Los Filos ExConTec
Project Overview
Goldcorp's Los Filos Gold Mine, near Mezcala, Guerrero, Mexico, is a heap leach operation. Ore is trucked from an open pit mine at the mountain top to the crushing plant, reduced to 50 mm (2") minus, then transported to engineered leach pads in the valley below where gold is precipitated from a cyanide solution.
A previous underground conveyor system — routed through the hill via a vertical shaft ore pass — failed due to geological instability after only four months of service. Originally, the client placed an order to supply a Sandwich Belt high angle conveyor over the hill. Ongoing geological concerns ultimately led Goldcorp to abandon the hillside route entirely in favor of a conventional overland system following the existing truck haulage ramps.
Dos Santos was awarded the engineering and supply contract on the strength of two commitments made solely for the customer's benefit:
- Maximize reuse of conveying equipment and structure already on site from the abandoned through-hill system.
- Conduct an amalgamation study to explore whether horizontal curves could consolidate the proposed ten-flight system into fewer, longer flights — reducing capital, operating, and maintenance costs.
Both commitments were fulfilled, delivering meaningful cost savings to Goldcorp.
ExConTec's Role
The ExConTec complete analysis software was central to this project. Its ability to model horizontal curves allowed the team to simplify the conveying path significantly. The third conveyor flight (TB27) was specially engineered to perform en-route agglomeration through five intermediate tripped transfers — a Goldcorp innovation that eliminated the need for a separate agglomerating drum and generated substantial additional savings.
Because the overall conveying path runs predominantly downhill, most flights operate in regenerative mode: drive motors function as generators and feed power back into the mine's electrical grid. All regenerative conveyors are equipped with variable frequency drives to maximize efficiency.
System Parameters
| Parameter | TB25 | TB26 | TB27 | TB28 | TB29 | TB30 | TB31 | TB32 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Description | — | Elev. w/ horiz. curve | Downhill agglomerator w/ 5 int. trips | Downhill w/ horiz. curve | Downhill w/ horiz. curve | Downhill | Downhill | Downhill |
| Material | Gold Ore | |||||||
| Design Rate | 1,043 t/h (1,150 STPH) | |||||||
| Belt Width | 914 mm (36") | 1,219 mm (48") | 914 mm (36") | |||||
| Belt Speed | 2.3 m/s (445 FPM) | 1.2 m/s (244 FPM) | 2.3 m/s (445 FPM) | |||||
| Lift / (Drop) | +5.5 m | +26.5 m | −20.9 m | −24.6 m | −43.7 m | −14.3 m | −9.8 m | −4.1 m |
| Length | 41.2 m | 248 m | 213 m | 243 m | 476 m | 201 m | 84.5 m | 148 m |
| Horiz. Curve Radius | — | 400 m | — | 300 m | 1,000 m | — | — | — |
| Int. Transfers | — | — | 5 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Drive Power | 44.7 kW | 149 kW | 44.7 kW | Regen 74.6 kW | Regen 149 kW | Regen 44.7 kW | Regen 44.7 kW | Regen 44.7 kW |
| Brake Tension | — | 17.9 kN | 34.5 kN | 63.7 kN | 21.4 kN | 13.3 kN | 8.3 kN | — |
Key Highlights
- Eight-flight overland system following haul road on the edge of a steep drop-off
- Equipment salvaged and reintegrated from the failed underground conveyor system
- Horizontal curves used to consolidate the original ten-flight design
- En-route agglomeration via TB27 eliminates need for a standalone agglomerating drum
- Majority of flights are regenerative — power fed back to the mine grid
- Variable frequency drives on all regenerative flights for maximum efficiency
- ExConTec analysis enabled rigorous tension and power modeling across all load conditions