Maximising Capital Efficiency at Constancia Copper Project

Author Greg Lane
Date 15 March 2017
Industry Minerals and Metals
Service Area Process Plants

Ausenco's design for the Constancia copper project, Peru ensures it exceeds production forecasts without comprising safety, operability and maintainability.

How did we improve the design of a major copper project which today exceeds forecasts for copper production without comprising safety, operability and maintainability? 

Dedicated to finding ingenious solutions that create value for our clients, our key objective in Constancia’s design was to maximise project value for our client without compromising safety, operability and maintainability. During the Feasibility Study Optimisation (FSO) stage, Ausenco identified several opportunities to add value to the Constancia project through improvements in mine design, plant throughput and layout. Ausenco performed a number of trade-off studies to determine which strategy would return the optimum project Net Present Value (NPV).

Enhancements to Constancia’s layout

Ausenco significantly revised the DFS layout with the following key objectives in mind:

  • Reduce the plant’s footprint
  • Capitalise on the site’s natural ground contours
  • Decrease the use of fully enclosed buildings
  • Minimise the height of all structures
  • Optimise the location of sub-stations and motor control centres
  • Allow for the use of mobile and permanent tower cranes to support construction and operations.
Adding value to our client through our solid expertise

Through our extensive knowledge of mining strategies and our commitment to excellence, Ausenco added value to our client by:

  • Ensuring an efficient start-up marked by collaboration between all the project stakeholders and an effective transfer of knowledge.
  • Delivering a top-notch solution in which the average daily throughput and copper production has exceeded target.
  • Maintaining and on-going relationship with the project to assist in further optimisation. 
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