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 The Manitoba government has issued a permit that allows miners to extract thousands of tonnes of sample ore from the future Reed mine. It authorizes the extraction of a 10,000-tonne bulk sample designed to confirm the mineralized widths, metal grades and the conditions of the ground. Located 50 km west of Snow Lake, the Reed mine will be a joint venture between HudBay Minerals, which owns 70 per cent, and junior miner VMS Ventures, which owns the remaining 30 per cent. 'Now that the (permit) has been approved, HudBay will commence site preparation for the removal of a 10,000 tonne bulk sample by late 2013,' said Rick Mark, CEO of VMS, in a news release. Mark called the permit approval 'an important milestone in developing the Reed mine and bringing us ever closer to full production.' Testing of the extracted bulk sample will be done at HudBay's metallurgical complex in Flin Flon. The province has also issued a lease of parkland property for the operation of the Reed mine development activities. Site preparation at Reed is due to begin this quarter, with the decline to commence in the second half of 2012. Production is set to launch by late 2013 and wrap up five years later, in 2018. At its peak, Reed is expected to employ 77 people. HudBay plans to spend $71 million _ just under half of it in 2012 _ to establish the mine. An employee camp, mechanical shop, warehouse and a compressor building are among the proposed infrastructure projects. Ore will be trucked to the Flin Flon concentrator for crushing. HudBay plans to access the underground mineral resources via a trench, portal and decline near the centre of the surface site. Ore and development waste is to be hauled to surface using the decline. HudBay expects average production at Reed to produce an average of 17,000 tonnes of copper metal a year _ about 85,000 tonnes over its lifespan. Tom Goodman, senior vice-president and chief operating officer for HudBay, has dismissed rumours the project may be run by contractors. 'Our first preference would be to run Reed with our own employees,' he recently told The Reminder. Aside from the initial capital cost of $71 million, HudBay is set to spend $55 million on sustaining capital expenditures during the life of the mine. The project will be powered by diesel generators, power distributed underground and to surface buildings.
