The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
A decision by federal tax authorities means a mishap at the Lalor mine will not force the temporary closure of the Snow Lake concentrator. Hudbay last week received permission from Revenue Canada to temporarily truck Lalor ore to surface using the ramp system at the adjacent, now-defunct Chisel North mine. The company had sought clarification to ensure its use of the ramp system would not endanger a $40-million tax credit for opening Lalor as a new mine. Hudbay requested use of the ramp following a Sept. 27 incident at Lalor in which an industrial container hoisting ore to the surface came detached from its cable and plummeted back down the shaft. After the container _ known as a skip _ came loose and fell, all ore stopped being transported to the surface. Had Hudbay not received approval to truck the ore, the Snow Lake concentrator that processes ore from Lalor may have temporarily shut down due to a lack of feed. See 'Tonnage' on pg. Continued from pg. Revenue Canada's decision allows Hudbay 'to make tonnage to keep the concentrator running' while the skip is repaired, said Brad Lantz, vice-president of Hudbay's Manitoba Business Unit. Lantz previously estimated that repairs would take two to four weeks. The skip was owned and operated by Redpath Mining Contractors and Engineers, which has a contract to perform work at Lalor. The mishap occurred in Lalor's ventilation shaft, which is being temporarily used as a production shaft. Not only was no one hurt in the incident, Lantz said there wasn't really a potential for injuries. During the second quarter of this year, Hudbay hoisted 106,723 tonnes of ore from the ventilation shaft at Lalor. Ore production at Lalor is expected to transition from the ventilation shaft to the main production shaft by the second half of 2014, subject to regulatory approval.
