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REGIONAL NEWS - U.S. & CANADA
Second Shaft Breaks Through at Cigar Lake
the December 14 rock burst, are on hold. Care and maintenance of the underground will be focused on the 4900 level, where the No. 4 Shaft infrastructure is located. The No. 4 Shaft is an internal shaft that is planned to descend from 4,900 ft below surface to an ultimate depth of 8,800 ft.
North American Palladium to Shut Down Sleeping Giant, Starts up Vezza
North American Palladium announced in mid-January 2012 that it is discontinuing production at its Sleeping Giant gold mine, located 80 km north of Amos in the Abitibi region of Quebec. However, the Sleeping Giant mill will continue to operate to process ore trucked approximately 85 km from the company's new Vezza gold mine. The mill began processing a bulk sample of Vezza ore in January.
Pictured above are the headframe structure and surface facilities at Cameco's Cigar Lake uranium mine. The compa- ny has been dewatering and remediating the mine since a massive water inflow event in 2008 resulted in mine closure.
Cameco reported in early January 2012 that the second shaft at the Cigar Lake uranium mining project in northern Saskatchewan had broken through to the main mine workings. The second shaft will provide for increased ventilation of the underground workings as well as an additional means of entering and exiting the mine.
Cameco President and CEO Tim Gitzel
said, "We expect to resume full mine development and construction activities in 2012 and remain on track to start ore min- ing by mid-2013."
During 2011, Cameco restored under- ground mine systems, infrastructure, and development areas at Cigar Lake; secured regulatory approval for and started con- struction of systems to increase discharge capacity for treated water; initiated ore- body freezing from surface; and developed and secured regulatory approval for a revised mine plan.
The Cigar Lake project is 50%-owned and operated by Cameco. The other Cigar Lake joint venture partners are AREVA Resources Canada (37%), Idemitsu Re- sources Canada (8%) and Tepco Re- sources Inc. (5%).
8 E&MJ; • FEBRUARY 2012
MSHA Orders Temporary Closure of Lucky Friday Hecla Mining reported on January 11 that the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Admini- stration had ordered the Silver Shaft at Hecla's Lucky Friday mine in the Coeur d'Alene district of northern Idaho closed for removal of built-up material in the shaft. The order grew out of an investigation that followed a December14, 2011, rock burst at the mine. Hecla anticipates that compli- ance with the order will take through year- end 2012 and has reduced its estimated 2012 company-wide silver production from 9.5 million oz to 7 million oz.
Production at Lucky Friday is expected to resume in early 2013. Apart from Lucky Friday, Hecla's only other producing mine is its Greens Creek underground mine on Admiralty Island in southeast Alaska. The Lucky Friday Silver Shaft is a 1- mile-deep shaft from surface and is the pri- mary access to the mine. The sand and concrete material to be removed from the shaft has built up over a number of years and is expected to be removed primarily by power washing. All other significant activi- ties at the mine, including construction of the mine's No. 4 Shaft and a bypass around
Of the shutdown at Sleeping Giant, North American Palladium President and CEO William J. Biggar said, "We have been unable to achieve our objective of returning to profitability by mining from three new levels at depth. While early on we had great encouragement with high-grade drill results that supported the shaft deepening investment, as we conducted infill drilling we encountered a lack of continuity in the narrow vein structure such that we were unable to devise an economic mine plan. Despite our best efforts to improve the profitability of the mine, we are disap- pointed with the outcome."
North American Palladium expects to begin commercial production at Vezza at a mining rate of 750 mt/d at the beginning of the second quarter of 2012. For the nine-month period to December 31, 2012, the company forecasts the mine will pro- duce about 30,000 oz of gold at a cash cost of approximately $1,150/oz, including trucking costs of approximately $80/oz. Vezza production will come from a blend of long hole and Alimak mining methods. North American Palladium has entered into a contract with Promec Mining, a Val d'Or mining contractor, to provide the mining workforce. Beginning in 2013, the compa- ny expects to increase Vezza's daily mining rate to 850 mt/d, yielding approximately 43,000 oz/y in gold production at cash
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