Exploration
Exploration is the search for minerals where nature has deposited them.
Technology helps us minimize the impact of this search. Using satellite imagery, sensors and computers, our geologists can survey large areas of land before deciding where to explore in detail. Drilling programs obtain rock samples from within the bedrock. These samples are analyzed to determine the size and quality of a potential orebody.
Consultation, Environmental Assessment and Financial Feasibility
A decision to develop a mine is made only when our work indicates the mineral deposit is economically feasible. But that's not the only factor. A thorough environmental assessment is also undertaken at this stage to ensure that during operation, as well as upon closure – potentially decades in the future – all environmental concerns are addressed and that the site is left in an environmentally acceptable manner. In addition, consultation with community members is undertaken to explore issues including economic development opportunities, employment and specific community concerns.
Mining
At Falconbridge, mining activities at locations including Sudbury and Timmins are conducted underground using drilling and blasting methods to remove the ore. At locations like Collahuasi and Lomas Bayas, we operate open pit mines, where large equipment scoops ore from pits dug from the surface. In the Dominican Republic, we use bulldozers to uncover shallow ore deposits, a method known as surface mining.
In all types of mining, only some of the ore we take from the ground contains valuable minerals. Waste rock can be used underground to fill in areas that have been mined out and above ground to fill in any open pits left by mining. Waste rock is also used to help build roads, yards or dams in and around our mine sites.
Processing Ore
Ore arrives at the mill from the mine. The mill separates and collects the valuable minerals, while rejecting unmineralized rock and any impurities it contains.
The ore is crushed and ground into a fine powder and then processed through an industrial-style "bubble bath" known as flotation. The water-repellent minerals stick to the air bubbles and float to the surface where they are skimmed off, de-watered and then sent to the smelter. This material is called concentrate. The rejected materials are known as mill tailings. These tailings are either returned underground to help fill in mined-out areas or stored above ground in controlled tailings ponds.
Smelting
During the smelting stage, metal-bearing concentrates from the mill and valuable scrap metals are fed through high-temperature furnaces to remove impurities.
We routinely recycle scrap metal and other secondary materials into the smelting process to recover valuable metals. We are an industry leader in this business and among the world's largest recyclers of copper and precious metals.
Sulphur dioxide is created, and captured, during the smelting process. The sulphur dioxide we capture is converted into sulphuric acid or liquid sulphur dioxide and is used, for example, by fertilizer companies, paint manufacturers and the food industry.
Refining
Each metal requires a different refining method but the principle remains the same – to remove any remaining impurities in the crude metal produced by the smelter, to separate the metals from each other, and to produce high-purity metals for sale.
Product Manufacture and Use
We sell our metals to customers who in turn manufacture products you use every day, such as stainless steel sinks, rechargeable batteries, home electronics and hundreds of other practical items.
We also provide our customers with advice and guidance on the safe handling and use of our products in their industries.
Recycling
Recycling and reprocessing various metals at the end of their life cycle is a significant activity at Falconbridge. Annually, we process tens of thousands of tonnes of metal-bearing waste products from around the world to produce new products – many of these materials would have been discarded in landfill sites had we not accepted them for treatment. Recycled material accounts for about 15% of the feed for our smelters in Canada.
Closure and Rehabilitation
Our responsibility continues long after we've finished mining an area and extracting the minerals society requires. We restore the land through various re-greening and rehabilitation programs.
Our rehabilitation efforts have evolved over the years as new knowledge and technology have become available. Every Falconbridge mine has a comprehensive closure plan, and every new mine has a closure plan in place before the first ore is mined.
Falconbridge cooperates with governments and other mining companies as we seek together to develop unique and cost-effective long-term closure strategies. |
