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(Facility) Falcondo Bonao Ni Mine and Smelter

Plant in La Vega, Dominican Republic with commodity Nickel
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Nearby scientific data
  8. Ore body information
  9. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  10. Mining district
  11. Mineral rights holdings
  12. Ownership information
  13. Production statistics
  14. Workings at the site
  15. Links to other databases
  16. Bibliographic references
  17. General comments
  18. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10182845
MAS/MILS ID 2470250001
Record type Site
Current site name (Facility) Falcondo Bonao Ni Mine and Smelter
Alternate or previous names Falcondo Bonao, Bonao Nickel Mines, Bonao Ferronickel Complex, Falconbridge Dominicana

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Town
Geographic coordinates: -70.44956, 18.95064 (WGS84)
Elevation 400
Location accuracy 10000(meters)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

La Vega(province)

Dominican Republic(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

Geographic areas

Country State
Dominican Republic La Vega

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Nickel Critical Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Garnierite Unknown
Limonite Unknown
Quartz Unknown
Serpentine Unknown

Nearby scientific data

Town (1) -70.44956, 18.95064
ListMap

Economic information

Ore body information

  • Thickness 8M
    Length 15000M
    Width 3000M
    Field Value
    MAS Matrix # 1
    MAS Column # 3
    Type of Orebody #1 SHEAR ZONE
    Shape of Orebody #1 TABULAR
    Shape of Orebody #2 IRREGULAR
    Primary mode of Origin RESIDUAL CONCENT
    Primary Ore Control LITHOLOGY
    Secondary Ore Control FAULTING
    Degree of Wallrock Alter. NONE
    Type of Wallrock Alter. #1 UNKNOWN
    Minimum Depth to Top 0
    Date of Last Modification 830712
  • Area 2000HA
    Field Value
    Total Surface Area (HA) 2000
    Date of Last Modification 910418

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface
Development status Plant
Commodity type Metallic
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1918
Mining method Strip-Hillside
Year of first production 1972
Plant type Smelter
Milling method Pyrometallurgy Unspecified

Mining district

District name Dominican Republic

Mineral rights holdings

Type of mineral rights Federal Lease

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Falconbridge Nickel Mines, Ltd.
    Interest 85.2
    Home office Canada
    Year 1991
  • Type Owner
    Owner Government Of Dominican Republic
    Interest 10
    Year 1991
  • Type Owner
    Owner Minority Shareholders
    Interest 4.8
    Year 1991

Production statistics

  • Year 1990
    Description 28700 Mt Ferronickel/Year
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Nickel Nickel 28700mt

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • TONNAGE CONVERTED FROM DRY SHORT TONS TO METRIC TONS. RESERVES ARE BASED ON MINING OPERATIONS FROM SIX ORE- BODIES.
  • WET TONNAGE - COMPANY DATA SUPPORTED BY 10K
  • OW: FALCONBRIDGE NICKEL MINES LTD. OPS: ARMCO STEEL CORP. DOMINICAN REP. GOVT.,FALCONBRIDGE DOMINICANA C.POR.A (FALCONDO). OTHER NAMES: BONAO NICKEL MINES, BONAO FERRONICKEL COMPLEX. IN 1974, MINED 2,086,100 DRY M.T. OF ORE. *****ENTRY 12/88- MODIFICATIONS OVER LAST TWO YEARS HAVE PRODUCED MAJOR CHANGES IN OPERATIONS AND COSTS, LOWERING BOTH *METALLURGICAL TESTS ARE TO BE RUN AND 100 MILLION MT OF LOW GRADE ORE MAY BE ADDED TO RESERVES. (7-23-93)

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface
    Area 2000HA
    Field Value
    MAS Development Schedule # 1
    Mining Record # 1
    Status of Mining Method ACTUAL
    Mining Method OPEN PIT
    Percent Waste Rock 66
    Primary Material Cover HARDPAN
    Hardness of Ore SAND, SILT
    Avg. Bench Height (meters) 10
    Capacity 6200
    Capacity Units MT ORE/DAY
    Unit Production Cost 9
    Units of Production $/MT ORE
    Operating Days per Year 365
    Operating Shifts per Day 2
    Year of Information 1991

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    *NICKEL NEWS, JAN. 16, 1993 ISSUE NO. 3/52, P. 1.

  • Reserve-Resource

    ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL, APRIL, 1981, FALCONBRIDGE

  • Reserve-Resource

    DOMINICANA FERRONICKEL FROM THE CARIBBEAN, P. 112-117.

  • Deposit

    MINERALS YEARBOOK 1972. U.S. BUREAU OF MINES. VOL. III.

  • Deposit

    MINERAL INDUSTRY OF CARRIB. ISLANDS. P. 922.

  • Deposit

    MINING MAGAZINE. "NICKEL MINING IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC"

  • Deposit

    DEC. 1975. VOL. 132. NO. 12. PP. 339-344.

  • Deposit

    E/MJ. "HUGE FE-NI COMPLEX DEDICATED IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC".

  • Deposit

    AUG. 1972. VOL. 173. NO. 8. PP. 64-65.

  • Deposit

    9TH CARIBBEAN GEOLOGICAL CONFERENCE, 1980, SANTO DOMINGO,

  • Deposit

    DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.

  • Deposit

    INTERNATIONAL LATERITE SYMPOSIUM, 1979, EDITORS: EVANS,

  • Deposit

    D.J.I. SHOEMAKER, R.S., AND VELTMAN, H., SOCIETY OF

  • Deposit

    MINING ENGINEERS OF AIME, NEW YORK, N.Y., CHAPTERS 6-11

  • Deposit

    NICKDATA, INC. A COMPREHENSIVE NICKEL INDUSTRY COST

  • Deposit

    DATABASE AND COSTING PROGRAM. 1991. ILMAR J. MARTENS,

  • Deposit

    THOMAS F. TORRIES. UNIT 31.

Comments on the references

  • THE BIBLIOGRAPHY REFERENCES LISTED WERE THOSE ON THE OLD DATA BASE LISTING.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THERE WAS NO GOLDER REPORT, THEREFORE THE ONLY SOURCE OF INFORMATION FOR THIS EVALUATION WAS THE E.T.D. AND AN OLD DATA BASE LISTING. THERE IS A 94% PAY FOR CONTAINED NICKEL IN FERRONICKEL. PREVIOUS INVESTIGATOR: DB FEB. 1, 1983. IN 1987, FALCONDO PRODUCED ABOVE PRESENT CAPACITY WITH 32,500 MT/YR FERRONICKEL. FERRINICKEL OPERATION WAS SHUT DOWN FOR 3 MONTHS STARTING DEC. 26, 1992, DUE TO POOR MARKET CONDITIONS. FALCONDO IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE ABOUT 53 MMLB OF NICKEL IN FERRONICKEL IN 1993. THIS IS DOWN FROM 60.5 MMLB IN 1992 AND 64.1 MMLB IN 1001. FALCONDO WILL USE THE SHUTDOWN PERIOD FOR MAINTENANCE, REPAIR AND GENERAL CLEANUP WORK. *THE MINE AND SMELTER NORMALLY EMPLOY 2000 WORKERS AND CONTRACTORS OF WHICH 1600-1700 ARE FALCONDO EMPLOYEES.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 22-DEC-94 Bleiwas, Donald U.S. Bureau of Mines

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

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