Tag Archives: Labrador

Foraco’s drilling team extends stay at Vale Canada operations

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Foraco International, a provider of mineral and water drilling services, has announced a series of major contracts with Vale Canada for the provision of exploration, definition drilling and large diameter rotary drilling.

The exploration and evaluation drilling services – both surface and underground – are key services for Vale operations and include drilling at the Voisey Bay mine in Labrador, Copper Cliff and Coleman mines in Ontario, as well as at Thompson mine, Manitoba, the company said. All operations involve deep directional diamond requiring a total of 30 rigs, and have a total face value of $55 million.

Daniel Simoncini, CEO of Foraco, said: “We are partnering with Vale in Canada since 2007 and developed an excellent relationship with this prestigious client which was one of the very first to test us for our deep directional drilling technology. This is a great reward for all our staff, engineers, field crews and support teams.

“As already stated before, we believe long-term relationships with leading global mining companies like Vale are an efficient way to increase our business model resilience, ensure a stable and fair financial return while providing good quality professional life to our employees with who we can share a time horizon long enough to develop them, train them and make them safer and happier.”

Vale gears up for Voisey’s Bay restart

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Vale says it has moved from care and maintenance into a planned maintenance period at the Voisey’s Bay mine in Labrador, Canada as a first step to resuming operations in early July.

This move includes restarting critical path activities related to the Voisey’s Bay Mine Expansion project, which could see annual production increase to around 45,000 t of nickel, on average, about 20,000 t of copper and about 2,600 t of cobalt, in total.

The planned return to production follows a period of three months of monitoring progress and events associated with the COVID-19 outbreak. Initially, on March 16, the company announced a four-week care and maintenance period for the mine due to the “unique remoteness of the area” and as a precaution to help protect the health and well-being of Nunatsiavut and Innu indigenous communities in Labrador in the face of the COVID-19 spread. This was subsequently extended.

Production is expected to resume in early July and to reach full capacity by early August, it said.

“In line with World Health Organization protocols to test, remove, track and treat positive or suspicious cases, Vale is partnering with a private testing lab in Newfoundland & Labrador to provide extensive polymerase chain reaction testing of all employees entering the site,” Vale explained.

“The enhanced testing capacity enables the early identification, tracing and stopping of the spread of any potential COVID-19 cases.”

Vale noted that there have been no cases of COVID-19 to date at site.

Vale extends care and maintenance period at Voisey’s Bay

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Vale says it is extending the care and maintenance period at its Voisey’s Bay mine in Labrador, Canada, by up to three months while continuing to monitor progress and events associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

On March 16, Vale announced a four-week care and maintenance period at Voisey’s Bay due to the “unique remoteness of the area” and as a precaution to help protect the health and well-being of Nunatsiavut and Innu indigenous communities in Labrador in the face of the COVID-19 spread.

The company said, as of yesterday, no employee at Voisey’s Bay had tested positive for the virus.

The Long Harbour processing plant will continue to operate, drawing down on stockpiled concentrates to produce nickel and cobalt at forecast levels, the company said. Copper concentrate production at the site will be reduced due to the mine stoppage, with an impact of up to 6,000 t in the first half of 2020.

The company said: “Vale reaffirms its commitment to the safety of its people and the communities in which it operates and will keep investors and markets informed of future developments.”

Alderon Iron Ore and Schneider Electric working on ‘fully digital advanced mine’

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Alderon Iron Ore and the Kami Mine Limited Partnership (The Kami LP) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Schneider Electric Canada related to the both acquisition of equipment and development funding for the Kami iron ore project, in western Labrador, Canada.

Tayfun Eldem, Alderon’s President and CEO, said: “We have chosen Schneider Electric because of their vast array of product and service offerings in power and energy management, process control and mine digitisation. The Kami LP will leverage Schneider Electric’s sustainable solutions to optimise energy usage and operating costs for the Kami project’s mining and processing operations.”

Eldem said this partnership could potentially reduce capital spending and equipment cost targets from its September 2018 updated feasibility study, tap into a broader range of export credit agencies (ECA) and accelerate the project schedule.

The September 2018 feasibility study envisaged a capital cost of $982.41 million for an operation producing 7.84 Mt/y of 65.2% Fe concentrate at an average estimated operating cost of $30.72/t. it also envisaged a 26 month construction period.

Alderon said the MoU provides for The Kami LP to evaluate the lease or purchase of equipment from Schneider Electric for use at Kami, a project owned 75% by Alderon and 25% by HBIS Group through The Kami LP.

It also provides for Schneider Electric to assist The Kami LP in its capital raising efforts by making introductions and facilitating discussions with potential financing sources for the Kami project, including funding from ECAs in regions where Schneider Electric manufactures its equipment.

“This assistance is expected to help The Kami LP raise the capital required to start construction of the Kami project,” Alderon said.

David Willick, Schneider Electric’s Vice President and Mining, Metals and Minerals Segment Leader in North America, said: “We are pleased to be a part of the Kami project and look forward to helping Alderon create an efficient and fully digital advanced mine, using our EcoStruxure architecture.”

The EcoStruxure platform is the “digital backbone connecting best-in-class operational technology solutions with the latest in IT technology to unlock trapped value in your operations and tap into the true potential of the Internet of Things”, Schneider says.

The Kami LP and Schneider Electric need to enter into definitive documentation in order for the transactions set out in the MoU to proceed, including agreements for the purchase of equipment.