JUNIOR MINING SPECIAL — Expansion in works at Dome, Detour

Despite the lingering recession and lacklustre gold prices, the Dome and Detour Lake mines of Placer Dome (TSE) are buzzing with excitement.

At Dome, that optimism has spread throughout Timmins, as residents watch a new open pit take profitable shape.

Construction began in April, after numerous public meetings. It is estimated the project will increase Dome’s production rate to 10,000 from 4,400 tons per day. Of that, 3,000 tons will come from underground operations at Dome and 550 tons from the adjacent Paymaster mine.

The minable reserve is estimated at 25.2 million tons grading 0.068 oz. gold per ton.

To expand the pit, virtually all buildings at the mine site, including the dry, offices and warehouses, will be torn down and rebuilt.

The pit development encroaches on Highway 67A (known in Timmins as the back road), which will be rerouted, along with the road that leads into the old Preston mine site.

Owing to the magnitude of the changes, Dome’s management spent considerable time and money consulting with the public.

“Virtually all the feedback we received was positive,” explained Ronald Connell, superintendent of environmental services. “Some 1,200 people attended the meetings, but we received only half a dozen negative comments, most of which had to do with dust and noise. The rest was all positive, including a large number of inquiries about jobs.”

The capital cost of constructing and developing the pit and its infrastructure is estimated at $150 million. It will produce about 1.7 million oz., with a life expectancy of 11 years.

“We’ll probably spend a billion dollars over the next 10 years in the Timmins area and that will create about 350 short-term jobs during the construction period and about 120 jobs in the long term,” Connell said.

“We’ve broken ground and now we’re moving timber, backfilling and conducting geotechnical exploration and excavation of the foundations for some of the buildings and the crushers.”

Connell is also faced with the daunting task of acquiring approval for the pit. He estimates the mine, which is dealing with 12 regulatory agencies and at least 20 statutes, will have spent $500,000 in surcharges by the time the project is completed.

“We have to go through the process,” he added. “There are no shortcuts. But so far, we’ve had excellent co-operation. Everybody has worked together to streamline the process and it has worked well.”

Dome’s general manager, Robert Perry, is looking forward to this time next year, when he hopes to be milling about 6,500 tons per day from the new pit. “It’s all good news for the Dome mine and for the city of Timmins,” Perry said. “Everybody’s very busy and quite happy. When you’re busy, that means you have job security and that’s why they’re happy.”

Not to be outdone by Dome, the Detour Lake mine has expansion plans in the works as well.

Mine Manager Gil Clausen said the mine is spending $3.4 million on exploration this year in an attempt to double reserves and achieve a sustainable, 10-year base. (Detour contains 5.3 million tonnes of reserves, sufficient for roughly five years of mining.)

“We’ve allocated a very large exploration budget to achieve that objective,” Clausen said. “It’s a long-term process, but we’re well on our way.” Last year, operators developed a horizontal drift on the 560-metre level and followed that with diamond drilling. Now infill drilling is being carried out in an attempt to convert resources into reserves in the lower level. “We’re doing more surface exploration at the west end of the property, trying to determine just what exactly the orebody is doing,” Clausen explained. “We’re also driving a 330-metre level exploration development drift, which will enable us to test some of the zones in the upper part of the mine. “As we suspected, the tops of several zones are higher than what we experienced back to the east. We’ve drilled a dozen holes and found ore-grade intersections.”

Meanwhile, Detour continues to investigate intersections in what is known as the Calcite zone.

“This mineralization is associated with a carbonate alteration of our mafic flow rock units,” Chief Geologist Gordon Trimble told The Northern Miner. “We’re also seeing a pillow, lava-like structure, which is a primary feature of the rocks when they were originally laid down.”

At the base of that horizon is a mineralized structure that Trimble calls the Pillow zone, where exploration is continuing.

“We have quartz zones that typically run from 50 to 2,000 or 3,000 tonnes and we have a good indication that they will continue to the west,” he explained. “We have also intersected several high-grade sections which look as if they could develop into something.”

Clausen hopes to put a final exploration report together some time in the fourth quarter, enabling operators to proceed with plans to expand the mill. Currently, 2,900 tonnes per day are being milled and Detour wants to bump up that number to 4,000 tonnes.

“I’m very optimistic we will be successful in outlining the additional reserves required to achieve our goals,” Clausen said. “We’re a much younger operation than the Dome mine, but there’s certainly a spirit of renewal here, as well.

“We’re looking forward to the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, and the orebody is certainly giving us some pleasant surprises.” — The author is a freelance writer who lives in South Porcupine, Ont.