NEW MINES
FOUR NEW MINES COMING TO CANADA Rising metals prices have kicked off exploration and mine development activity across Canada. Here’s a look at four new builds in Canada – all in Ontario or Quebec – that have gotten the go-ahead in the past year.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Côté mine. CREDIT: ADAM SCOTTI/PMO
Côté gold mine Ontario
In addition to using an array of available technologies (and developing new ones), there’s a simpler way to reduce the footprint of a project – either by reducing the size of the plant through a very compact design or right-sizing a project rather than going for maximum tonnage. For example, as the Côté project advanced through economic studies, Wood reduced the size of the processing plant from 60,000 t/d to 36,000 t/d. In the process, the project’s internal rate of return nearly doubled, says Woloschuk. “Bigger’s not always better.” Autonomy Underground mines in Canada are well advanced with teleremote options for equipment operation. The underground Odyssey development (see page 48), an extension to the Canadian Malartic mine in Quebec that was approved in February, will be outfitted with an LTE communications network that will facilitate the operation of equipment from surface. The Canadian Malartic Partnership for the Odyssey mine chose the technology because it is much more than an ultrafast wireless communication network that allows workers to communicate with each other via cellular. For example, it will allow them in future to geolocate workers and equipment underground, which is important in the event of an accident for an effective and accurate response. Starting 46 | CANADIAN
MINING JOURNAL
in 2023, operators will also be able to haul ore by remotely controlling the equipment from the surface using the LTE network. Fully autonomous haulage systems for open pit operations are only starting to be implemented in Canada, but globally, they are already becoming standard. “There are large mining companies that have said to us any mines that we build now will never have a driver in a truck – autonomous haulage fleets are going to be standard for us,” says Woloschuk. Iamgold’s Côté JV is slated to be the first open pit operation in Canada outside of the oilsands to employ autonomous haul trucks. Autonomous fleets increase productivity by eliminating production pauses due to lunch breaks, shift changes, and meetings. Woloschuk notes there’s also a 10% increase in tire life compared with conventional trucking, and damage to equipment – a cost that miners don’t typically budget for – is reduced. Lastly, automation results in a reduced head count and camp costs – and a shift in the types of skills needed in the mining workforce. “Where you have a permanent camp at a project like Côté, you’re reducing the numbers significantly by not having truck drivers,” Woloshuk says. “The remaining operators onsite will typically be more multiskilled and have lower exposure to repetitive stress injuries, so it is also a safety improvement.”
FIRST PRODUCTION: H2 2023
COST: Approx US$1.6 billion MINE LIFE: 18 years
MINE TYPE: Open pit
Iamgold and its 30% partner at the Côté gold project in northern Ontario, Sumitomo Metals and Mining, announced the approval of the open pit operation last July. Construction began in the fall. Located 20 km southwest of Gogama, in between Timmins and Sudbury, the project is slated to be Canada’s first open pit hard rock mine to employ autonomous trucks when it pours first gold in the second half of 2023. The mine will also employ fully autonomous drills. Iamgold is working with Caterpillar and Epiroc to supply the autonomous equipment. The operation will be big, mining 62 million t/y – or 36,000 t/d – with an average mill feed grade of 0.98 g/t gold. Annual production will average 367,000 oz. gold at all-in sustaining costs of US$771 per oz. over the 18-year mine life. While the mine’s initial capital cost was estimated at US$1.3 billion last year when construction was approved, in late July, Iamgold announced that construction costs had risen. The gold miner is now budgeting to spend US$1.11.2 billion for its share of costs – up from US$875-925 million estimated last year, an increase in the neighbourhood of roughly 27%. Iamgold said the increase was driven www.canadianminingjournal.com
