GENERAL48603

• Permit No: M1977342
• IBM Index Class Name: General Documents
• Doc Name: CLIPPING
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

MIDDLE PARK TIMES
Kremmling. CO
(Grand County)
Thu, 1,331
CGL PP NG SERVICE s
iii iiiiiiiiiiiu iii
999
~_
~,~ Climax completing $40 mil
modernization of
Z
~~7-3y Henderson Mine and Mir
After IS years oC production, 91 Mt (100
million st) of ore mined and nearly 227 kt (500
million lb) of molybdenum produced, Climax
Molybdenum Co.'s Henderson Mine and Mill
ue being modemizcd as a new mining level is
brought on line. The $40 million investment in
mine development and plant modernization
positions Henderson to compete in the contin-
uing difficult world-wide molybdenum mazkeu
of the 1990s.
Molybdenum is a metallic element used in
steel making and the past 12 years have not
been kind to steel nor molybdenum.
In 1979, the year the mill reached design
capacity, the price of molybdenum was about
$]0 per pound Molybdenum prices fell in the
1980s and now are at a 17-year low of just over
$2 per pound.
Henderson history
The Henderson Mine and Mill facilities are
located on the east and west flanks of the Con-
tinental Divide about 80 km (50 miles) west of
Denver, CO.
The underground mine and surface mill sites are linked by
16 km (10 mile) of railroad tunnel and 8 km (5 mile) of sur-
face trackage. The mine, railroad and mill were built between
1968 and 1976 at a cost of $500 million. Each has operated
at various ievels of production ovtt the past I S years.
The Henderson Mine was originally developed ruing a
highly mechanized, panel caving mining system. Over the
past 10 years, muting methods, equipment and railroad optt-
ations have been improved to position Henderson as one of
the post productive and lowest cost underground mining
operations.
At the same. time, the mill and concentrator facilities were
upgraded to reduce cosu and improve produc[ quality. Dur-
ing this time, manpower was reduced from 2000 m 520
The Henderson Mill recently processed ils 100 m llionth ton.
lower level.
Preproduction development of the 7700 level required
mining 22,860 m (75,000 f[) of 3.6 x 3.6-m (12- x 12-ft)
drifts and ramps, 610 m (2000 ft) of raises and ore p.ases and
150 drawpoints. Also, 48,139 m' (1.7 million a ft) of mining
was needed for shaft stations, shop maintenance bays and
other rock excavations.
This large preproduction
development mining pro-
gram was completed in
1991 on schedule at a cost
of $25 million.
The layout and design of
the 7700 level ue keyed to
a detailed understanding of
res
ant
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rail
pro
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ing
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and i
4.2-r
mills have been fit
with larger 133-mrr
life by 20%. Mill ie
are controlled by of
power, mill load an.
power reduc[ion. A
William G. Doepken, General Manager