The San Cristóbal mine consists of an open pit mine and concentrator with a designed capacity of 40,000 tonnes per day. The ore is extracted from the open pit by conventional truck and shovel operation and transported by truck from the pit to the primary crusher. The crushed ore is then transported by a 1.7 kilometer overland conveyor to an ore stockpile. A reclaim system moves crushed ore from the stockpile for grinding in a semi-autogenous (SAG) and ball mill circuit. The ore is then processed by a selective flotation process in which lead is first floated and zinc is suppressed to produce a lead-silver concentrate, and then zinc is floated and lead is suppressed to produce a zinc-silver concentrate. Concentrates are then filtered, loaded into containers and transported by rail to the port in Mejillones, Chile, and then by ocean vessel to smelters and refineries around the world.
The San Cristóbal mine consists of an open pit mine and concentrator with a designed capacity of 40,000 tonnes per day. The ore is extracted from the open pit by conventional truck and shovel operation and transported by truck from the pit to the primary crusher. The crushed ore is then transported by a 1.7 kilometer overland conveyor to an ore stockpile. A reclaim system moves crushed ore from the stockpile for grinding in a semi-autogenous (SAG) and ball mill circuit. The ore is then processed by a selective flotation process in which lead is first floated and zinc is suppressed to produce a lead-silver concentrate, and then zinc is floated and lead is suppressed to produce a zinc-silver concentrate. Concentrates are then filtered, loaded into containers and transported by rail to the port in Mejillones, Chile, and then by ocean vessel to smelters and refineries around the world.