Highland Valley Copper Mine

Location: Highland Valley Copper Mine, covering a surface area approximately 34,000 hectares, is located in the Highland Valley, 75 Km southwest of Kamloops in central British Columbia, Canada.

Products (Commodities): Copper (primary commodity) and molybdenum.  

Deposit Type: Porphyry copper deposit with only 0.4% copper (grade). The host rock is granitic and contains grains of the ore minerals chalcopyrite, bornite, and molybdenite throughout. These minerals are scattered widely through the granite, and are concentrated in some veins.

Controlling Company: The mine is jointly owned by Teck Resources Limited (97.5% interest) and by Highmont Mining Company (2.5% interest). Teck Resources Limited operates the mine.

History: Operations at Highland Valley dates back to 1962, during the commissioning of the Bethlehem Copper Mine (a three pit copper mine) on the north side of the highway. The mine was developed by Sumitomo Metal Mining Company Limited, a Japanese mining company. The Bethlehem Mine sites were followed by discovery of the Lornex orebody in 1963 and the Valley deposit in 1964. Stripping of the Lornex deposit began in 1970 and the milling of the ore commenced in 1972. Stripping of waste rock of the Valley deposit was not initiated until 1982. The present operation at the Highland Valley mine is a combination of the Lornex mine and mill, the Valley copper orebody and the Highmont mill.

Stage of Mine: Active operation.

Geological Setting: The Highland Valley deposit lies within the late Jurassic Guichon Creek batholiths in Bethsaida phase of porphyritic quartz monzonite and granodiorite. Prominent structural features are the north-trending, west-dipping Lornex fault and the east-trending Highland Valley fault. The deposit’s faults and fractures comprise four main sets with quartz veinlets subparallel to earlier-formed fault and fracture sets.

Mining Method: Highland Valley mine is an open pit, truck-shovel operation.

Major Infrastructure and Equipment: Facilities include the Highland mill and the Valley and Lornex open pit mines. The mill and Valley mine are integrated by two two-kilometre conveyors that feed ore from two large semi-mobile crushers at the mine to the mill. Ore from the Lornex mine is hauled to two permanent crushers with discharge to stockpiles. The ore is processed at the mill using semi-autogenous grinding and conventional flotation processes.

Reserves: Total proved and probable reserves as at December 31, 2009, were 440 Mt with a grading/ton of 0.35% copper and 0.008% molybdenum.

Resources: Total measured resources as at December 31, 2009, were 166.1 Mt with a grading/ton of 0.30% copper and 0.013% molybdenum.  

Market: Most of the copper concentrate is transported by truck to Ashcroft, BC where it is loaded onto railcars. The trains take the material to a terminal on Burrard Inlet in North Vancouver from where it is shipped to smelters in Japan, and other Far East countries. The molybdenum produced at Highland Valley is sold to roasters and trading companies in both Europe and China.

References

Mineral Resources Education Program of British Columbia. Highland Valley Copper. Availiable: http://www.bcminerals.ca/files/bc_mine_information/000078.php. Last viewed 27/06/2010.

Teck Resources Limited. Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources. Available: http://www.teck.com/Generic.aspx?PAGE=Operations+Pages/Reserves+%26++Resources&portalName=tc. Last viewed 27/06/2010.

Thomaz, C. Highland Valley Mine. Available: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/highland-valley-mine-2006-07-14. Last viewed 27/06/2010.

Whitehead, C. Highland Valley Copper Mine. Available: www.goldtrail.com/.../Highland%20Valley%20Copper%20Mine.pdf. Last viewed 27/06/2010.