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Tom Olsen
General Manager

Developing Successful Hybrid

Solutions for an Off-Grid Site
Nyrstar El Toqui

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Sociedad Contractual Minera El Toqui

Location
It is located in the Aysn region, 120 kilometers North of Coyhaique, the
capital of the region and at 700 m above sea level and surrounded by
the communities of Villa Maihuales, Alto Maihuales and El Gato.
History
In 1971 Mr. Froiln Villegas, senior explorer, discovered two Zn veins,
the Antoln & Ziga veins.
After an exploration campaign carried out during 1974 by
Metallgesellschaft AG and supported by local investors, 1.28m tonnes of
reserves with 9% Zn were identified.
The construction of a 180K tonnes per year (450 tpd) process plant
began in1980.

The equipment for a 2.2 Mw hydro plant, and for the process plant
began to arrive in early 1982.

Mine operations began in November, 1983.

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Sociedad Contractual Minera El Toqui

Current Operation
El Toqui is an underground, polymetallic mine, producing lead and zinc
concentrates containing gold and silver.

84% Chiles Zn production is produced from El Toqui according to

statistics provided by the Chilean INE.

El Toqui Personnel 405 (89% are from the Aysn region)

Contractors 228 (concentrate haulage, catering services)

Mill throughput: 1,800 tpd - 631,000 tpy (Pb & Zn).

Zn contained in concentrate 42 kt in 2015 plan.

Pb contained in concentrate 1.8 kt
Au contained in concentrate 8,900 ounces
Ag contained in concentrate 117,000 ounces
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Sociedad Contractual Minera El Toqui

Current Power Generation Units
2 units 3512 Caterpillar diesel gensets 1.2 MW each

3 units 3516 Caterpillar diesel gensets 1.6 MW each

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Sociedad Contractual Minera El Toqui

Current Power Generation Units
2 units Francis turbines from Spain 1.1 MW each

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Sociedad Contractual Minera El Toqui

Current Power Generation Units
6 units Vergnet Eolien from France 0.23 MW each

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Sociedad Contractual Minera El Toqui

Current Power Generation Units
2 units 3512 Caterpillar diesel gensets 1.2 MW each

3 units 3516 Caterpillar diesel gensets 1.6 MW each

2 units Francis turbines from Spain 1.1 MW each

6 units Vergnet Eolien from France 0.23 MW each

Total installed capacity 10.8 MW

The El Toqui power system is isolated from the regional grid system.

Maximum power demand of the El Toqui system has been up to 6.3 MW

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2014 Full Year - Power Generation Data

Diesel 22.96 GWh @ $5.8M $254.5/MWh 54.3%

Hydraulic 15.86 GWh @ $337K $ 21.3/MWh 37.6%

Wind Farm 3.4 GWh @ $ 74K $ 21.6/MWh 8.1%

Total 42.24 GWh @ $6.3M 100% power generation

2014 Average cost per MWh $148.1/MWh

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2014 Power Generation - Diesel vs Green

MWh %
3.000 60%
54%
53% 52%
49% 49% 50%
2.500 48% 48% 50%
45%
40%
2.000 35% 40%

27%
1.500 30%

1.000 20%

500 10%

0 0%
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Diesel Hydro Wind Green %

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2014 Power Generation Average River Flow

MWh m3/sec
3.000 10
9,4
8,8 8,7

2.500 8,0
7,7
8
7,0
7,0

2.000 6,1
6

1.500 4,7

3,9
4
3,4
1.000

2
500 1,0

0 0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Diesel Hydro Wind River Flow - m3/sec

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Last 10 Years Total Power Generation (GWh) & Green Energy (%)
GWh %
45 70%
Mill #6 & Paste Plant
62% 60%
40
55% 57% 60%
55%
35 51%
48% 50%
45% 45% 46%
30

25 40%

42
20 40 30%
38
35
15
27 28 27 29 29
26 20%
10

10%
5

0 0%
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Total Power Generation GWh Green Power %

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Last 10 Years Power Generation - Diesel vs Green

GWh %
25 70%

62% 60%
55% 57% 60%
55%
20
51%
48%
45% 46% 50%
45%

15
40%

30%
10

20%

5
10%

0 0%
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Diesel Power GWh Green Power GWh Green Power %

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Average Cost per MWh per Generation Unit

$/MWh
300

Diesel
250

200

Total Average
150

100

Wind Farm
50
Hydraulic

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2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Diesel Hydro Wind Average

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Total Average Cost - $/MWh & Average Cost per Liter of Diesel
$/MWh $
180 1,5

160

140

120 1,0

0,91 0,90 0,91

100 0,87
0,80
80
0,66
0,59
60 0,51
0,5

40

20

0 0,0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

$/liter Average

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Tom Olsen
General Manager

Hydraulic Power Plant

Nyrstar El Toqui

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The 2.2 MW Hydro Power Plant Intake

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Hydro Power Plant Penstock & General View

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Hydro Power Plant Infrastructure

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Hydro Power Plant - Key success factors

a. El Toqui has water rights of 7.5 m3/sec from the El Toqui River.

b. River flow capacity to operate both hydro-turbines for 8 months in the

year is available and based on climatic conditions.

c. High availabilities since commissioning, producing 15,000 MWh/year,

annual average.

d. Normal wear of parts, components, etc., require complete rebuild of

each turbine every 10 years.

e. Low maintenance cost of hydro power turbines.

f. Actual cost to install a third turbine (1.9 MW) = $1.7M per MW

installed.
g. The expansion of the hydro power plant will increase the average
green annual power generation from 45% to 65% beginning in 2016.
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Hydro Power Plant Turbines under operation

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Hydro Power Plant Discharge Channel

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Hydro Power Plant - Challenges

a. Long period of time to obtain additional water rights

b. Long period of time to obtain corporate approval to carry out the

expansion project. (3 years)

c. Weather conditions in the Aysn region during construction.

d. Meeting construction deadlines due to distances and isolation of the

site.

e. Limited amount of qualified personnel from the region to perform

construction works.

f. Manufacturing time of main equipment for the new generation unit.

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Tom Olsen
General Manager

Wind Farm
Nyrstar El Toqui

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Wind Farm Characteristics

Manufacturer Vergnet Eolien from France

06 Units Model MP-250

Capacity 250 KW 400V 3 Phase

Type of generator Asynchronous Generator

2 Speed Operation 31 rpm / 47 rpm

# of Blades 2 blades per unit

Height 55 meters high

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Wind Mills In Operation.

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Wind Farm Characteristics

Total Original length between blades 32 meters

Actual total length of blades 28 meters

Main drive weight 9 tonnes

Type of structure hinged with winch & auxiliary support

Wind speed for full generation capacity 12 meters/sec

Low speed operational range 5-8 meters/sec @ 31 rpm

High speed operational range 8-22 meters/sec @ 47 rpm

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General View

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Wind Farm - Key success factors

a. Small amount of time to execute the project plan from beginning to
commissioning and closure (8 months).
b. The site is located with company property, 3 km power generation control
room.
c. A crane was not required during installation and it is not required to carry
out maintenance works.

d. El Toqui personnel are trained to maintain and repair the units.

e. The official registration and authorization to operate took only 2 months.

f. Maintenance includes mainly minor parts and components.

g. Purchasing of special tools, spare parts and components during the

execution of the project, have been key to maintain the wind farm.

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Wind Mill Unit Under Maintenance

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Wind Farm - Challenges

a. High cost to operate the diesel gensets drove the decision to invest in
wind power. Additional water rights to Rio Toqui had not yet been
obtained.
b. Original 32m blades were not the adequate for the zone due to prevalent
wind gusts. It was necessary to replace them with reinforced 28m
blades.
c. Original hydraulic accumulators and shock absorbers also had to be
replaced with reinforced units due to wind gusts.

d. The control system for the blades is not as fast as the wind gusts
variations existing in the area. This has provoked most of the issues
reported per each one of the six units.

e. As a result of wind gusts, it was necessary to lower the range of

operation from 25 m/sec to 20 m/sec.

f. Wind range above 20 m/sec. is not common. This wind velocity never
lasts more than 8 hours.
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Technical Inspection

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Details on operations, maintenance and monitoring of

this hybrid system.
El Toquis experience with the wind farm has resulted in not operating
the wind farm when temperatures fall below 0C. Cold temperatures
cause hydraulic problems and ice accumulates on the blades.

The wind farm has a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA)
monitoring system in place through optic fiber. Based on the
manufactures recommendation, the preventive maintenance per unit is
performed every 6 months of operation.

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Details on operations, maintenance and monitoring of

this hybrid system.
The hydro power plant requires operators to run due to its age. SCADA
system is planned to be implemented in the near future.

Solid maintenance practices in condition monitoring program which

include:
Vibration monitoring
Temperature monitoring
Lubricant analysis

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What are the expectations in terms of fuel cost-savings

and additional benefits from renewables integration?
1. The estimated diesel savings on a normal hydrological year of operation
from the hydraulic plant will be 6.5M liters/year.

2. Additional 1.2M liters/year of diesel savings are expected to be gained

from the wind farm.

3. The reduction on hours of operation per each diesel generation unit will
reduce their maintenance cost per year. Longer intervals between top
overhauls and complete overhauls will be extended further reducing
costs.

4. Also, 2.8M liters/year of diesel savings could be obtained if additional

water rights were obtained. Additional water rights would lead to the
installation of another hydro turbine.

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Tom Olsen
General Manager

Thank you

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