Two global shaft sinking leaders recently announced the completion of major projects in the Americas. In Canada, Cementation Americas in late February said that its Onaping Depth Project team had completed the final shaft blast in the 7.2 m production winze for Glencore Canada at the Craig nickel mine, northwest of Sudbury, Ontario.
The new internal shaft is at an elevation of 2,635 m below surface, making it the deepest shaft in the Sudbury Basin. The company said this had set another record for Cementation in Canada, adding: “This significant milestone is a true demonstration of the unparalleled teamwork and performance our crews deliver. Cementation’s engagement on this project began over two decades ago. We are honoured to have contributed to this breakthrough and look forward to working with Glencore’s leadership and talented teams for years to come.”
Cementation Canada was awarded the design and construction of the new production winze (internal underground shaft) for the Onaping Depth Project at Craig Mine in 2018. The deposit is approximately 2,500 m below surface and is critical to the long-term sustainability of Glencore Canada’s operations in the Sudbury basin. Cementation designed and constructed the winze which was sunk from the 4025 Level of Craig Mine and is approximately 1.5 km horizontally from the existing Craig shaft.
Down in Mexico, Dumas has successfully completed the 5.5-m diameter Guadalupe ventilation shaft project to a depth of 580 m at the La Colorada silver mine in Zacatecas. This shaft is part of a larger project undertaken by Pan American Silver to provide enhanced ventilation to the underground environment, thereby improving the health and safety of the underground workforce while enabling production growth at Pan American’s flagship asset.
Dumas stated: “We proudly partnered with Pan American Silver and the project was completed safely with zero Medical Treatment Injuries, zero Restricted Work Injuries, and zero Lost Time Injuries. Our Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate (TRIFR) of 0.00 and Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) of 0.00 with over 337,000 hours worked displays the outstanding performance at all levels of the project team. This project is a representation of Dumas’ strong safety culture and our commitment to the health, safety and wellbeing of our employees, values that we share throughout STRACON Group.”
