Tag Archives: LaRonde Zone 5

Automated mucking and loading accelerates at LaRonde Zone 5

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Automation efforts at Agnico Eagle Mines’ LaRonde complex in Quebec, Canada, continued to accelerate in the March quarter of 2020, with the company adding an automated production drill for testing at the LaRonde mine.

The complex, which includes the underground LaRonde mine and the LaRonde Zone 5 underground operation, has been testing out autonomous mucking and loading equipment for over a year.

In its March quarter results – which saw the company report a quarterly net loss of $21.6 million despite group production growing to 411,366 oz (from 398,217 oz a year earlier) – the company said it was evaluating an expansion of the mining rate to 3,000 t/d (previous guidance of 2,800 t/d) at LaRonde Zone 5. This followed an increase in daily tonnage in the most recent quarter thanks to continued productivity improvements and successful automation implementation (autonomous mucking and hauling).

Agnico also said automated mucking and hauling had already exceeded the target of 15% of 2020 tonnage in the March quarter alone.

The company said: “In 2020, the company will continue to test and refine automated mining techniques at LZ5. The goal is to increase the tonnage mined remotely to greater than 15% of the total tonnes mined in 2020. During the first quarter of 2020, LZ5 achieved the goal of exceeding 15% of total tonnes mined remotely and achieved a new daily record with 2,200 t/d mined with the automated fleet.”

At the LaRonde mine, meanwhile, the company said it continues to test automated equipment at the operation, explaining that, during the March quarter of 2020, the company began testing an automated production drill.

Autonomous haulage trials produce “favourable” results at Agnico Eagle LaRonde

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Agnico Eagle, during the June quarter, continued to test out autonomous mining at its LaRonde Zone 5 underground gold operation in Quebec, Canada, and, so far, the results have been encouraging.

The company has been increasing the network and communications capacity at the deep underground mine in the last year or so, with an LTE network now deployed in Zone 5.

The use of this advanced communications infrastructure should help facilitate the use of autonomous mining equipment at the operation, Agnico said; a theory it is currently testing out.

Agnico said, in its June quarter results, trials of automated mining equipment (two trucks and one scooptram) continued over this period, with testing taking place on weekend night shifts when underground activity is at reduced levels. Trials initially began in the December quarter of 2018.

The company said: “Testing has yielded favourable results as autonomous mucking and hauling of ore from underground to surface was successfully achieved.”

Trials are set to continue throughout this year, the company said.

Agnico Eagle talks LTE, automation and ore sorting in Q1 results

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Agnico Eagle Mines highlighed a number of initiatives in its March quarter results as the company continues its ambitious growth plan to hit the 2 Moz production milestone in 2020.

The headline numbers might have disappointed investors – net income dropped to $37 million from $44.9 million a year earlier, on the back of lower gold sales volumes, realised gold prices and by-product revenue – but there was plenty to be excited about for the future.

Group output of 398,217 oz in the first three months of the year puts the company on track to achieve 2019 production of 1.75 Moz of gold (1.63 Moz in 2018), Agnico Eagle said, while the company’s Meliadine gold mine in Nunavut, Canada, was due to achieve commercial production next month. This is expected to be followed by the company’s nearby Amaruq project producing first gold in the September quarter.

On the technology front, Agnico reported on its communication infrastructure efforts at its deep LaRonde gold mine in the Abitibi region of Quebec, Canada.

Following the successful deployment of its LTE network at LaRonde Zone 5, the company deployed an LTE network at the LaRonde mine below level 269 in 2018. Extension of the network in the ramp area from level 269 to surface and at LaRonde 3 will take place throughout 2019, Agnico said.

“The LTE network facilitates the integration of automation technologies currently being tested at LaRonde Zone 5, which are expected to allow the company to maintain similar productivity levels at LaRonde 3 as it historically achieved in the shallower portions of the mine,” the company said.

And, on those automation trials at LaRonde Zone 5, Agnico said: “Integration and pilot testing of automated mining equipment (two trucks and one scooptram) continued in the first (March) quarter of 2019 and will be ongoing over the balance of the year.”

Last year, Agnico Eagle confirmed its ore sorting plans at its Pinos Altos operation in Mexico. This included the installation of a pilot plant at the mine.

The company said, in its March quarter results, samples will be processed from all of the orebodies at Pinos Altos and La India in 2019 to determine the merits of implementing the technology at its Mexican operations.

“To-date, sorting of open-pit ore from the Sinter deposit has yielded favourable preliminary results,” it said, adding that similar ore sorting pilot testing is being considered at the company’s other operating regions.