Pretium Resources Inc. is more than halfway done construction of its high-grade underground gold mine in northwestern British Columbia.
"Construction of the Brucejack Mine started in September 2015 and commissioning is expected to begin in mid-2017," said Pretium president Joe Ovsenek.
"Due to weather constraints, a large portion of the construction was scheduled over the summer months, so the larger significant milestones are nearly complete. Through the coming winter, work will be focused on advancing underground development and setting up within the mill."
Although Pretium’s head office is in Vancouver, the mine is situated 1,500 kilometres away, north of the town of Stewart and only 30 kilometres south of the Alaska border.
"Brucejack will be the biggest gold mine in B.C. and one of the largest in Canada. It is expected to produce a total of 7.3 million ounces of gold over a mine life of 18 years," said Ovsenek.
It is also the only gold mine under construction in B.C. currently.
Mining and mineral exploration have been in the doldrums since the financial markets fell on hard times in 2008.
Both mining and exploration are slowly getting to their feet, but neither sector can be said to be in good shape just yet, so this project is welcome news.
Pretium is handling the construction management of the mine itself.
"The project employs a total of 900 workers during construction," said Ovsenek. "At any one time there will be between 500 and 600 construction workers on site. Once the mine has been completed, there will be 550 to 600 workers operating it."
Ovsenek said the Brucejack Mine will be worked according to "tried and true principles of mining and milling.
"The ore that is mined will be crushed underground and then taken by industrial conveyor belts to the mill building on the surface," he said. "Mills will grind the rock down to a concentrate, the concentrate will be melted down to make dore bars and then shipped off-site for refining."
Ovsenek said the biggest challenge facing construction now is getting the mill building erected and enclosed before winter.
Erecting structural steel for the mill building is underway.
Full enclosure of it remains on schedule and is expected to be complete before the snow flies.
The concrete foundations and pedestals of the building have been poured, as well as the footings and pedestals for the large bin above the crusher and the mills that grind the ore.
"Once it has been completed, the mill building will be one big open space, like a giant warehouse, with controls in the middle," said Ovsenek.
The permanent camp — comprised of three dorms, a kitchen, offices and recreation space — will be completed by the end of this month (October). Work on structural interconnection, electrical installation, communication wiring and water and sewer piping is going on now.
"Crews are also working underground, developing and opening up tunnels," said Ovsenek.
Underground development is on schedule and crews are advancing at a rate of over 25 metres a day.
Current activity includes excavation of the main access ramp and opening mine levels at different depths.
Underground work is also focused on the excavation of headings for infrastructure, including the conveyor ramp, conveyor transfer tower and booster pump station.
Finally, the foundations are being prepared for the installation of hydro transmission towers.
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