Machine Control

Day to day activities of mine surveyors at Etoile Mine include machine control.
Machine control refers to setting out designs and providing advice to operators to
ensure the excavation process is completed appropriately to the engineering design.
Depending on the equipment available, external variables and technical issues, set
out in a surface operation generally refers to placing pegs with colour-coded flagging
tape with the use of GPS or total stations.

In order for machines such as excavators to dig ore, surveyors need to put pegs in for
them to dig from. This process is not quite as simple as placing a peg on a line
derived from coordinates produced on a plan as the pegs need to be placed in at a
battered angle. Basically, they need to place pegs at a projected position so that if a
machine digs from them at the design batter angle, they will end up where they want
them to be. As different machines are able to achieve different batter angles then
calculations have to be completed according to the design batter angle.

Machine control is not limited to pegging batters, surveyors at Etolie Mine also peg
drill prep limits for dozer operators to prepare drill areas accessible by drills, as well
as ramps, roads, and grade control for various operations. RL (reduced level) pegs
are also provided regularly to assist machine operators in ensuring they are digging
to the correct or optimum level as depicted by a design. Pegging design batters is a
normal surveying operation, regardless of the mineral being mined or the machine
doing the digging. It is a standard duty across any mine or surveying operation
requiring excavations to design levels. Surveyors are also required to peg drill
patterns so that drill operators know where to drill.

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Reconciliation

The reconciliation process involves determining how much waste or ore has been
mined. It allows the company to determine whether the amount of ore being
delivered matches the amount of ore coming out of the pit, as well as allowing
various geological tasks to be completed. Volume surveys in mining has many
stakeholders, allows the company to determine if it is making money effectively and
may allow the company to conduct scheduling tasks to ensure efficient operations.

This process allows for accurate records to be kept of what ore has been mined and
what reserves remain.

Volume Calculation

Volume calculations are very important for Etoile mine surveyors and mine
operations team not only to estimate the efficiency of machines and mining methods,
but also to determine how much MCK, the contracting company, should be paid.
Generally surveyors will be required to conduct these calculations once per month
(it's referred to as 'End of Month' volumes) and provide them to various sections of
the mining company. The process of calculating these volumes is by conducting
survey 'pickups' or 'locations' using various methods such as:

• Total Stations
• GPS ( Global Position System), or 'Surveying GPS'
• Automatic Laser Scanners

In order to calculate a volume of moved material, both a 3D 'top' and 'bottom' surface
are required. Top surfaces could be the bottom of a previous dig, or a shot ground
surface which is always surveyed following a blast. As blasted material expands as
compared to its solid state, it has varying densities and therefore a calculation is
required to accommodate for the expansion of the material when completing volume
calculations. This helps to avoid overpaying or underpaying contractors or providing
inadequate data. It is part of the Etoile mine surveyors duty to monitor what happens
in the pit to ensure that volume calculations do not allow a machine to receive
'payment' for moving the same material twice (e.g. if material is moved to an area
within the pit, it should only be paid the first time it is moved). The first movement
of the material is referred to as 'prime', subsequent movements is referred to as ’re-
handle'.

The creation of surfaces is probably one of the more exciting parts of the role. It
allows you to construct something using real-world data which you have collected.
Volumes are calculated by using 3D surfaces. At Etoile Mine this is done using a
program called Surpac.

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Road and Ramp Set-out

Surveyors will always be required to set out roads and ramps. At Etoile mine, this
process generally involves placing 'drop-in' pegs for an excavator to begin it's dig, or
road width and cut and fill pegs for smoothing and improving (e.g. by sheeting) an
existing road surface.

The survey department is also responsible for:

• Maintaining the floor and surface of the pit

• Survey of ore reserves

• Measuring Distances

• Topography

• Designing Mine Plans, Sections, Contour Plan

• Setting out Temporary Bench Marks for mining

• Blasting hole plans

• Civil Jobs

• Picking out mine elevation to design crests and toe of the pit

• Preparing a Blasting Area Plan

Equipment Used

Below are some of the equipments used by the survey team at Etoile Mine:

• Scanner

• Plotter

• Digitizer

• Survey Total Station

• Theodolite

• GPS

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Software Used

Below are some of the software used by the survey team at Etoile Mine:

• Auto-Cad

• Autodesk civil 3D

• SURPAC 6.0

Maintenance and Workshop

(18th August 2010 – 21st August 2010)

Introduction

The role of mine maintenance at Etoile mine is to provide quality repair and
maintenance work efficiently with minimal disruption to the production routine. To
achieve this, the following maintenance programs have been adopted:

• Scheduled Maintenance

• Preventive Maintenance

• Repair and Rehabilitation of Equipment

• Overhaul Repairs

Scheduled Maintenance

This is a routine kind of maintenance which is typically carried out at prescribed

intervals as follows:

• Vehicle check at start of shift (by operator)

• 100 hours (wash, grease, and inspect)

• 250 hours (service)

• 500 hours (service)

• 750 hours (service)

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Preventive Maintenance

This kind of maintenance is based on daily or field inspection of the physical

condition of the machine. Generally, this includes those items of routine inspection
and maintenance that are prognostic. Preventive maintenance also includes additional
specific inspections and measurements that predict imminent or future problems, so
that change-out or repairs can be accomplished before failure of the component while
operating.

The purpose of a preventive maintenance program, therefore, is to keep equipment

running effectively and avoid unnecessary downtime. In general, the success of a
preventive maintenance program can be measured by:

• An increase in equipment operating time

• An increased capability to do more planned maintenance
• An increase in product output
• A decrease in breakdown maintenance.

Unscheduled Repairs

These are repairs which are not scheduled. However, requests for repairs can result
from vehicle start-up inspection, routine maintenance inspection, preventive
maintenance analysis, diagnosis while operating, damage while operating, or
breakdown while operating. Some requests may be prioritized and scheduled, but
others require immediate attention (unscheduled repair, also called emergency
repair). Accommodation for these may be made in the Weekly Plan by allocating a
significant block of man-hours for emergency repair.

Overhaul Repair

Overhaul Repair is a comprehensive examination and repair of machines.

Fleet of Equipment

MCK 2009 MCK 2010 CHEMAF

EXCAVATION TARGET:
EQUIPMENTS:
[1] EXCAVATORS
Hitachi Ex.1200 Godet 5m3
Hitachi Zx.670 Godet 3.5m3
Hitachi Ex.1900-5 Godet 12m3
Liebherr LiB 984 Godet 7m3
CAT 385 Godet 6m3
CAT 365c Godet 5m3
[2] ARTICULATED DUMP TRUCK
Bell B40D 40 Tons Load
[3] RIGID DUMP TRUCKS
Hitachi EH 1700, 95.2 Tons
Hitachi EH 1700, 60.3 Tons
CAT 773D 54.4 Tons
300,000 BCM/Month 600,000 BCM/Month Stock Pile Management HMS
1 1 -
1 0 -
0 2 -
0 2 -
- - 1
- - 1
10 5 -
0 10 -
3 0 -
2 5 -

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CAT 775B & D 63.4 Tons - - 8
[4] DRILL MACHINES
SANDVIC Pantela 1500 2 2 -
[5] OTHER EQUIPMENTS
Service Truck Bell B20D 1 2 -
Dozer-Pit 1 2 -
Dozer-Dump 0 1 -
Dozer CAT D9R - - 2
Motor Grader Volvo 1 2 2
Motor Grader CAT 140m - - -
Water Truck Bell 15m 3 1 2 1
Water Truck TATA 10m3 - - 1
Utility Excavator-Hitachi 0 1 -
Utility Excavator-CAT320D - - 1
Wheel Loader Stock Pile 0 1 -
Wheel Loader Stock Pile CAT 992G - - 1

Finally, it is important to note that performing efficient and effective mine

maintenance lowers total mining costs, rather than only the costs of the Maintenance
Department.

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 HMS Plant

(23rd August, 2010 - 25th August, 2010)

Introduction

The HMS plant is part of the Etoile Concentration Complex consist of a module of
Etoile mine ore beneficiation through:

• The existing HMS Plant

• The Spiral plant

• The New HMS Plant

Ore beneficiation is a separation process of valuable minerals from the gangue in the
ore. This process is done without affecting the chemical and physical properties of
the minerals.

HMS simply means Heavy Media Separation. Heavy Media Separation is a mineral
beneficiation technique for concentration or enrichment of desirable metal values in
the ore. HMS involves treating the crushed and screened ore in a liquid media, which
is a mixture of fine Ferro-silicon powder in slurry of water. The specific density of
the media slurry is so maintained as to allow the low density gangue material to float
and the other high density useful minerals to sink. The sink product is copper and
cobalt rich concentrate.

The basic principles of the HMS belong to Gravity separation where the basic
principle is as follows:

“When two solids particles of same volume but different specific gravity are falling
in a fluid, the heavier particle will have a higher falling velocity than the lighter
particle. Based on that the two particles can be separated”

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 HMS Plant Facilities

The plant facilities include crushers, scrubber, screens and standard DMS module.
The crushed and sized ore is mixed with Ferro-silicon medium and pumped to DMS
cyclones for separation into sinks (concentrate) and floats (tailings).

Objectives of the Etoile Concentrate Complex

The objective of this complex is to fulfill the Usoke plant capacity in terms of
copper and cobalt.

Feed to HMS

Blending

Before the ore material is feed into the crushers at HMS, three types of ore materials
are first blended. This is done in varying proportions depending on the grade of
the material received; however, the blending is done to achieve a 3.5% Cu feed
grade. The ore materials to be feed into the HMS crusher system are classified
according to their stock pile name and accompanying characteristics:

Pauvre 2,P2
Tampon 2,T2
Tampon 3, T3

Blending the three ore before feeding:

• Help to maintain a consistency in the feed

• Help to run the plant smoothly with constant operating parameters

Feed Characteristics:

Some of the characteristics to look out for when feeding the HMS include:

• Mineralogical composition and minerals properties

• Particle size distribution

• Metals distribution in each size fraction

• Minerals liberation and position in the gangue

The Talc ore appears to be the most suitable feed to the HMS:

• The Particle size distribution is suitable (lesser amount of fines)

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 • The valuable minerals are highly liberated compared to other ores

But a particular ore alone cannot be fed. The reason behind this is to avoid sterilizing
the mine. In fact by feeding only the suitable ore this will be vanished from the mine
and only unsuitable ore will remain.

In order not to sterilize the mine, the ideal proportions of different ores in the feed
should be as per the mine composition. This will keep the mine composition intact
up to the end of its life.

The feed characterization and analyses must be done on regular basis by the Plant
Metallurgists and Chemists. This will allow to make follow up on the performance of
the plant.

Final Product

At HMS, the beneficiation is done for up-gradation of the valuable minerals in

the ore in order to satisfy the downstream process requirement:

• The Usoke plant has got copper production capacity of 130

MMT which need a feed of about 150 MMT Cu; with the ROM grade
of 3.5% Cu a feed close to 4300 DMT of ROM is needed to leaching
while the Usoke leaching capacity is limited to 1200 DMT. Hence more
Copper up-gradation in the ore is required.

• The talc ore creates lot of settling problems at Usoke CCD circuit. Hence this
talc ore can’t be fed as it is at Usoke. A separation of valuable minerals for
talc before feeding the leaching may improve the settling characteristics of
this material.

At the end of the entire beneficiation process, concentrate is produced. The

concentrate produced by the HMS plant is treated in Chemaf’s processing plant at
Usoke, for conversion into copper cathodes and cobalt product.

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 Etoile Opencast Mine

(26th August 2010 – 9th September 2010)

Introduction

Mine de L’Etoile also known as Kalukuluku mine exists as an opencast mine.

Opencast mining refers to a method of extracting rock or minerals from the earth
by their removal from an open pit. Opencast mines are used when the deposits of
commercially useful minerals or rock are found near the surface; that is, where
the overburden (waste material covering the valuable deposit) is relatively thin.

The Etoile mine copper-cobalt mine is located in the Katanga Province of DRC,
approximately 15Km from Lubumbashi town. In 2003, Chemaf purchased a 100%
interest in Etoile Mine from Gecamine. The mine has an estimated life of
approximately 14 years and MCK is a contracting company that has the contract to
perform earthworks at the mine.

Mining Parameters

• Bench Height : 5m

• Bench Width : 5m

• Wall Slope Angle : 45°

• Road Width : 15m

• Ramp Gradient: 8% (1 in 12.5)

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Global Mining Parameter

 In Pit Volume: 60,583,000m3

 In Pit Reserves: 15,376,427 DMT

 Waste Volume: 54,001,000m3

 Temperament: 3.94m3/t

 Overall Slope Angle RAT (Footwall): 29°

 Overall Slope Angle RGS (Hanging Wall): 42°

 Ramp Width: 20m

 Bench Height: 10m

 Pit Extension: NW-SE: 1300m

NE-SW: 900m

Mining Operations

Drilling and Blasting

At Etoile mine, the ore and waste hardest formation (65% of deposit) fall in the
homogenous CMN, SDS, RSC, RSF, D.Strat, and Dolomitic RAT. Areas with such
formation are drilled and blasted.

Drill and blast is the process in which holes are drilled to a predetermined depth in
hard ground. These holes are then loaded with explosives. The explosives are
detonated and the ground is fractured to enable digging.

At Etoile mine MCK has been contracted to carry-out the task of drilling, however, it
is still partially supervised by the Etoile mining team. Figure 6.1 shows a drill rig
drilling blast holes.

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Fig. 6.1 Drilling

Drill Pattern

Before drilling takes place, the area will be leveled and windrows on the pit edges
will be pushed off to allow drilling on the pit edge. To ensure that the area is safe it
must be barricaded off. Painted rocks are placed on the ground to tell the rigs where
to drill.

Fig. 6.2 Drill Pattern

Once the pattern has been marked out accurately, usually by the Etoile Mine
Foreman, the drill rigs will move in. The drill rigs will systematically drill each hole
to the correct depth, usually 5.5m for the case at Etoile.

Blasting

Once the holes have been drilled by MCK drilling team, the Blast Crew from Etoile
mine takes over the area. They erect signs indicating that there is a loaded shot and
only authorized personnel are allowed into the area. The next step is to load
explosives into the hole. The shot firer chooses specific explosives to suit the ground
and conditions. The hole is topped off with small rocks called stemming. These rocks
will insure that the force of the blast does not shoot out of the top of the hole like a
rifle. Once the hole is loaded, each hole will be joined with detonation cord. The
Blast is then ready to go.

Figure 6.3 shows some of the blasting accessories used at Etoile Mine during
charging and blasting and figure 6.4 illustrates a three dimensional view of a loaded
shot.

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 Fig. 6.3 Blasting accessories

Fig. 6.4 Three dimensional view of a loaded shot

The blasting of the holes is done in the bench and boulders by loading with
explosive. Explosives used include ANFO (Mixing of 94% Ammonium Nitrate + 6%
Fuel Oil), and ANFEX.

• Linear Charge for 3.5” Holes 4.98Kg/m

• Linear Charge for 6” Hole 14.52Kg/m

Blasting Times

Blasting times are announced at the entry points to the mine. It is the responsibility
of all personnel entering the mining area to be aware of blasting times and ensure
they have evacuated the blast area well in advance of the time. A blasting plan is

22
produced by the surveyors which indicate areas safe enough for equipment to be kept
and a boundary within which men can be safe enough to stay while the blasting may
be taking place.

Blast Guards

Before a blast is let off, an area at least 400m from the blast area is evacuated of all
personnel. Machinery is moved to a safe distance from the blast area. To effectively
do this, the survey department at Etoile Mine prepares a blast plan showing safe
zones and boundaries where equipment and men should remain during the blasting
period. The shot firer inspects the area with a vehicle hang with red flags warn any
personnel who are unaware that there is a blast on. When the shot firer is completely
confident that nobody is in the blast area, an announcement will be made over the
radio that the blast is taking place and that radio silence has to be maintained. The
blast will then take place, the blast guards will remain in place blocking all accesses
to the area until the shot firer has inspected the area and given the all clear.

Misfires

A misfire is part of a blast that for some reason has not gone off with the rest of the
blast. A misfire may be one drill hole or several. After a blast has gone off the shot
firer will walk the shot and identify any misfires. If possible the misfires will be
detonated to make them safe. Holes that cannot be detonated will be barricaded off
and then carefully dug out when the excavator reaches them, under the direct
supervision of the shot firer. Occasionally the shot firer may not notice a misfire, it is
up to all personnel to pay attention to the digging face and look for signs of ANFO or
undetonated explosives.

Hints for the Blast Crew

 Do not smoke within 8m of the Blast Area.

 Drink lots of water to avoid dehydration.

 Be careful of trip hazards.

 Be aware of unauthorized personnel entering the blast area.

 Use the appropriate PPE at all times.

 Beware of cutting detonator cord with rocks or the shovel when

stemming.

 Don’t allow detonator cord to slip into hole.

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  Report all suspect holes i.e. holes that are not drilled to depth or have
caved in.

 Explosives truck must be directed by a spotter when on patterns.

 Always follow procedure when handling explosives.

Hints for Everybody Else

 Familiarize yourself with blasting times.

 Do not smoke within 8m of the Blast Area.

 Do not enter the Blast Area unless you have permission and a very good
reason to enter.

 If you find any items that look like explosives contact your supervisor
immediately and guard the area.

 Do not touch the explosives.

 Your supervisor will alert the blast crew who will remove the explosives.

Hauling and Loading

In the case of Etoile Mine, hauling and loading is a shared responsibility between
MCK, the contracted company, and Chemaf. However, the responsibility of the Load
and Haul team is to load the material in the pit onto haul trucks using excavators and
transport it to variety of destinations, which include ore stock piles, ROM and waste
dump.

The Load and haul crew also relocate material from stockpiles to the crusher at the
HMS plant or Usoke plant.

Stock Pile and Waste Dump Management

Stock-piles

Stockpiles are heaps of ore that cannot be tipped directly into the crusher for
whatever reason. At Etoile Mine they are stored as close as possible to the crushers at
HMS plant. Low grade materials are kept away from the ROM so that it may be
recovered at a later date if necessary.

The material mined is stock piled on the following stock piles:

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Tampon 1 (Temporary Stock Pile 1)

On this stockpile the main interest is in the cobalt of the material. Ore material
containing 1.4% Co and 4% Copper is kept here as it awaits to be loaded on trucks
and to be transported to be Usoke in order to feed the Usoke plant. Loading at
Tampon 1 is done using a front end loader.

Tampon Bis 1 (Temporary Stock Pile 1)

The primary interest on this stock pile is in the Cobalt contained in the material. This
is another stockpile where 1.2%Co and 3.5% to 4% Cu material is stock-piled. Like
material from Tampon 1 this material is also sent to Usoke processing as a feed for
the plant. A front end loader or excavator is used to load the material onto trucks
sending the material to Usoke processing plant.

Some of the materials found in this stock pile include:

• Fine Materials like CMN and BOMZ

• Hard material Include D.Strat, RSF, RSC, SDB, and SDS

Tampon 2 (Temporary Stock Pile 2)

The primary interest on this stock pile is in the Copper contained in the material.
Here we have high grade copper with 4%Cu and 0.8%Co. The materials which end
up on this stock pile include: SDS, SDB, RSF, D. Strat, and RSC.

Tampon 2 Bis (Temporary Stock Pile 2 Again)

The primary interest on this stock pile is in the copper contained in the material. Here
we have 5%Cu and 0.8%Co on this stock pile and contain mostly the hard material.
The materials which end up on this stock pile include: SDS, SDB, RSF, D. Strat, and
RSC.

Tampon 3 Bis (Temporary stock pile 3 Again)

This stock pile remained after the temporary stock pile 3 was exhausted. In Tampon
3 Bis we have Washable Copper. The material here has first to be washed in order to
liberate the mineralized material from the talc material covering it. Some of the
materials found in this stock pile include: Brèche de RAT, RAT Grises and RGS.

Pauvre 1 (P1) Low Grade 1

The low grade 1 stock pile which is also known as Pauvre 1 or P1 contains mainly
CMN fine material. The grade of cobalt is 0.8% and the grade for copper is 2%. This
stock pile is maintained for future purpose.

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Pauvre 2 (P2) Low grade 2

The low grade 2 stock pile which is also known as Pauvre 2 or P2 is predominantly
known for it hard materials which include: SDS, SDB, RSC, RSF, D. Strat. Here and
at Tampon 2 we have more SDS material. The grade of copper is 3% and cobalt is
0.8%.

Pauvre 3 (P3) Low Grade 3

The low grade 3 stock pile which is also known as Pauvre 3 or P3 contains materials
such as that in P2: SDS, SDB, RSC, RSF, and D.Strat. The grade here for cobalt
range from 0.6% – 0.7% cobalt and for copper 2%.

Waste Dumps

The mined out waste material end up on waste dumps which are closely located to
the periphery of the pit.

Waste material is dumped on waste dumps by either using end dumping or area
dumping. Area dumping is when truck loads of waste material are tipped on the
surface, which is later flattened off so that they can be driven over or a dump will
extend over them. And end dumping is where the waste material is dumped right at
the edge of the dump to allow material to flow down the dump and out-wards as the
dump extends.

When end dumping is used a windrow is left which is just a mound of waste material
around the edge of the tip head. This act as a protective device to the haul trucks
stopping trucks from toppling over the edge of the dump. The dozer will rebuild the
windrow every time that the dump is pushed off.

Discussion

Primarily, the main focus of this integration program was to learn the techniques,
processes and procedure adopted or employed at Etoile by each department fro the
purpose of accomplishing their daily responsibilities, but more importantly, to share
in the long term objective of the organization as a whole.

One the contrary, in this discussion, some key issues have been raised which were
noted during the program and may require some form of attention or redress. These
issues affect the area of safety and health, training and induction, Transportation for
mine operations team, and

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Safety and Health

Generally, issues of safety and health require serious care and attention in a
dangerous environment like the one at Etoile mine. On countless occasions,
employees have been noted working in hazardous areas without the correct personal
protective equipment (PPE) or attire. However, this may be attributed to the
organization’s lack of specific personnel to seriously address the issues of safety and
healthy. Such individuals must be present in a fast growing organization like Etoile
mine to be responsible of mounting serious safety and health regulations and policies
to guide the organization and all the employees.

The single most valuable asset in any organization is human resources. It is the
ingenuity and creativity of people that lead to the effective and efficient utilization of
all other available resources to achieve the economic and societal goals of the
organization. Protection of the health and safety of employees from excessive or
undesirable stresses in the occupational environment is all important. This must be so
from both the humanitarian point of view and the overall welfare of the enterprise
itself. The enhancement of personnel health and safety in mines requires an
understanding of the hazards and the requirements for their control. Further, it
requires a critical evaluation and application of the various approaches to hazard
control. In addition to the learning experience from the lamentable history of
accidents and disasters in mines, there is a critical need to reduce the risks of mine
hazards and resulting accidents through the application of such proactive analysis
techniques as systems safety analysis and disaster simulations for the identification
of new hazards. For rapid progress towards a hazard-free environment for the miners,
combinations of several hazard control approaches need to be utilized. The vital role
of management in focusing the miner’s attention to personnel health and safety must
be recognized. Finally, the search for new tools and techniques for mining hazard
control must go hand in hand with transfer of successful practices from other
industries.

Induction Training

The mine environment is inherently a dangerous working environment hence the

need to prepare any persons entering such an area. However, at Etoile mine there is
no deliberate program to provide training for employees or persons entering the mine
premises for the purpose of working. It is important to note that inductions are very
essential to a fast growing organization such as Chemaf.

Inductions are designed to prepare and equip new employees entering the mine
premises and old employees returning from vacation or some form of leave so that
chances of accidents and incidents are minimized or completely avoided. The
training program ensures that all personnel are adequately instructed on site safety
procedures and systems and that these are complied with.

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 Therefore, the company must initiate and maintain an induction program to train
employees on safety and health programs before they are engaged to do any work
within the premises of the company.

Transportation for Mine Operation Team

Daily supervisory work for the mine operations team requires control and the
personnel in-charge to be on top of all the mine related activities. At Etoile mine,
precisely, mine operations there is no flexible and readily available vehicles to be
used by personnel controlling operations hence making it extremely strenuous to
carry out minimum responsibilities such as regular rounds to check, control, and
observe whether the work is progressing well.

The availability of proper field vehicles will dramatically improve control and
supervisory standards at Etoile mine. In principle, men in-charge (Shift Engineers,
Foremen and Supervisors) will be much more efficient and effective in the field
because the long distances to be traversed in the process of supervision will no
longer be a limiting factor to attend to issues on time. In addition, the mine premise
is inherently a dangerous working environment, especially at night; so, providing a
good vehicle for the mine operation team will improve on safety of the men in charge
of the shift.

Conclusions

At the end of the integration program, sufficient knowledge about the operations and
activities in each department at Etoile mine was acquired.

This to say that the geology department at Etoile mine are responsible of keeping the
mine in ore and to see that geological conditions are taken into account throughout
the life of the mining operation at Etoile.

The survey department is responsible for maintaining an accurate plan of the mine as
a whole and updating of maps of the surface layout to account for new buildings and
other structures, as well as surveying the open pit mine operations in order to keep a
record of the mining operation.

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However, the role of mine maintenance at Etoile mine is to provide quality repair and
maintenance work efficiently with minimal disruption to the production routine.

The mine operations department is essentially responsible of the planning process

used in the extraction of ore which is then passed on to the processing plant either
HMS or Usoke processing plant.

The HMS plant is responsible for the entire beneficiation process, and concentrate
production. The concentrate produced by the HMS plant is treated in Chemaf’s
processing plant at Usoke, for conversion into copper cathodes and cobalt product.

Finally, it was also understood that all the departments are interdependent with each
other hence the need for one to have an understanding of the basic activities across
the departments.

References

Angro American Corporation. (1997). Ruashi Etoile Copper and Cobalt Project.
Technical Appraisal Study.

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 Appendices

Appendix A: Mining Terminologies

The following list contains some of the common terms used in mining at the Etoile
Mine Site and is similar in other mining operations.

1. ANFO : High explosive mixture of diesel and ammonium nitrate (Ammonium Nitrate
Fuel Oil)
2. Access Road: Usually refers to roads other than haul roads
3. Batter: The angle or sloping face of a high wall.
4. Beacon Vehicle: Roof mounted revolving light.
5. Bench: Strip of material being mined, height differs depending on machines being used
to dig or the nature of the Ore body being dug.
6. Berm: A predetermined width of horizontal bench left behind at intervals on pit walls to
aid Support and catchment of material from above.
7. Bollard Witch’s hats: These come in various sizes and colours and are used to mark
areas such a washout or a restricted zone.
8. Booster: High explosive detonated by the detonator (det) which sets off product

30
9. Processing Plant Ore Handling and Processing Plant: The operation that processes
the Ore and prepares it for smelting.
10. Ore: Material containing the mineral being mined e.g. copper or gold.
11. Crest: Term used to describe the top and outside edge of high walls, dumps and
ramps.
12. Detonator: Used to initiate explosives.
13. Digger, Pelle: A term often used to describe an Excavator
14. Drill Pattern: Area marked up with dots at predetermined length and width for
drilling.
15. Drop Cut: Area being mined to gain access into the next bench.
16. Dump: A place set aside on the mine site where waste material is dumped.
17. Floor: The flat area being used to access the bench being dug.
18. Go Line: Parking area for machines that are ready for operation.
19. Grade: Term used in reference to levels. Also used to describe content of mineral in
ore.
20. Haul Road: All roads used by haul trucks, heavy machinery and light vehicles in an
around the pit.
21. High Wall: The walls of the pit.
22. Industrial Area: Usually refers to the area where the workshops and stores are
located.
23. Light vehicle Access Road: Access track dedicated to light vehicles only.
24. Waste or Sterile: A term used to describe the material which covers the ore such as
sand or basalt rock etc.
25. Pit: Term used to describe the open cut mine.
26. Ramp: Main access road to and from a pit or onto a dump.
27. Reclamation: The process of reclaiming mined out areas to restore the land to its
near as possible to original state
28. Rill: Natural angle of loose dumped material
29. Road Base: Crushed rock used for sheeting roads.
30. R.L.: Reduced levels, all levels in and around the pit are taken from a set point or
datum and all Levels relate to that point.
31. ROM: Run of Mine, normally the crusher Ore dump point.
32. Sheeting: Term used to describe material used for building or covering rough areas
of roads, ramps and dumps.
33. Slip: Area of high wall that has collapsed.
34. Slump: Area of dump, floor, ramp or road that has dropped below design level
35. Spillage: Material on ramps and haul roads that has fallen off haul trucks.
36. Spragging: Term used when a track-mounted machine is turning.
37. Stand Pipe: Water cart filling point.
38. Stemming: Finely crushed rock used to stem blast holes to help contain energy in
blasting.
39. Strobe: Vehicle light that flash’s but does not revolve.
40. Subsidence: Cave in of ground (hole opening up)
41. Sump: Small area of floor that has been blasted to or below next floor level where a
pump can be set up to assist drainage of ground water. Also term used to describe drill
rig water return recirculation pond.
42. Tip Head: Active edge of dump where material is tipped over.

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 43. Toe: Areas of solid ground that are encountered when digging that were not
fragmented during blasting and are left on the bench. Toe is also used to describe the
position of the bottom of high walls, ramps and dumps.
44. Topsoil: The top layer material of the ground. It is often removed and stored in
stockpiles for later reclamation and re-vegetation.
45. Tramming: Term used when a track mounted machine is walking.
46. Waste: Material that contains no or uneconomic amounts of Ore recovery
47. Windrow: Material left behind at a predetermined height on the edge of dumps, haul
roads, ramps, windrows, around open stopes/voids and pit edges as a safety barrier. This
term is also used to describe material pushed out by graders.

Appendix B: Blasting (Minage)

Table B.1 Catégorisation des terrains à la Gécamines

Categorie Dureté Qualité Type de terrain Charges spécifiques (1)

Terre rouge, RGS
Très tendre Mauvais en saison de pluie friable, SDS 150 – 200g/m 3
2
altéré, RAT altéré

CMN altéré, RGS

relativement dur,
SDS noir ou gris,
2D Tendre Bon SDS altéré, RAT 200 – 350g/m 3

altéré, moins
compact, SDB
altéré.

RSC, RGS
Mi dur
dolomitique, RSF 450 – 650g/m 3 on prend
3 Meilleur (terrain de référence)
dolomitique, SDS souvent 550g /m3
Mi-tendre
dolomitique

RSC, RGS
dolomitique, RSF 720 – 900g/m 3 on prend
3D Dur Meilleur
dolomitique, SDS souvent 750g /m3
dolomitique

3D* Très dur * Quartzite dur 900 – 1100g/m 3

(1) Charges spécifiques en équivalent ANFO

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