1

Mr. Jean-Francois St-Onge, Eng.

Chief Mining Engineer

MINING & METALLURGY

SUSTAINABLE MINE DEVELOPMENT

Brazil, November 2013

Closing the Loop Mine Design and Mine Planning to Achieve

Concentrate Quality

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PRESENTATION OUTLINE

1. Introduction

SNC-Lavalin Mining & Metallurgy (M&M)

Sustainable Mining Development (SMD)

2. Mine Design, Mine Planning, Concentrate Quality

3. Geo-Metallurgy

Geology, Mining, Processing

Where Do We Start?

How Does it Apply to the Deposit?

Ore and Waste Properties

Chemical

Physical

4. Closing the Loop

5. Closing Comments

6. Questions

3

SNC-LAVALIN AT A GLANCE

A GLOBAL LEADER Engineering & Construction,

Operations & Maintenance,

Infrastructure Concession

Investments

34,000+ Highly Skilled &

Flexible Employees

2,200 Employees in Brazil

GLOBAL EXPERIENCE Projects in 100+ countries

Offices in 40+ countries

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GLOBAL DELIVERY ACTIVE IN 6 CONTINENTS

Legend

M&M Office Nickel Copper

Other Iron Ore Aluminum / Alumina

Zinc Gold Acid Plant

Vancouver London

Perth Brisbane Johannesburg

Santiago

Lima

Nouméa Belo Horizonte

Bucharest

Toronto

Montreal

Saskatoon

Jakarta Iron ore PDC

London Office

5

SNC-LAVALIN IN LATIN AMERICA

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SUSTAINABLE MINE

DEVELOPMENT (SMD)

PLANT ENGINEERING & OPERATIONS SUPPORT

Provides services in mine and plant engineering for

sustaining capital management

MINE ENVIRONMENT Offers mine environmental services covering the full mining

cycle from exploration to closure

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Support our clients to secure their social license to operate

Social

Responsability

Plant

Engineering

& Operations

Support

Mine

Environment

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OUR INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS… Throughout the entire life cycle for the sustainability of your mine

EXPLORATION

PLANNING &

DEVELOPMENT OPERATION

CLOSURE &

IMPROVEMENT

Collecting the right

information for a

gained understanding

of the opportunity

Efficient delivery for

environmentally

responsible, socially

equitable, economically

viable, and safe

operating sites

Optimized solutions for

Brownfield mine

operations and long-term

community development

Reinstating collective

value for the benefit of

the environment and

community

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MINE DESIGN AND MINE PLANNING

TO ACHIEVE CONCENTRATE QUALITY

With a mining project, we tend to get excited by:

Tonnes and grade

Price of the product

We want to control the project cost by:

Fast tracking the drilling campaign

Fast tracking the studies

Limiting the Capex

Limiting the Opex

Have we taken into

account all the

parameters?

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MINE TO MILL: GEO-METALLURGY

Considerations:

Geology Variability of the Ore (physical & chemical properties)

Grade

Contaminants

Hardness, abrasiveness, grindability

Variability of the deposit (shape and size)

Mining Throughput

Fleet Sizing, Equipment Selection, Material Handling

Sequencing

Blending

Ore Recovery, Dilution

Process Plant Energy requirements

Product quality

Product Recovery

Process Type

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WHERE DO WE START?

Company objectives and constraints:

CAPEX limitation

Financial parameters (NPV)

Concentrate/product production targets

Marketing of product

Clients requirements

Product quality

Quantities

Product type

Location and transport options

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How Does It Apply to the Deposit?

Geology, Mining & Processing

Assessment of ore and waste: Physical properties

Chemical properties

Gangue/Contaminants properties

Domains: Geological, Geotechnical (Mining) and Metallurgical

Rock types, mineralogy, alterations, weathering

Slope stability parameters

Energy / Grinding requirements (Hardness, Liberation, Particle Shape)

Particle Distribution (of liberated ore)

Mass Rec (Wrec) and metal rec (Plant Efficiency)

Concentrate Quality (Contaminants)

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GEOLOGY - IRON ORE

Physical and Chemical Properties:

Iron Ore is most commonly mined as Hematite or Magnetite, and their

derivative

Main Principles for separation process: Gravity, Flotation and Magnetic

Many contaminants are associated with the Iron Oxide and Hydroxide

ore

The most common gangue is Quartz (SiO2, SG 2.65)

Other type of silicates are also associated with Iron Ore many which

also contain Fe and other metal such as Mg, Mn, Al, etc.

Hematite: Fe2O3 , SG 5.26

Magnetite: Fe3O4, SG 5.18

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GEOLOGY - CONTAMINANTS

When using a gravity separation process, high density contaminant

will get concentrated rather then eliminated.

Example:

Garnet Density: Up to 4.5

Formula: X3 Z2 (SiO4)3Z

where X= Ca, Fe, etc. and Z = Al, Cr, etc.

Epidote Density: Up to 3.5

Formula: {Ca2}{Al2 Fe3+}(Si2O7)(SiO4)O(OH)

Iron Ore sample

Mt = Magnetite

Ep = Epidote

Gt = Garnet

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CONTAMINANTS IN IRON ORE EXAMPLE

2.30

2.40

2.50

2.60

2.70

2.80

2.90

3.00

3.10

3.20

3.30

3.40

3.50

3.60

3.70

3.80

3.90

4.00

4.10

4.20

4.30

4.40

4.50

4.60

4.70

4.80

4.90

5.00

5.10

5.20

5.30

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 66 68 70

De

nsity (S

G)

Fe grade %

Density (SG) as a Function of Fe grade %

Hematite Ore

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CONTAMINANTS IN IRON ORE EXAMPLE

2.6

2.7

2.8

2.9

3.0

3.1

3.2

3.3

3.4

3.5

3.6

3.7

3.8

3.9

4.0

4.1

4.2

4.3

4.4

4.5

4.6

4.7

4.8

4.9

5.0

5.1

5.2

5.3

5.4

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0

Density VS Fe% GradeSilica and Contaminant mixed with Hematite

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CONTAMINANTS IN IRON ORE EXAMPLE

4.85

4.87

4.89

4.91

4.93

4.95

4.97

4.99

5.01

5.03

5.05

5.07

5.09

5.11

5.13

5.15

5.17

5.19

5.21

5.23

5.25

64.0 64.2 64.4 64.6 64.8 65.0 65.2 65.4 65.6 65.8 66.0 66.2 66.4 66.6 66.8 67.0 67.2 67.4 67.6 67.8 68.0 68.2 68.4 68.6 68.8 69.0

Density VS Fe% GradeSilica and Contaminant mixed with Hematite in Concentrate

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WHAT CAN BE DONE?

In the mine:

Blending and stockpiling strategy

Ore losses, dilution control depending on sources of the

contaminants

At the plant:

Concentrate blending to dilute contaminants

Adjust process to achieve higher Fe concentrate grade and

reduce contaminant content

Evaluate other process equipment efficiencies to deal with

this

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IRON ORE/HARDNESS Hardness can be variable within a resource.

The reasons can vary from:

Weathering

Uneven geological transformation over time

Combination of various factors.

Friable Iron Ore Hard Hematite Ore

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IRON ORE/HARDNESS

Parameters:

Grinding energy requirement

Ore and gangue liberation

Particle size distribution variability (grain size)

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

At the mine:

Sequencing

Blending and stockpiling strategy

Blasting practices

At the plant:

Screening

Grinding equipment parameters and selection

Process equipment parameters and selection

Larg

e G

rain

Hem

ati

te

Sm

all

Gra

in H

em

ati

te

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CLOSING THE LOOP

Geology must be known from the start in full detail

Chemically

Physically

Data from the geology usually focus on Grade and WRec

More details must be included to be used for better:

Pit optimisation

Pushback and cut-off grade analysis

Mine design

Mine planning and scheduling

Blending and stockpiling strategy

Material selectivity

Blasting

GEOLOGY

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CLOSING THE LOOP

The Mining is the instrument of Geo-Metallurgy

Mining options must be analysed in relation with the processing

options using detailed Geology information

Blending / stockpiling Strategy

Sequencing the various Ore over time

Blasting practice implemented for

Dilution control

Ore and Waste Separation

Sizing and Grinding Optimisation

MINING

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CLOSING THE LOOP

Processing options must be analysed as early as possible

before the initial investments to guide:

The development of the block model parameters

Phasing the plant Capital expenditures

During operation, processing data must be fed back to the

geology:

To be incorporated into mining parameters

To allow optimisation of current assets

To implement best strategy going forward

PROCESSING

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CLOSING

COMMENTS

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QUESTIONS

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WE CARE embodies SNC-Lavalin’s key corporate values and

beliefs. It is the cornerstone of everything we do as a company.

Health and safety, employees, the environment, communities

and quality: these values all influence the decisions we make

every day. And importantly, they guide us in how we serve our

clients and therefore affect how we are perceived by our external

partners. WE CARE is integral to the way we perform on a daily

basis. It is both a responsibility and a source of satisfaction and

pride by providing such important standards to all we do.

WE CARE about the health and safety of our employees, of those who work under our care, and

of the people our projects serve.

WE CARE about our employees, their personal growth, career development and general well-

being.

WE CARE about the communities where we live and work and their sustainable development, and we commit to

fulfilling our responsibilities as a global citizen.

WE CARE about the environment and about conducting our business in an environmentally responsible manner.

WE CARE about the quality of our work.