The concentrator plant occupies an area approximately 255 meters long and 144 meters wide. The concentrator was commissioned on February 27, 2012, produced its first copper concentrate on February 1, 2013, and exported the first shipment on July 9, 2013.
The concentrator plant has the capacity to process up to 100,000 tonnes of ore per day. Ore mined from the pit is hauled by heavy-duty trucks to the primary crusher. The crushed ore is then transported via conveyor belts to the crushed ore stockpile. Dust suppression spray systems are installed at ore dump hoppers and conveyor transfer points.
The Oyu Tolgoi concentrator uses a conventional Semi-Autogenous Grinding (SAG) – Ball Mill – Pebble Crusher (SABC) circuit for ore grinding.
In the primary grinding stage, the SAG mills grind the crushed ore, with the mill discharge flowing to the ball mills, and 10–20% of the mill feed directed to the pebble crusher. The grinding circuit operates in a closed-loop system.
The slurry from the SAG mill is pumped to parallel ball mills for further grinding and then classified by hydrocyclones. The hydrocyclone overflow slurry (33% solids, P80=140μm) is pumped to the flotation circuit.
THE FLOTATION CIRCUIT CONSISTS OF THE FOLLOWING STAGES
The tailings from the primary flotation are thickened and stored in the Tailings Storage Facility (TSF).
The concentrator plant recycles approximately 87% of its process water.
The concentrate processed through the cleaner flotation circuit is dewatered, filtered, stored in the concentrate warehouse, and exported. The final product concentrate contains 21–30% copper along with small amounts of gold and other metals.