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.
Continued from pg. 8 During the last visit to the property, it was noted that the site was a hive of activity and noise, as contractors busily worked at forming and pouring cement and fabricating the locations where steel would tie into foundations. Currently, the pace hasn't subsided or quieted. It is just as lively and the 80 or so construction contractors on site have all moved inside, out of those elements, but obviously still within their own. Knowledgeable and circumspect, Ayotte appears to think easily on his feet and has a good overview of the big picture, which is basically a puzzleÉ with him in charge of putting all the pieces in place. As we walk through the hoist house, it is obvious that he, Proctor and Butt are all very proud of the new production, service, and spare hoists. They were manufactured and installed by noted British firm Davey Markam, and their mechanical and electrical components arrived on site by way of over 100 trucks and trailers. The production hoist's capacity, alone, is 6,000 tonnes per day and it is driven by twin 2,500-hp electric motors. The hoist control room is quite large, filled with numerous flat screen monitors, push buttons, and joysticks. Proctor explains it is the brain of the entire operation. In addition to the operation of the hoists, everything from pump alarms to the functioning of the site water treatment plant will be monitored within this room. Utility corridor We leave the hoist/compressor house and walk through an above-ground utility corridor in order to access the collar house, or war zone, as Ayotte called it. There were a number of people working in the area, which was under temporary heat. They had just finished the block walls and sheeting was going on as we spoke. 'Everyone is right behind one another,' says Ayotte, who was also part of the shaft-sinking team during the building of the 777 Mine. 'If you give them an inch of wall, they'll put in an inch of pipe, and the electricians have their trucks outside idling, just waiting to get in and run the wire. We have some exceptional contractors and crews here.' Next, we enter the water treatment plant, which is also awash with activity and noise. Proctor explains that the plant's water comes from Chisel Lake. 'Process water goes directly to site,' she says. 'All water that will touch human skin is treated.' She adds that even though the plant's water is potable, due to company standards they will continue to get all drinking water from the Town of Snow Lake. Additionally, all water for firefighting will be pushed through the plant by a 125-hp pump, which will give them the capacity to fight fire for one hour. 'That's not for saving assets, but people,' says Proctor. The plant has auxiliary power if the main power goes down, and waste water discharge from the site ties into the current connection for Chisel North and the wastewater treatment plant situated near there. Proctor exudes confidence and appreciation; she is at home and at ease with her control over a project that will undoubtedly become a legacy in the mining industry. She is also very quick to acknowledge the work and ideas of others. She explains that at the outset of the Lalor project, she and her team sat down with folks from 777 and asked, 'If you had to rebuild this project, what would you do differently?' As a result, they tried to incorporate many of those considerations into the Lalor design. Having worked on 777, Ayotte concurs. 'I can see it. The changes made here, based on the issues they had there, are nice changes,' he says. 'This is a much more functional hoist house, collar house, compressor houseÉ wait for the next one,' he joked. It is obvious that everything on the surface of the site is progressing on schedule and Proctor says other than some equipment problems in sinking the vent shaft, the underground development has gone extremely well. 'The ramp from Chisel North was completed in November,' she says. 'The lateral advance to the ventilation shaft breakthrough point is completed and waiting for the shaft.' Ramp down She added that crews from the mining contractor Redpath have started to ramp down to the 840-metre level, which is the shaft bottom. They are also beginning to carve out the 825-metre level and will stub it off. 'When Chisel North goes down and those crews enter the Lalor mine, the level will be established for them,' she says. 'We will be within 30 metres of the ore body. Redpath's focus on the Lalor property will be to keep driving development over to the production shaft. The Chisel crew's focus will be ore extraction and getting the mine set up for operations.' With respect to the Lalor mill, Proctor says all the geotechnical work on the new concentrator will be done this spring and she hopes to start construction Jan. 1 of 2013. Discussions on preliminary geotechnical work were taking place between Proctor and Ayotte even as we walked the site. She says information-gathering for permitting is actively taking place in addition to preliminary tendering in order to secure critical components, such as the SAG Mill, Ball Mil and Jaw Crusher. Following the site tour and saying our goodbyes to Ayotte and Butt, we got in Proctor's vehicle and headed over to the Chisel North site. Proctor says site geologists Sarah Bernauer and Darren (Zeke) Simms had some interesting drill results that she wanted to see. She explained they were the first underground exploration drill results from Lalor, out of what is called the Ten lens, which will be accessed for preliminary production. It is primarily a zinc lens and they are doing four-hole fan-out drilling in defining it. This drilling will confirm the grade, width and dip of the ore body, as well as its variability between surface holes. See 'Kno' ... on pg. 10 Continued from pg. 9 Proctor says this would decide the mining method, whether cut and fill post pillar or long hole. 'We won't be doing any drilling on the gold ore bodies until (at the) earliest April,' says Proctor as we entered the Chisel North core shack. 'The focus is on zinc and I am lucky that I hired two knowledgeable geologists that I have worked with over the years and have a great deal of respect for.' As we enter, we are greeted by Darren Simms, who announces the coffee is on and drill results are boxed and ready for viewing. Listening to him speak, it is apparent that Simms has an exceptional grasp of his profession and a genuine loyalty and respect for those who have come before him. He effortlessly explains the lay of the land, joking that he paid good money for his geology degree, so darn it, he was going to use some fancy terms. With maps and cross sections, he shows us where they were drilling as well as the direction and degree of the holes. Simms speaks with knowledge and enthusiasm about the basin and the mine that Lalor would eventually be, as well as other mines that the Chisel Basin holds within her deep and twisted folds. Of the work he and Bernauer were currently doing, he says the primary objective is to make certain the ore body is there. 'And it is,' he says assuredly. 'The grades are coming up better than what was thought.' The hole he shows us has a section of 13 metres that Simms feels would assay around 35 per cent zinc. The first hole they drilled was likely 13 per cent, Simms felt. 'And that is being conservative,' he says. Development He also explains that the drilling they were doing will help ensure that development is placed where they want it for the long term of a multi-year mine, particularly when there are multiple lenses in close proximity to each other. As we speak of the area in general, both Proctor and Simms mention a local mentor, Gerry Kitzler, the confidence he had in the Chisel Basin and how he instilled it in all who worked with him. Before we leave, Simms notes the large saw horses that held his drill core were built by the late Jim Pockett. 'They've seen a lot of ore bodies. People just don't make things like that anymore,' he says. Hopefully they'll see many more. My Take on Snow Lake runs Fridays.
