Ore mined at Musselwhite Mine in northwestern Ontario will be moving more smoothly and efficiently to the processing mill with the completion of a key material moving project.
Newmont announced the full commissioning of the mine's conveyor system and material handling projects. The two systems work in tandem to move ore from the crushers, deep in the mine, which is hoisted to the conveyor system and is then brought to the surface for processing.
Work on the $90-million materials handling project began in 2016 when the mine operated under the Goldcorp banner.
Musselwhite is a fly-in, fly-out operation 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay. The ore is mined from two main zones beneath Opapimiskan Lake.
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Previously, getting ore to surface took a long time. The company sought to quicken material movement by installing an inner shaft between levels, called a winze, to dramatically cut truck haul times to the mine’s underground crusher.
The truck haul distance was about an hour to an hour-and-a-half round trip for the mining company's 40-tonne haul trucks. The material handling project was constructed to reduce the reliance on trucking while increasing production by 20 per cent.
“I am extremely proud of the work that has been completed by the team at Musselwhite to safely deliver these two critical projects, whilst managing through the unprecedented challenges caused by COVID-19,” said Newmont president-CEO Tom Palmer in a news release.
“Musselwhite is an important part of our North America region, and with the commissioning of these two projects is positioned to contribute to Newmont’s portfolio for many years to come.”
Newmont's only other Northern Ontario operation is its Porcupine complex in and around Timmins where the international miner produces gold from its Hoyle Pond underground mine and its Hollinger open-pit mine.
