In the Bergamo area the 4.0 mine is looking for zinc - by Davide...

In the Bergamo area the 4.0 mine is looking for zinc

• - by Davide Madeddu
  
• 25 February 2018

Research and production (in the gallery) and last working outside but with a low visual impact. The 4.0 mine starts from Gorno, in the municipality of Oltre il Colle in Bergamo. The "Gorno zinc ptoject" project of the Italian-Australian company Energia minerals (controlled by Alta Zinc) to extract sphalerite (blendable material) from which the zinc is extracted from the mine closed in the Eighties, not only takes shape but also it evolves and develops. The action plan already has two important events: start of new interventions in the galleries in March (which will enrich the results obtained with the previous campaign) and start exploration and drilling in April.

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Two significant periods that will mark the turning point for the mining site where there are lead, zinc and silver «Mississippi Valley (MVT) or alpine type (APT)» and that «it is part of a long series of deposits that are found between the Alps and the adjacent European plate ". The new course of the mine, opened in 1888 by the British company Crown-Spelter which took over the Belgian Vielle Montagne, the Ammi and finally the Samim (Eni) until the end of the 80s, started and seems destined to important developments, especially after the "positive" results of the first research and survey activities on which the preparation of the feasibility study is based.
«Compared to the initial project there is a growth in resources, but a further expansion is expected to be defined with the upcoming research and exploration work - explains Fabio Granitzio, exploration manager -. This work, having obtained the necessary authorizations, will start in March with the rehabilitation phase of the tunnels, while in April the real polling campaign will begin ".
Almost a challenge for the mining site where, until today, "25 million Australian dollars have been invested - the manager clarifies - about 16 million euros, also using local companies such as Edilmac to secure a small tunnel ». Works that have allowed to start an intensive sampling campaign on the Colonna Zorzone field. Of the 230 kilometers of tunnel that intertwine under the Gorno mountain, 10 kilometers have already been made passable thanks to a series of interventions and works of safety, while "we work to fix and make another 20 kilometers truckable". In May 2017 the first round of surveys in the mining body of the "Colonna Zorzone" was completed. News of the project, the construction and installation of the systems directly underground. «The visual and environmental impact on the outside will be reduced to a minimum - Granitzio emphasizes -. With an investment of 30 million euros, we plan to build both the milling plant and the flotation underground ».

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Outside should only go the shed that houses a filtering system and the system for loading products on trucks. The first case of metalliferous mine that has underground treatment plants. «We follow the example of Unicalce working underground - the manager still argues -. The rooms where the plants needed to enrich the mineral will be placed in the burying room. An aspect that will greatly reduce the impact on the outside. The limestone removed and extracted to make the cavities can eventually be placed on the market ". The cost of the entire operation, "the feasibility document has already been prepared and completed", ranges between "€ 70 million and € 90 million". «With the completion of the cultivation and feasibility plan - adds Fabio Granitzio - we will move on to the financing phase. Clearly, the company will continue to manage directly ". The tenor of the material that aims to extract is also attractive to the project. "We're going to produce a 6 percent zinc and lead concentrate." This is not all for the Italian-Australian group, which, in addition to production, also makes its research and exploration activities its strengths. Reconstructing also the old bond that connected the Gorno mine to those located 400 kilometers away: Solafossa and Predil. «Recently - Granitzio continues - the research permit for the Solafossa mine has been authorized». The site, north of the municipality of San Pietro di Cadore, 7 km from the border with Austria in the 22 years of activity has produced 500 thousand tons of material. On request, on the other hand, authorizations for research on the Predil site in the province of Trento. Almost a return to the past, but with the technology and tools of what someone calls mine 4.0.
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