First:

Any metal ore can and will cause respiratory illness from breathing its dust. And tarping of lorries is always reccommended anyway- I take it you want to use The former Highway One for transport of the ore?

A better way is to use a pnuematic capsule pipeline- no drivers, no trailers, no dust blowing around, round the clock delivery with out human intervention, personell will only be required to load the loading hopper at the concentrator to fill the capsule trains and at the port. the capsule pipeline is unaffected by rain, fog snow etc.

The system used low pressure air from one to five PSI and moves the capsule trains at a speed of twenty five miles per hour or faster if desired. and it is entirely operated by a computer with little human intervention.

Turn radii are allowed to the minimum point of fifty times the diameter of the pipeline hence 600 inches in radii.

One employee is needed per million tons of product moved.

Best of all 2 cents per ton mile cost for operation of the pipeline

and you can generate electrical energy using synchronus electric motors on the return leg. with the air powering the capsule trains in reverse in a single tube or operate a single tube in a continuos loop with parallel piping which is the most efficient way.

The system has more advantages than disadvantages as the pipeline can rest on the ground and be anchored on railroad ties and the pipeline can be assembled using Victaulic grooved pipe joints eliminating welding and speeding assembly time for the pipeline and allowing easy repair of gaskets between joints if needed.

It all depends on the amount of concentrate you wish to move.

the mininmum distance is one mile and the minimum tonnage required per year is 100, 000 tons of any ore product.

The pipeline could be used to deliver coal to the concentrator if needed or for that matter postal mail or small parts or aggregate on the inbound leg.

Loading and unloading the capsule trains is done with out human intervention using current methods from bins to the loadout point. One method that is available is to use the ore skip loading method used in underground mining by utilzing multiple pant leg bins and storage bin above the pant leg bins.

A 12 inch capsule pipeline will deliver huge amounts of concentrate without being affected by roads, weather, terrain,

labor shortages, fuel price spikes, truck maintenance facilities, truck repairs, the need for drivers and especially driver training and many other things involved with the road transport of any ore type the most troublesome of course is overloading the lorries which is common place which in turn affects handling of the vehicle during all weather conditions.

Disclaimer: I do not represent pnuetrans or any other organisation involved in capsule pipe lines.

Please contact me for more information off the board:

I look forward to your inquiry

lzaharis@lightlink.com ■