Effective management of mining waste
The Chelopech mine has been using the sub-level mining method for more than 40 years. Over the years this method caused large amounts of waste rock or mining waste to be hauled to the surface and stockpiled as well as caused surface subsidence. In 2005 we changed to the much more environmentally-friendly method known as ‘long hole stoping’ with fill, which provides improved rock stability and increases production efficiency. This method ensures maximum utilization of waste rock, preventing surface runoff and reducing tailings. The long hole stoping with fill allows waste material to be used for stope backfilling underground, ensuring environmental and landscape benefits.
In 2010, the backfill system was replaced with paste fill, which provides better utilization of flotation tailings, improved quality control, lower speed during backfill transportation and lower cement consumption.
The mine waste is used for stope backfilling directly underground and is fully utilized on the site where generated.
The pyrite concentrate production began in 2014 after commissioning of the upgraded pyrite circuit, which enables us to achieve substantial environmental improvements, extract more metals from the ore and reduce the volume of mine waste.
The environmental benefits of these new methods are indisputable, including:
- process waste reduction of 43% (2004 to 2017) measured per ton of ore throughput
- all waste rock is used for backfill, reducing the surface stockpile requirements
- prevention of surface subsidence
- environmental protection (surface and ground water, etc.)