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.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Sinking of the main shaft has begun at Lalor as the massive project remains on track for initial production soon. Hudbay announced last week that shaft sinking commenced last month, with the main production head frame now complete and the main production hoist commissioned. Project development and construction work is focused on initial production up the ventilation shaft, which remains on track for mid-2012, the company said. Engineering Basic engineering for the concentrator is well underway and the company has placed orders for the surface crusher and the sag and ball mills. As of March 31, Hudbay had spent some $245 million on the Snow Lake area project and entered into an additional $98.5 million in commitments. During the first three months of the year, development work was completed on the 795-, 810- and 825-metre levels as well as the undercut and development for the ventilation shaft breakthrough. Hudbay is now ramping to the 840-metre level and the base of the main ventilation shaft. See 'Con...' on pg. 7 Continued from pg. 1 On the 795-metre level, construction has begun on the rockbreaker station and the ventilation doors. The 810-metre level ventilation doors are nearly complete, ahead of the ventilation shaft breakthrough. The ventilation shaft is now sunk to about 700 metres and is expected to reach its ultimate depth of 835 metres by July. Meanwhile, a the Reed copper project outside Snow Lake, Hudbay said site clearing and levelling for the trench, portal and lay down storage area were completed in mid-March. A construction office trailer has been set-up at project, of which Hudbay owns 70 per cent, with junior miner VMS Ventures owning the remaining 30 per cent. The entire site clearing and a new access road off of Highway 39 was completed last month. Also last month, drilling for the trench portal grouting program, and tendering for the trench excavation, began at Reed. Initial production at Reed is expected by the third quarter of 2013 and is anticipated to ramp up to full production of some 1,300 tonnes a day by the first quarter of 2014. At Lalor, which is entirely owned by Hudbay, the company expects to commence production from the main shaft and new concentrator in late 2014, with the first full year of production anticipated in 2015. Overseas in Peru, front-end engineering and design work at Hudbay's Constancia project is nearing completion. The principle beneficiation permit is expected next month and other permit applications remain on track, the company said. Value engineering efforts are underway, with optimization efforts focused on areas such as camp accommodations, water management and tailings impoundment. For Constancia, Hudbay has placed fixed price orders and has supplier commitments for over US$223 million in project equipment, including grinding mills and mobile equipment. US$32 million in capital expenditures were invested in the Constancia project in the first quarter of 2012 out of a total project capital cost estimate of US$1.5 billion. Constancia's anticipated project schedule currently remains unchanged, with first production expected in 2015 and full production in 2016. By mid-2012, management expects to present Hudbay's board of directors with a formal project recommendation, including a financing plan.
