THE HEART OF AUTOMATION

JUNEAU, ALASKA. Automated loading has helped Coeur Alaska’s remote Kensington Mine improve safety, productivity and cost.

THE COEUR ALASKA Kensington Mine’s boat-in boat-out workforce travels up to two hours one way to arrive at the mine site, but even the operation’s most veteran miners say the scenery is worth it.

Twice daily, employees board a bus in Juneau, Alaska’s state capital, for a 37kilometre ride to a port. A 45-minute boat ride up Lynn Canal offers picturesque views of rugged mountain peaks and seasonal whale watching opportunities. Employees then board another bus at the mine’s dock facility for the remaining eight kilometres up an all-weather gravel road to the mine site.

Accessible only by boat, floatplane or helicopter, the Kensington Mine operates within a compact footprint of more than 100 hectares in the Tongass National Forest, the largest national forest in the United States. Mean annual precipitation at site is over 100 inches, with winter snow accumulations higher than 3 metres possible at the mine’s portal. Commercial production began in 2010 and the gold mine reached the million-ounce milestone in 2019. The mine had initially anticipated a 10-year life at 1,130 tonnes per day under its plan of operations approved in