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.
Early commercial production is underway at the Lalor mine, a milestone for a project embodying Hudbay's future in northern Manitoba. The company announced that the first phase of commercial production commenced April 1 at the mine, located 15 kilometres from Snow Lake. Though Hudbay extracted a relatively small amount of ore, 81,800 tonnes, from Lalor between January and March, the mine only began contributing to the company's bottom line last month. The ore is being hoisted out of the mine's ventilation shaft, which is expected to reach its end point at the 955-metre level by the end of September. The main production shaft continues to progress with completion slated for late 2014. As of April 26 the shaft was about 72 per cent done, having reached the 710-metre level. Once the main shaft is complete, crews will install steel sets and guides as the transition from production out of the ventilation shaft begins. That transition is expected to wrap up by the end of 2014, allowing full-scale production at Lalor to commence _ subject to approval of required regulatory permits. Hudbay is now concluding final engineering work for the load-out facilities at the 955-metre level, as well as the main pumping installations. The company is preparing for construction of the main intake fan systems and the main substation, scheduled to wrap up sometime between October and December. As for the new Snow Lake concentrator to complement Lalor, Hudbay expects to apply for a provincial environmental license before the end of June. As previously announced, the revised design for the concentrator incorporates a larger grinding circuit being fed from the surface stockpile. Hudbay will hoist uncrushed ore up Lalor's main production shaft to be crushed on surface and then conveyed to the surface stockpile. The stockpile will in turn feed a SAG mill and ball mill combination that has a design capacity of 5,400 tonnes a day. About 43 per cent, or $338 million, of Lalor's $794-million capital construction budget had been spent as of March 31. Hudbay has entered into an additional $84 million in commitments for the project. The initial 81,800 tonnes of ore from Lalor, extracted in the first quarter of this year, returned an impressive zinc grade of 9.94 per cent. The copper grade was 0.57 per cent. Addressing a local meeting last month, Brad Lantz, vice-president of Hudbay's Manitoba operations, said crews have yet to find the bottom of the 20-year Lalor deposit. Lalor has progressed exceptionally fast since its 2007 discovery, but even early on it was clear the deposit was unusually promising. In October 2007, Peter Jones, then Hudbay CEO, called Lalor 'a very exciting discovery' with drill results that 'suggest it may well be the most significant new zinc discovery in many years.'
