Construction and development at the Raglan copper-Nickel mine of Falconbridge in northern Quebec is three months ahead of schedule, albeit slightly over budget.
The mine is in the final stages of construction, and the first concentrate is scheduled to be produced in December. The operation will enter full production in early 1998.
Seven of 12 modules for the operation’s concentrator and power plant have been shipped to Desolation Bay and transported to the mine. The remaining modules are scheduled to arrive in mid-August.
Although construction and development are ahead of schedule, costs at the $486-Million project have increased 10% as a result of increased concentrate-handling costs and the failure of a frozen core dam. The dam has since been rebuilt using conventional methods.
Summer drill programs will provide data which the company will use to evaluate the possibility of expansion, though it expects to increase annual production at the operation to between 30,000 and 40,000 tonnes nickel from an initial rate of 20,000 tonnes per year.
Proven and probable reserves stand at 13.3 million tonnes of 3.2% nickel and 0.87% copper — sufficient for an initial mine life of 15 years.
The combined open-pit and underground operation is expected to produce 130,000 tonnes of nickel-copper concentrate per year.
The above photograph shows modules awaiting shipment from Quebec City to the Raglan mine in northern Quebec; the photo below shows mine employees at work on the main portal of the underground portion of the mine.
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