). Altyntau Resources JSC is a 100% subsidiary of Kazzinc, a Kazakh producer of zinc, lead, copper, gold and silver.
Altyntau Resources JSC is the legal successor of Vasilkovsky GOK JSC, founded in 2011 as the parent company that unites all gold deposits of the Altyntau Group of Companies. All of the Company’s mining and processing assets are located in the Republic of Kazakhstan. More than 4,500 people are employed in production. The history of the formation of “Altyntau” is connected with the arrival of a new investor in the person of JSC “Verny Capital” to the Vasilkovsky mine in 2006. During 2007-2009, a new infrastructure of the Vasilkovskoe deposit was built, the main object of which was the Gold Extraction Plant (GRP). The volume of investments in the project amounted to more than 700 million US dollars. On May 28, 2010, President of the Republic Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev within state program accelerated industrial and innovative development of Kazakhstan launched the work of the gold processing plant at the Vasilkovskoye gold ore deposit. The head of state proposed giving a new name to the enterprise (at that time Vasilkovsky GOK JSC) - “Altyntau”.
In the period from October 2006 to June 2012, under the leadership of Alidar Utemuratov, a unique gold extraction production was built and launched in just over a year and a half. This project became one of the first implemented projects within the framework of the State Program for Accelerated Industrial and Innovative Development for 2010-2014. As a result, during the period from 2006 to 2012, the volume of gold production increased 12 times - from 0.5 tons of gold per year in 2006 to 9 tons in 2012.
In 2013, Orion Minerals LLP was transferred to the management of Altyntau Resources JSC, which has the Komarovskoye (Zhitikara, Kostanay region) and Raigorodok (Schuchinsk, Kokshetau region) deposits with reserves of 50 tons and 30 tons of gold, respectively.
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1. Vasilkovskoye gold ore deposit, discovered in 1963. It was discovered as a result of a specialized search in the area of the Vasilkovsky ore field for deposits of radioactive raw materials (1960-61), carried out by the USSR Ministry of Geology.2. In 1975, reserves of gold and building stone at the deposit were approved. Mining began in 1981.
3. Mining is carried out using the drilling and blasting method.
4. In 1991, for the first time in the CIS, the heap leaching method was used at the Vasilkovskoye deposit, which was designed to increase the level of gold recovery and make the enterprise profitable. The first cathode gold bars were produced in July 1991. However, this method made it possible to effectively process only oxidized ore, the reserves of which were gradually decreasing, and the processing of more refractory sulfide ores required new technologies and significant investments.
5. From the beginning of development until 2006, 11.5 tons of gold were mined, while 14.3 million tons of ore were removed.
6. Construction of the new gold recovery plant began in April 2008 and was completed in the fourth quarter of 2009. The total volume of long-term investments in the project amounted to more than 700 million US dollars.
7. The main change in the production process was the abandonment of heap leaching for processing gold ore and the introduction of complex combined technology using traditional operations for extracting gold from ores: flotation, gravity and cyanidation.
8. The quarry is open development with design dimensions: surface area - 1210 thousand m2, width - 1200 meters, length - 1300 meters, depth 450 meters, with underground mining depth - 660 meters. In 2009, the depth of the quarry was 67 meters.
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9. To supply the new gold extraction plant with a sufficient amount of ore, measures have been taken to develop and expand the quarry.
10. To increase the volume of transportation of rock mass, the fleet of dump trucks was completely replaced; to replace the Belaz dump trucks, CAT-777 dump trucks from Caterpillar (USA) with a lifting capacity of 96 tons were purchased. Here is a photo of Slava in front of the car.
11. Quarry excavator manufactured by Bucyrus weighing 287 tons. The bucket volume is about 17 cubic meters.
12. Its height is 7.6 meters.
13. Each dump truck has its own name. For example, in the photo you see “Rubin” and “Kazakhstan”.
14. The total cost of mining equipment is about 50 million dollars.
15. Now a ton of rock contains 1-2 grams of gold. That's why you can't hit it there with a pickaxe, and you can't wash it in water. A old technology mining would also not be able to extract the noble metal.
16. Excavator cabin.
Industrial Kazakhstan.
In the Akmola region, 15 kilometers from Kokshetau, there is a unique deposit where gold is mined. The history of the Vasilkovsky GOK reflects the history of the country itself: the enterprise experienced stagnation, complete decline, and a real revival under a new name - “Altyntau Kokshetau”
Once upon a time there was a small hole in this place, which in 33 years turned into a huge quarry with a depth of 135 meters and a surface area of 1210 thousand m2
Deputy Chief Production Engineer Viktor Yezhov is celebrating a kind of symbolic anniversary this year: as a 22-year-old guy, he came to the Vasilskovsky GOK (mining and processing plant), has worked for 33 years since then, and this year celebrated his 55th anniversary.
I remember when I returned from the army, I was called here as a foreman, but because I waited a week, I got a job as a mechanic,” he smiles. “I had to work hard to first rise to the rank of master, and then go all the way.
Yezhov is one of those who remembers how there was a shallow pit here in the early 80s. It increased extremely slowly; in the mid-90s there was even a period when there was no production at all. The price of gold then reached a record drop to $260 per ounce, and there was simply no money to develop the quarry. People sat without work for months, waiting for a call. With the arrival of investments already in the mid-2000s, gold mining at the deposit received a second wind. It took $700 million to revive production, but in the last two years alone it has been possible to extract the same amount of gold as was previously mined over two decades - 11.5 tons. In 2010, at the proposal of the Head of State, the Vasilkovsky GOK was renamed the Altyntau Kokshetau company.
Currently, work at the quarry is ongoing non-stop.
24 hours a day, the same action occurs: an excavator scoops up gold-bearing ore and unloads it into huge Cats (note: Cat - from Caterpillar, a manufacturer of dump trucks and other mining equipment). And they are already taking it to the crusher, from where the ore will go along a conveyor to the factory, where gold will be extracted from it
Design capacity is 8 million tons of ore per year. So far they are mining - 6. One ton of ore accounts for 2 grams of gold. It is because of these tiny particles that such colossal work is done
The old Belaz trucks were replaced by SAT-777 dump trucks. One such SAT weighs 70 tons, while its carrying capacity ranges from 90 to 100 tons. He is like a huge ant that can lift loads that exceed his weight. And as drivers say, it’s even easier to drive than a car
When SATs were first purchased, each machine was given its own nickname. Now they drive around the quarry: “Jaguar”, “Tiger”, “ golden antelope", "Vanguard", "Excellent Student" and even the touching "Orange"
Sergey Dyakonov, a CAT D10 bulldozer operator, has been working at the company for 12 years.
This is good now: the car has air conditioning, a stove, cleanliness! And before, I was up to my elbows in fuel oil and spent the whole day in this mud. Eh, what’s there to remember!
The driver of the CAT-16 M motor grader, Adilbek Kaiyrbekov, also remembers the difference between the past and current equipment.
Previously, the motor grader had a steering wheel, but now it doesn’t, we work on levers.
And this colossus is the largest excavator in the world, RH 120-E TEREX. Its long-term productivity is 2,000 tons per hour. The bucket alone has a capacity of 15 m³ and it fills the body of a huge SAT in just a few times
Previously, the gold mining process was carried out using the heap leaching method. This is when the ore is irrigated with a sodium cyanide solution and the gold is extracted from the rock. But this method made it possible to effectively process only oxidized ore, the reserves of which were gradually decreasing, and the processing of more refractory sulfide ores required new technologies and significant investments. Nowadays rock loosening is carried out using the drilling and blasting method, and to extract gold they use a more complex combined technology using traditional operations: flotation, gravity and hydrometallurgy
Quarry development begins with the work of a surveyor. Dmitry Zhmurkov, together with his team, takes measurements of deposits, outlines a work plan and monitors compliance with a strict technological regime. Then it’s the turn of geologists who determine the presence of gold ore.
Then it’s time for the drillers. Assistant drilling rig operator Erken Shamgunov shows how they drill small holes 16 meters deep in which explosives will be placed
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Explosions are carried out twice a week. An hour before this, all people and equipment leave the quarry; for safety reasons, the electricity is turned off
And then the same process begins: the excavator scoops up the ore, and trucks take it to the crusher
Ore from the quarry is fed into the receiving hopper of the coarse crusher. There it is crushed to a size (fraction) of 350 mm, from where it first goes to roll presses and then to ball mills
Grinding is carried out in two stages. The first stage takes place in a semi-autogenous grinding mill, after which the crushed ore is sent to screening. More large stones are sent for additional crushing, and the fine ore goes to the second stage ball mills
After going through all the stages of crushing, the crushed ore finally reaches the stage where gold extraction begins
In 2007, Altyntau Kokshetau began construction of a unique gold recovery plant. It was built quickly - in just two years. At the opening ceremony, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev said that this is the largest plant in Kazakhstan, and indeed in the world, that will mine and produce gold.
At full design capacity, the plant will produce 15 tons of gold per year. Kazakhstan today produces more than 20 tons, that is, reaching 35 tons per year, we will be among the 15 largest gold-mining countries in the world,” he said.
As with any sensitive facility, entry here is strictly limited. Security carefully searches everyone entering
There is a mirror in front of the entrance full height so that the visitor can understand the importance of responsibility
And this is the control room, from where you can monitor the entire production cycle. It is here that you can also see with your own eyes, and not on monitors, the process of work of the flotation and gravity department
These are the one-of-a-kind Outotec ball mills, designed specifically for Altyntau. No one else in the world has a similar design of this size.
But this flotation machine is designed to separate gold and other non-ferrous metals
The flotation machine works as follows. Water is supplied to the upper cylindrical part, and pre-aerated pulp treated with reagents (a mixture of water and rock). Compressed air is supplied to concentric tubular aerators and bubbles are mineralized. Particles of gold stick to these bubbles, which are subsequently concentrated and filtered.
Flotation and gravity department
The gravitational process is based on the use of gravity, in which minerals are separated from waste rock due to differences in their density and particle size. This principle can be illustrated by the example of the separation of sand from sawdust when they are thrown into water: sawdust floats, but sand sinks in water
The consistency of the final product resembles mud, but it is perhaps the most expensive “dirt” on earth
And this is the department of hydrometallurgy, where gold is also isolated from ore using aqueous solutions with certain chemicals
But the result is the so-called Doré alloy - a gold-silver alloy containing about 80 percent gold and 20 percent silver. It is sent to a refinery, where it is turned into ready-made ingots precious metal. In one of the following reports we will show how gold of the highest standard can be obtained from such a bar. Stay with us!
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