OZ Minerals and CiDRA Minerals Processing Inc. ("CiDRA") have commissioned a front end engineering and design ("FEED") study for a full-scale implementation of CiDRA's novel minerals separation technology at the Carrapateena mine site. Applying CiDRA's novel technology as a Grind Circuit Rougher will help remove coarse material from the grind circuit circulating loads, enabling an increase in plant throughput.
Among the many benefits provided by CiDRA's technology, the increase in throughput provided by the Grind Circuit Rougher is achieved without increasing total power consumption, which translates to a 20% reduction in energy per unit ton.
Worley Ltd. will provide front end engineering design services (FEED) for the project. The services will be executed by Worley teams in Adelaide, Calgary and on secondment to CiDRA's facility in Wallingford, CT. These services follow the pre-FEED phase of the project, which Worley recently completed.
Upon final investment decision and selection by OZ Minerals for the project to progress, CiDRA and Worley expect to negotiate the subsequent detailed engineering and execution phases of the project.
The partnership between Worley, CiDRA and OZ Minerals demonstrates a unique collective commitment to efficiently accelerate global copper production and progress towards global electrification and meeting the Net Zero goal in a responsible, equitable, and sustainable way.
"CiDRA has a long history of delivering innovative process optimization solutions to the global minerals processing industry, and through our history we have relied on likeminded partners to bring our technology to market. Since early 2022, we have worked closely with OZ Minerals to evaluate and innovate our P29 technology to help meet their long-term expansion goals. We are pleased with our partnership with Worley to deliver our first of a kind technology in a collaborative and efficient way," stated Paul Rothman, President of CiDRA.
"As a global professional services company headquartered in Australia, we are pleased to be engaged in this important project. Our partnership with CiDRA and OZ Minerals is one of the ways we're helping our customers adapt existing assets to improve efficiency and mineral recovery, while also supporting our strategic focus on sustainability and delivering a more sustainable world," said Nick Bell, Global Sector Lead Mining, Minerals and Metals at Worley.
Joe Seppelt, Manager-Processing at OZ Minerals' Carrapateena mine stated, "OZ Minerals is excited to be working with the CiDRA and Worley teams on this world class project. We view the FEED study as a crucial first step for the implementation of CiDRA's Grind Circuit Rougher technology to enable us to increase our plant throughput while maintaining industry leading recoveries at Carrapateena."