In 2011, Spence made the decision to carry out a first maintenance audit project and upgrade to the system with SAME. This is due to the fact that external maintenance does not meet SAME standards and jeopardizes system efficiency.
After 7 months, Spence reached its lowest historical concentrations of acid mist, with values around 0.4 mg/m3 on average and 97% of system availability, largely complying with the Chilean regulation (0.65 mg/m3 – value adjusted to geographic altitude).
These outstanding results were presented by BHP at the 2012 Hydroprocess Congress as a case of study, and generated an additional 1-year contract for SAME’s audit.
(Spence current density: 380 amp/m2 approx.)