Byrnecut has officially broken ground on its first development contract in North America at Evolution Mining’s Red Lake Operation, Ontario, Canada. The Campbell Young Dickenson (CYD) portal is now established and development is underway to access Upper Campbell. This prolific orebody has historically produced over 11 Moz of gold at over 20 g/t Au and Byrnecut said it is excited to be a part of the team bringing it back into production.

Its team on the ground is steadily increasing towards full ramp up of ~50 local and expat personnel and “is racing the clock to get underground as soon as possible” before the cold winter months hit. As part of this, its Red Lake team is recruiting jumbo operators that are experienced in Australian pioneered high speed development methods. Equipment to be used includes a new Sandvik DD422i jumbo recently delivered to site.

Evolution Mining has also selected RCT and its ControlMaster® Guidance Automation technology to help transform its new Red Lake mine. RCT will commission its interoperable and scalable ControlMaster Guidance Automation technology to the underground loader fleet.

Over in Australia, Abra Mining Pty Ltd (AMPL – Galena Mining 60%, Toho Zinc 40%) and Byrnecut Australia Pty Ltd have finalised the Abra Underground Mining Services Contract and work will commence on the portal and decline development during September 2021. Bynecut have been working closely with AMPL since the original tender in early 2020. The equipment was ordered last year, and manning/resources have been a part of the Byrnecut budget and planning forecasts since 2020. The first 15–months of the contract is focussed on establishing the primary decline down to the orebody in time for commissioning of Abra’s processing plant in early 2023.

Managing Director, Tony James commented: “A major milestone has been achieved at Abra with the finalisation of the underground mining contract with Byrnecut and the implementation of the process plant EPC with GR Engineering Services. Both companies have been very strong supporters of the project over a long period of time and its very rewarding for everyone to see the work starting on the ground. The Byrnecut mining contract is for four years, with the remainder of this year and the majority of next year focussed on gaining access to the orebody, 230 m below surface. During this time the mine is effectively a single heading decline and the manning requirements for that period are far lower than when the mine reaches commercial ore production in 2023. The actual mining work is expected to commence in the coming weeks. Equipment and labour have been sourced and are ready for mobilisation in the second half of September.”