High above

New Doppelmayr material ropeway takes up operation in Colombia

Z‌ijin-Continental Gold Sucursal Colombia is developing the Buriticá gold mine in the northwest of Columbia, approximately 72 km from the city of Medellin. The area where the mine is located is mountainous and therefore logistically challenging. The reusable residues of the gold extraction process are used in an underground backfill, which is why they must be taken from the bottom of the valley to the mouth of the mine at 1700 m above sea level, thereby covering a difference in altitude of approximately 646 m. What would be an arduous and long way for trucks with plenty of exhaust emissions becomes a swift and efficient job if a material ropeway is used.

1 Die 1,4 km lange Seilbahn, für die nur 1 Stütze errichtet wurde, überwindet 646 Höhenmeter • The 1.4 km long ropeway – with only one support tower – climbs 646 m in altitude
© Doppelmayr

1 Die 1,4 km lange Seilbahn, für die nur 1 Stütze errichtet wurde, überwindet 646 Höhenmeter • The 1.4 km long ropeway – with only one support tower – climbs 646 m in altitude

In October 2017 the Austrian Doppelmayr company was awarded the contract to build a 1.4 km long ropeway with material buckets and for a transport capacity of 175 t/h. The system was conceived as a continuous bi-cable ropeway. It has a fixed tensioned track rope for the material buckets with their carriage to travel on. The buckets are driven by the continuously moving haul rope loop to which they are attached via detachable grips.

2 Beladung der Kübel an der Talstation • Loading oft he buckets at the bottom station
© Doppelmayr

2 Beladung der Kübel an der Talstation • Loading oft he buckets at the bottom station

To allow for the haul rope to be run at a constant speed, the buckets are detached from the loop in the stations and braked before they are loaded via a chute. Once a bucket has been filled, it is accelerated to running speed again and re-attached to the haul rope before leaving the station. In the unloading station, the bucket is once more taken off the haul rope. At the designated unloading point a special mechanism unlocks the latch on the bucket, the bucket is tipped, and the material is safely transferred onto another chute. The bucket then returns to its original position. It is locked again and re-attached to the haul rope before travelling back into the valley empty.

In the past, continuous bi-cable ropeways have often been used for material transport applications. For the Buriticá project, Doppelmayr’s engineers have revised the design and mechanics of continuous bi-cable ropeways from scratch and optimised it for the transport of material in buckets. The system complements Doppelmayr’s portfolio of material transport solutions. It was put into service in February 2021 and has a transport capacity of 175 tons of residues per hour.

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