Next up, Freddy, the mine geologist, and his colleagues, provide us with an overview of the geology and operations at spence.
Both oxide and sulfide copper ore are being mined here. Every few months they begin a campaign focusing on processing one type of concentrate or the other; oxides take about 200 days of acid treatment and sulfide 500 days. Copper recovery here is expected to carry on for another 50 years.
The ore body has been well characterized from drill core data visualized with spatial software, like ArcGIS or Vulcan.
At Spence, unlike other copper porphyries in the area, it is very easy to distinguish the mineralized porphyry rock from the host rock. It also provides one of the most complete representations of the zones of mineralization in this type of porphyry deposit; contrasted with our visit to two different sites yesterday to see both oxide and sulfide mineralization.