Despite having to evacuate its employees for five days due to wildfires in the region south of Vanderhoof, Artemis Gold says it remains on target to conduct its first pour at its Blackwater Gold mine in the fourth quarter of this year.
Construction of the mine, 160 kilometres southwest of Prince George, was about 87 per cent complete as of the end of June and the company has spent $650 million of its $730-750 million capital budget.
“Through to June 30, 2024, we continued to advance construction and progress our operational readiness plans in-line with our expected timelines,” said Artemis Gold chairman and CEO Steven Dean.
“The development of gold mines is complex and requires multiple skill sets and disciplines including risk management. This month we were challenged again by wildfires in the area of the mine and I would like to recognize the Blackwater team’s efforts to safely and orderly demobilize staff upon receipt of the recent wildfire evacuation order. Last week’s response to the lifting of the order and commencement of an expedient return and ramp-up to full-scale construction was a credit to our team.”
The evacuation order was issued July 21 and all non-essential mine staff gathered at Vanderhoof Tourism and Cultural Centre. The evacuation order for Laidlaw Lake and Williamson Lake remained in effect until July 26.
In an update sent this week, Artemis reported completion of the water management pond and excavation of a trench through Mine Creek in the tailings storage facility and lining of the central water management pond is also finished. Work on the tailings storage facility is ongoing.
“Looking ahead to Q3 2024, we expect to complete construction of the new operations camp and decommission the original exploration camp,” said Jeremy Langford, Artemis Gold president and chief operating officer.
“We will commence the pre-production mining works and expect to begin commissioning the process facility and the water management pond. By the end of Q3, we anticipate the transmission line will be nearing completion and we remain on track for first gold pour in Q4 2024.”
The Sedgman EPC contract work on the processing plant is 90 per cent complete and from April-June the key focus was on installation of structural steel, conveyors, platework, pipework, and electrical infrastructure. Installation of the primary crusher and utilities is complete, and the cyclone, gravity concentrators and sulphur burner were installed in the mill. Cladding of the reagents building was finished, and the exterior cladding of the mill building will soon be ready to be done after final equipment installation. Process and raw water tanks was hydro-tested, and tank infrastructure was completed, with tank top installations nearing completion.
To power the mine requires construction of a hydro transmission line being built in two sections, each divided by the Nechako River. The northern section covers about 50 km while the southern section is about 80 km long.
On the north side, 98 per cent of foundations are complete, 97 per cent of pole structures are installed, 95 per cent of structural frames are complete and 25 per cent of the conductor was installed.
South of the river, 91 per cent of foundations are complete, 84 per cent of pole structures are installed, 69 per cent of structural frames are complete and 10 per cent of the conductor was installed.
Upgrades to the B.C. Hydro Glenannan substation were completed and the main 25 kilovolt electrical substation to power infrastructure at Blackwater Mine was installed.
Construction and commissioning of the initial heavy equipment mining fleet is now complete. The fleet includes two 400-tonne hydraulic backhoe excavators, nine 240-tonne rigid frame haul trucks, and two large front-end loaders which are now fully assembled. Additional units are being assembled on-site, to be used as operations ramp up.
The mine employed 350 people in the second quarter of 2024 and has employed more than 800 workers, including staff and contractors, since the start of construction. Eighty per cent of the current workforce are B.C. residents, with 45 per cent of the total residents of the local region. Twenty per cent of Blackwater’s workers are women and 30 per cent identify as Indigenous.
As of June 30, mine employees had surpassed a total of 2.5 million work hours with no long-term injuries and an all injuries frequency rate of 78.44 (the total number of recordable incidents occurring per million man-hours worked, divided by total man-hours worked).
A project update video is available online.
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