Tag Archives: Redpath

OceanaGold on the benefits of data-driven transformation

Automation, Communications in mining, Equipment maintenance, IoT, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Mining people, Mining safety, Mining services, Mining software, Power supply for mines, Sustainable mining, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

With a Vancouver-based headquarters and operational mines in the Philippines, the US and New Zealand, access to – and sharing of – data for decision making is critical for the optimisation of OceanaGold’s various operations and processes. It is also proving equally important for the company’s pursuit of recruitment and upskilling.

OceanaGold’s vision is to be a company people trust, want to work and partner with, supply and invest in, to create value. This vision comes alongside a plan to grow its gold production from 460,000-480,000 oz, to 580,000-600,000 oz in 2025, all while lowering its all-in sustaining costs.

Data is playing an increasingly important role in achieving this vision, with the company having invested heavily in digital and networking technology in the last few years.

For example, the company has made investments in industrial Wi-Fi across its operations – at the Golden Point underground mine (part of the Macraes operaton in New Zealand), Didipio (Philippines) and Haile (USA) – to improve access to data and company systems.

Michelle Du Plessis, Chief People & Technology Officer, told IM: “This investment is improving operational efficiency by reducing the need for people to leave operational areas of the mine to access data and systems.

“This also enables more of our equipment to be operated more safely and remotely.”

And remote operation of equipment has been growing with the installation of these network backbones, with teleremote underground drilling, loading and hauling in place at Golden Point with Sandvik fleets, plus teleremote loading and hauling – with Sandvik AutoMine®-equipped LH517is and TH551is – occurring at Haile.

There are also plans to switch to teleremote operations from a surface cabin at the Didipio underground mine.

The company is completing the real-time data process loop, with tablet-based mine operation control software – Digital Terrain’s Simbio solution – being implemented at all of its underground operations to, Du Plessis says, more accurately and effectively control underground mine planning based on what is happening in the mine at that time.

At the Horseshoe underground mine at Haile, the newest underground mine within the group, the company is also using digital and data platforms for its mine planning and short interval control systems, with the API-enabled integration coming into the Snowflake cloud-based ecosystem.

Du Plessis says these platforms are fully integrated with shift plans uploaded onto tablets and updated digitally if plans change through the shift.

On surface at the Macraes open-pit operation in New Zealand, the company is also working on the effective digital transfer of data, having recently migrated away from an older version of the Cat® MineStar™ Fleet FMS to MineSense for Miners’ (MS4M) FMS. “The main benefits were more accurate management of the fleet in terms of efficiency and maintenance planning,” Du Plessis explained of this change.

On surface at the Macraes open-pit operation in New Zealand, OceanaGold is now using MineSense for Miners’ (MS4M) FMS

Data access and availability is having a positive impact on operational productivity at OceanaGold’s operations, as well as enabling the company to confront the skills shortage it and every mining company is facing at the moment.

Du Plessis said: “At OceanaGold, we are taking a systematic and multi-pronged approach to skills development across the talent lifecycle. This guides the way we prepare our workforce for the future opportunities by building the data and technology capabilities across the company.

“We also have a distributed operational footprint, which allows us to draw on, and foster, talent in multiple jurisdictions and we can take advantage of workforce mobility between the operations.”

Some of the company’s operations are in regions where mining is not the major employer, and there are plenty of people with skills but no mining-specific experience. With OceanaGold prioritising a residential workforce and local employment over fly-in, fly-out options, skills development is crucial for resourcing its operations.

“To help us develop these skills and provide people an opportunity to build a career and have sustainable employment in mining, we partner with experienced training providers and contract mining companies,” Du Plessis explained.

For example, in the Philippines, OceanaGold has partnered with Site WorkReady (Philippines) Pty Ltd to use the Site Skills Training Center in Clark Pampanga. This facility allows the company to train new employees to work in an underground mining environment, with a focus on safety. “We are also looking at the opportunity to extend this partnership to include additional skills, such as automotive and heavy diesel mechanics, to continue to upskill our local workforce,” Du Plessis said.

In South Carolina, where the company has recently commenced mining from the new Horseshoe underground mine, OceanaGold has engaged Redpath Mining Inc in a similar skills development role.

“In addition to their mining contract, Redpath provide training and resources to develop the underground mining skills of the local workforce, allowing us to transition to a full owner-operator model over time,” Du Plessis explained.

The company has also invested in an underground training simulator at the operation, offering potential recruits exposure to the underground environment and building the operating skills of new trainees.

Woodsmith-MTS-Anglo

Anglo American lays out 5 Mt/y Woodsmith polyhalite plan ahead of full design review

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This week, Anglo American hosted an investor and analyst day at its in-development Woodsmith project, in the UK, with several key technology takeaways cropping up from an in-depth presentation from Tom McCulley, CEO, Crop Nutrients.

In reviewing progress and the past, McCulley stated that Anglo has decided to start Woodsmith as a 5 Mt/y operation, with a staged ramp-up planned to the 13 Mt/y rate. The plan to sink 1,600 m production and service shafts, establish a mechanised mine, construct the 37-km-long underground tunnel and build a materials handling facility with priority access export facilities remain part of this. The potential to phase ventilation & production level development within the underground mine, potential to phase conveyor upgrades in the underground tunnel and the potential to carry out a phased expansion as required for the export facilities are all options for the 13 Mt/y blueprint.

This change has required some of the scope to go back to study phase – hence the reason why Anglo has been mooting detailed design reviews and non-critical path studies – looking at how to optimise investment and modularise the construction to get maximum value from each phase, McCulley said.

“I feel far more comfortable today about how we are setting up the project for the long-term success but managing in a capital efficient way,” McCulley said during his presentation.

Some of the elements keen observers have been watching at Woodsmith are related to mechanised underground development – both vertical (via shaft sinking) and horizontally (via tunnel boring machines (TBMs) for the 37-km-long tunnel).

TBM-led tunnel transformation

In terms of the latter, Anglo American is soon expecting to set a World Record for the longest TBM tunnel developed by a single TBM. This is currently set at 25.8 km, with the Woodsmith team having already reached the 25-km (25.3 km) mark.

“Beyond this we will pass our next intermediate shaft at Ladycross, where we will take a 3-4 month maintenance pause as we set up the TBM for the final push to 37 km, and we expect to reach the Woodsmith mine in late 2026,” McCulley said.

The machine used at Woodsmith is a Herrenknecht hard-rock TBM that, McCulley says, works similarly to the Shaft Boring Roadheaders (SBRs) being used for shaft sinking (more on that soon) in that it cuts the soils, without blasting, and the material is transported through the machine and out of the tunnel via a conveyor that is part of the TBM.

“In addition to excavating the material, the TBM also simultaneously lines the tunnel via pre-cast concrete segments (six segments make up a ring around the circumference of the tunnel); these concrete segments are fabricated at the Teesside port by a project dedicated facility,” McCulley said.

He said in every measure the tunnelling on the project to date has been an amazing success, aided by a solid team performance. This team is made up of contractors from Strabag, Herrenknecht and Anglo’s in-house personnel.

Progress has been aided by consistent ground conditions across the tunnel within what is called Mudstone strata, McCulley said.

“These conditions are very predictable and cutting is easy for the machine which minimises the bearing wear, which is a key risk area for the TBM,” he said. “This consistent strata has allowed us to switch our strategy from three TBMs to one TBM for the entire 37 km, which means we will not only pass the World Record, but we will also smash it when we reach Woodsmith in late 2026. This reduction in TBMs had a knock-on impact of saving significant capital over what was originally planned.”

Anglo is consistently seeing average rates increase to over 20 m/d and trending closer to 25 m/d, which compares favourably with about 16-17 m/d in late 2021.

Tom McCulley-Anglo American
Tom McCulley, CEO, Crop Nutrients

SBRs on the up

Mine development via TBMs is relatively proven when compared with the use of Herrenknecht SBRs for shaft sinking in mining, with Woodsmith representing only the third deployment of the technology in mining following Jansen (BHP) and Nezhinsky (Slavkaliy).

Anglo has two SBRs on site at Woodsmith, sinking the production and service shafts at the project. Redpath, which carried out the shaft sinking work at Nezhinsky, is steering developments at these two shafts, in addition to the material transport system shaft. Only the much deeper production and service shafts are being sunk via mechanised means with the SBRs.

Overseeing this and all developments at the operation is Worley as an engineering, procurement and construction management contractor.

Sinking of the service shaft began in September-October 2022, followed some six months later with activities at the production shaft. McCulley said these two were now around 550-m deep and 340-m deep, respectively.

“We typically see more daily meters from the production shaft due to the service shaft lessons being applied to the production shaft, so I’m excited as I think we may have a race to polyhalite!” he said. “We are very pleased with the progress made on both shafts since Redpath started sinking in 2022.”

On the advantages associated with using SBRs, McCulley said: “Some of the primary benefits of these machines is they are inherently safer than traditional sinking. They also eliminate the need for explosives, which is a huge benefit to us with the community as we don’t encounter noise complaints experienced in other mines. I expect these machines to be the future of shaft sinking. They are just safer, quicker and more predictable.”

The SBR is generally working in autonomous mode for most of the time following a program with pre-set parameters for cutting, according to McCulley, who said the company is expecting an average rate of 1 m/d in each shaft over the full 1,600-m length of the shafts.

“This 1 m/d includes all routine maintenance and what we call non-routine work, like installing water cubbies for pumping water out of the shafts, probe drilling, tubbing and grouting,” he said.

“Ultimately, this is the right machine for the job at Woodsmith and the cutting rates we achieve are 1.5-2 times what we would do with traditional methods.”

Looking at current sinking progress and plans to hit the orebody in 2027 in the service shaft (with the production shaft being six months behind that), McCulley pointed out a 250-m section of sinking in Sherwood Sandstone, which the company expects to reach next year.

“This 250 m of strata will see our rates reduced from our 1 m/d to something between 0.5 m and 0.75 m a day, and this will impact us for most of next year and early 2025,” McCulley said. “Once through that strata, we do not expect any further issues with the ground conditions significantly impacting production.”

The Sherwood Sandstone is characterised as a strata of highly competent rock, about 120 Mpa, according to McCulley, which is at the top end of the SBR rock hardness capacity given by Herrenknecht.

In addition to the hardness, this strata has the potential for some water fissures (ie cracks in the rock with high pressure water), according to McCulley.

“The good news for us is we hit a 2.5-m layer of this material a few weeks ago and we learned from this that we need to make some adjustments to our cutter heads and cutting picks, and now we are far more prepared than we would have been otherwise,” he said. “We are also prepared with alternative plans, including potential use of lasers, plasma blasting and/or microwaves if needed, but we expect our updated cutter head and next generation picks, developed by Element 6 of De Beers, will cut through the rock at the rates I previously mentioned. In addition, to the hard rock, this strata has a risk of high-water flows in small sections of the strata so we will need to seal the shaft via grout from the shaft. This means as we come across water, we will inject chemical grout into the fractures to block water bearing cavities and control water inflow.”

Adding to McCulley’s confidence is the fact that the nearby Boulby mine encountered the same strata some time ago, which that team progressed through via the same exact grouting technique Woodsmith is planning today.

In terms of priorities for 2023, McCulley said the team expected the service shaft to be between 650-700 m at the end of the year, versus the current circa-550 metres today, whereas the production shaft could reach 450 m by this point.

“Both shafts, if they hit the numbers noted will exceed our planned targets for the year,” he said.

“The MTS shaft and Ladycross shafts are both sunk, and we are working to fit them out during the remainder of the year. In the tunnel we have driven 4.3 km this year, we are at 25.3 km and we expect to reach 27 km, which is our stretch target for the year.”

For 2024, while Anglo continues to work through the studies, it doesn’t see any changes to its plans right now and still expects to be around the $1 billon capex number for the next few years.

McCulley added: “Our vision at Woodsmith with regards to technology is to ultimately develop a peopleless underground mine, where operations and maintenance are all controlled from the surface. This is a journey, but many technologies are already out there, we just need to put the system in place and the wherewithal to help the vendors take the next step. This will not happen from the start, but with our vision and with the team we have in place, I have no doubt that in the future this vision will become a reality.”

When at full production, Woodsmith will be a FutureSmart Mine with all the modern technologies, according to McCulley, with these characteristics ensuring the company has a low cost, high volume mine for many years to come. Continuous miners are expected to be used in a room & pillar mining application, combined with mine cars, shuttle cars or conveyors.

“On top of the mining/processing technology, I see some interesting parallels with the farming industry. They are rapidly adopting technologies, and we are very well placed to support this transition in areas like sensing, scanning, AI, etc. I think with our Anglo American Woodsmith project experience in technology we are uniquely positioned to help support this transition in farming and this is something that will have added value to our product for years to come.”

South32 and Redpath kick off shaft sinking works at Hermosa

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South32 has now broken ground on one of two exploration shafts at the Hermosa project in southern Arizona, USA, in a sign of major progress at the base and battery metal project.

This milestone achievement commemorates the initial surface excavation that will be continued by Redpath USA to a planned depth of 900 m, the contractor stated in a LinkedIn post. Redpath and South32 signed a “limited notice to proceed” for shaft engineering and design at Hermosa last year.

Redpath said in this latest post: “The shafts will enable underground access for continued exploration of a world-class deposit containing the US critical mineral zinc as well as lead and silver – minerals needed for supporting electrification and renewable energy.”

In South32’s March quarter results, the company said it invested $176 million over the last nine months as it continued critical path activity and study work for the Taylor zinc-lead-silver deposit and the Clark battery-grade manganese-zinc-silver deposit. It also directed $12 million to capitalised exploration in the nine months ended March 2023 as it continued exploration programs at Taylor and Clark and the copper-lead-zinc-silver Peake prospect 8.

Just last month, the Hermosa project was confirmed by the United States Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, an independent federal agency, as the first mining project added to the FAST-41 process, which is focused on supporting informed decision-making while reducing and eliminating unnecessary and costly delays associated with projects.

Normet Utimec XL 1100 Agitator ED set for debut at Olympic Dam mine

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Normet says its first Utimec XL 1100 Agitator ED has arrived in Australia, with final field tests currently being conducted ahead of deployment at BHP’s Olympic Dam mine.

The Utimec XL 1100 Agitator ED, part of Normet’s recently announced ElectroDynamic® electric driveline platform, has a concrete transportation capacity of 10.5 cu.m. It is designed for concrete transportation in underground mines and tunnels with a minimum tramming height of 3.3 m.

Tailor-made for harsh underground conditions, the vehicle is equipped with a voluminous, wear-resistant and remote-controllable concrete drum and a hydraulically-operated discharging chute, allowing for more versatile vehicle positioning, Normet says. Both mixing and unloading are controlled electrically and can be operated with zero local emissions by plugging the machine into the mine’s power grid. This increases operator comfort by significantly reducing heat output and noise and by eliminating underground emissions, according to the company. The XL 1100 Agitator ED comes with a spectrum of features such as both front and rear support legs to ensure maximum operating stability, a form oil system to prevent concrete from adhering to the vehicle’s surfaces and a high-pressure washer with a 500-litre on-board water tank.

The arrival of the first unit in Australia follows one-year-long extensive tests in Finland, Normet says. It is set to be operated at Olympic Dam by Redpath, which ordered several XL 1100 Agitator EDs for its operations after visiting Normet’s factory in Iisalmi, Finland, last year.

Normet launches new ElectroDynamic platform for higher payloads and compact dimensions

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Normet has expanded its product offering, introducing both the XL platform and its latest technology innovation, the Normet ElectroDynamic® powertrain architecture, at the AusIMM Underground Operators Conference 2023 (UGOPS), in Brisbane, Australia, complementing its new high-capacity platform and paving the way to what it says is the future of more sustainable underground operations.

By combining the best features of its battery-electric Normet SmartDrive® platform and state-of-the-art low-emission engine technology, the Normet ElectroDynamic architecture allows for increased payload capacity with compact outer dimensions, while also ensuring superior driving dynamics, high performance, superb fuel efficiency and less need for maintenance, the company said.

A key element of the ElectroDynamic technology is the removal of the drive shaft and gearbox through driving the externally-cooled mining axles with permanent magnet motors in a highly efficient direct-drive configuration. This not only renders a low and compact load end design, instant torque and economical electric retardation possible, but also significantly increases component lifetime, according to Normet.

Samu Kukkonen, Technology Director at Normet, said: “As we were developing our battery-electric SmartDrive equipment, we quickly realised that we can actually remove the drive shaft and gearbox from engine-powered equipment as well. This is monumental, because now we can utilise the space where the drive shaft used to be for increased payload capacity. This was achieved by utilising electric motors at the axles, powered by a low emission engine-generator set.

“What is more, we have years of experience with all the components used in the architecture not only from our SmartDrive equipment, but also from our engine powered equipment.”

The Normet ElectroDynamic architecture also enables one-pedal driving, where the vehicle automatically controls both acceleration and deceleration with the operator’s accelerator pedal input. Additionally, its advanced front axle suspension system and the new Normet 180° cabin with improved ergonomics and visibility, Normet says, set new industry standards for operator safety and comfort.

The completely new Utimec XL ED carrier, designed for heavy-duty underground transportation applications with its payload capacity of 24 t, is included in this new XL ED offering.

Built with some of the highest-quality powertrain components and robust frame structures, all XL ED units are powered with direct-drive electric motors, Volvo Penta Stage V engines, enabling clean and efficient operation, the company says.

The first applications of the technology are the Utimec XL 1100 Agitator ED, with a practical concrete transportation capacity of 10.5 cu.m, designed for concrete transportation in underground mines and tunnels with a minimum tramming height of 3.3 m.

Tailor-made for harsh underground conditions, the vehicle is equipped with a voluminous, wear-resistant and remote-controllable concrete drum and a hydraulically-operated discharging chute, allowing for more versatile vehicle positioning. Both mixing and unloading are controlled electrically and can be operated with zero local emissions by plugging the machine into the mine’s power grid. This increases operator comfort by significantly reducing heat output and noise and by eliminating underground emissions.

The XL 1100 Agitator ED comes with a spectrum of useful features such as both front and rear support legs to ensure maximum operating stability, a form oil system to prevent concrete from adhering to the vehicle’s surfaces and a high-pressure washer with a 500-litre on-board water tank.

By eliminating the need for a drive shaft, Normet ElectroDynamic architecture allows for a high carrying capacity with compact outer dimensions, the company says

Concrete agitators are especially popular in Australia, where customers are constantly looking for innovative solutions and technologies to improve their productivity, according to Normet. However, the combination of long driving distances and high demands for vehicles’ carrying capacities has until now, posed a problem. Larger machines reduce underground traffic and make daily operation more efficient, but the size and tramming height of tunnels naturally set maximum limits for those of underground equipment, too.

Allowing for both high-capacity transportation applications and compact outer dimensions, the new XL ED offering is the ideal, purpose-built solution to this dilemma, according to Normet.

Last year, Redpath Australia representatives visited Normet’s factory in Iisalmi, Finland, to see and feel the XL ED prototype. As one of the world leaders in safety and innovations in mining practices, the company was impressed by the value the XL 1100 could provide, and Redpath has now ordered several XL 1100 Agitator EDs for its operations, set to be delivered this year.

Normet said: “We are immensely proud of the new Normet ElectroDynamic technology and the XL offering, both reflecting our passion for continuously developing innovative solutions and technologies to meet and exceed customer and industry expectations for safety, productivity and sustainability. Designed and built to minimise its environmental impact as a key driver, Normet’s broad equipment offering pioneers the transformation into greener underground operations.”

Anglo American increases Woodsmith polyhalite scale as shaft sinking progresses

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Anglo American is upping the ante at its Woodsmith polyhalite project in the UK, increasing its planned spend while expanding its production scope following detailed design reviews and non-critical path studies.

In the company’s 2022 results release today, it said these reviews and studies had led to a number of areas being modified to align with Anglo American’s standards and its aim to optimise value for the long term.

The outcome is an enhanced project configuration to ensure the company delivers maximum commercial returns from Woodsmith over the expected multi-decade asset life, Anglo said. Included within this is an increase in the capacity of the shafts and other infrastructure to accommodate higher production volumes and more efficient and scalable mining methods over time.

More specifically, this has seen the company plan for a circa-13 Mt/y operation instead of the previous 10 Mt/y operation it had endorsed, subject to studies and approval.

“In light of these changes, Anglo now expects first product to market in 2027, with an annual capital investment of around $1 billion,” the company said.

Spending of $800 million is approved for 2023, with the bulk of initial spend on the shaft sinking and tunnel boring activities. As usual in developing underground mines, the schedule will largely be determined by the ground conditions encountered as sinking activities progress.

The Woodsmith project is located on the North Yorkshire coast, just south of Whitby, where polyhalite ore will be extracted via 1.6-km-deep mine shafts and transported to Teesside via an underground conveyor belt in a 37 km tunnel, thereby minimising any environmental impact on the surface. It will then be granulated at a materials handling facility to produce a low carbon fertiliser – known as POLY4 – that will then be exported from its port facility, where it has priority access, to a network of customers around the world.

During 2022, as part of the mentioned construction review, contracts were awarded for the shaft sinking operations, program management services and construction management to ensure the project can be executed in line with Anglo American’s stringent requirements. These contracts were awarded to Redpath (shaft sinking) and Worley (program management services and construction management).

With the award of these contracts and other infrastructure improvements, activities at the deep shafts have progressed. The service shaft is now more than 360 m deep, while shaft sinking began 120 m below the surface for the production shaft in January 2023, as planned. Both of these shafts are being sunk using Herrenknecht’s Shaft Boring Roadheader technology.

Three intermediate shafts will provide both ventilation and additional access to the mineral transport system (MTS) tunnel. The Lockwood Beck intermediate access shaft was successfully completed in 2022 and is fully lined and connected to the tunnel. Work on the MTS shaft at the mine head progressed through 2022 and is 85% complete, and the excavation at the final intermediate access shaft at the Ladycross site commenced in early 2023.

Following a planned maintenance pause in mid-2022 to refurbish the tunnel boring machine and allow the connection with the Lockwood Beck shaft, the MTS tunnel is now past the 21-km point and is more than 56% complete, progressing at rates not seen since the start of the tunnelling activities, Anglo said.

Anglo American concluded: “We believe that the changes we have made to the project have had a materially positive impact on the project’s long-term attractiveness and prospects. However, for accounting purposes at this early stage of the project’s development, we have recognised an impairment of $1.7 billion to the carrying value of the asset within special items and remeasurements, reflecting the extension of the development schedule and capital budget.”

MMG brings in new Sandvik equipment for owner-operator transition at Dugald River

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MMG Limited has acquired new underground equipment for its Dugald River zinc-lead mine in Queensland, Australia, as it gears up to make the transition from a contract miner-led operation to a run of mine (ROM) owner-operator model in 2023.

Among the purchases are three Sandvik DL421-15C longhole drills that will allow the team to drill holes up to 54 m in length and 115 mm in diameter.

A further seven Sandvik TH663i 63-t-payload underground haul trucks (pictured) have been purchased to support operations.

“These important acquisitions support Dugald River’s new operating model as ROM owner operator into 2023,” the company said.

Dugald River’s mining operations were previously overseen by Perenti-owned Barminco as part of a production and development contract which ends on December 31. Redpath Australia was awarded a new underground mining services contract at the mine, earlier this year.

Alamos’ Island Gold mine keeps giving up its goods

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The latest drill intercepts from Alamos Gold’s Island Gold Mine in Ontario, Canada, have continued to showcase the potential of an asset that already has a more than 17-year mine life ahead of it, John McCluskey, President and Chief Executive Officer, says.

On the same day as releasing an assortment of promising drill intercepts outside of the existing reserves and resources – namely 110.17 g/t Au over 7.79 m, 97.21 g/t Au over 5.05 m and 525.28 g/t Au over 2.33 m – McCluskey continued to highlight the credentials of an asset that had just 1.8 Moz of mineral reserves and resources, and production around the 100,000 oz/y mark when it was acquired by Alamos in 2017 in a $620 million all-share deal for mine owner Richmont Mines.

“We’re now looking at one of the biggest, most profitable underground gold mines in Ontario,” he told IM in a meeting in London this week. “That is a far cry from what the market saw when we first acquired the company. We have since more than tripled the reserve and resource base and continue to build confidence in adding further ounces.”

The Phase 3+ Expansion Study released earlier this year outlined a 2,400 t/d shaft-supported operation with average annual gold production of 287,000 oz, starting in 2026 upon completion of the sinking and equipping of a 1,373-m-deep shaft. This represents a 22% increase from the previous Phase 3 study and a 121% increase from the mid-point of 2022 production guidance of 130,000 oz.

McCluskey confirmed this week that pre-sinking activities at the expansion project had been completed by contractor Redpath, going down to 42 m depth (pictured). He expected full sinking activities to start up next year in line with the above guidance.

The addition of a shaft connected to low-carbon intensity grid power in Ontario will support higher mining rates with a smaller mobile fleet of haul trucks resulting in significantly lower diesel consumption at Island, according to the company. This is expected to drive a 35% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions over the mine life.

While the current plan at Island is to sink down to circa-1,400 m, the company made the decision to acquire a hoisting plant for the expansion that could operate down to depths of 2,000 m. This is an indication of the undefined potential at the mine, according to McCluskey, who admitted the shaft could be sunk to even deeper depths should drilling results justify this.

“It would not require too much more engineering or money to extend the shaft below the circa-1,400 m level, so that is something we will continue to weigh up as we conduct further drilling,” he said. “The Island story continues to grow and we continue to see a very profitable future at what will become one of the lowest cost underground mining operations in the province.”

Sandvik and Redpath to tackle underground mine safety and profitability with new pact

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Sandvik and Redpath are aiming to improve safety and reduce underground mining costs through technology advancements, innovation, continuous improvement projects and standardised best practices under a newly-signed agreement guided by operational and relationship key performance indicators.

The five-year agreement includes Sandvik commitments on local presence and support, as well as an annual technology summit and factory training sessions. It will also standardise the use of equipment, leading to cost reductions and safety enhancements, the companies said.

“Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions has long been a valued supplier of underground mining solutions to our global operations,” George Flumerfelt, CEO of The Redpath Group, said. “This mutually beneficial cooperation will help ensure Sandvik provides the same service experience and quality, independently of the geographic location and size of Redpath operations.”

Mats Eriksson, President of Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions, added: “This agreement underlines the trust we have in our long-term relationship and further strengthens our good partnership with Redpath. Closer collaboration with Redpath’s business will enable us to deliver on expectations and optimise our product development.”

The two companies have worked on many underground mining projects together in the past and, last year, Redpath became the first company to receive and operate a Sandvik DD212 production drill in Australia, putting it into action at Silver Lake Resources’ Rothsay gold mine in Western Australia.

Redpath opens mobile equipment repair facility in North Bay

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Redpath, on the day it celebrated its 60th anniversary, has inaugurated a new state-of-the-art mobile equipment repair facility at its North Bay facility in Canada.

The new facility represents an C$8.5 million ($6.2 million) investment in the company’s North Bay infrastructure and shows Redpath’s continued confidence that the Ontario city is the ideal location for its global headquarters, it said.

The 15,600 sq.ft (1,449 sq.m) building consists of six repair bays, two inspection bays, along with welding and washing bays. Thanks to the new shop, Redpath will be able to handle the complete life cycle of any piece of equipment from its underground mining fleet in-house, it said.

The new building incorporates environmentally conscious features including solar-powered auxiliary power units, heated floors, wastewater collection and recycling, and recirculated air for ventilation.

Redpath said: “It was 60 years ago that Jim Redpath started the company with the commitment to provide superior contracting services to the mining industry. From a mere four employees in the early 1960s, Redpath today employs over 6,000 people in projects all over the world.”