Bathurst Mining Camp construction moves forward in New Brunswick – by DCN NEWS SERVICES (Daily Commerical News – May 13, 2015)

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BATHURST, N.B.—A Vancouver-based company is moving forward with construction and re-start activities at its mine and mill complex located in the Bathurst Mining Camp of northeastern New Brunswick.

“As we are about to begin production at our Caribou Mine here in the Bathurst Mining Camp, we are very appreciative of the support for the new fiber-optic data and communications infrastructure,” said Mark Cruise, president and CEO of Trevali Mining Corp.

“The initiative allowed us to maintain our operational schedule for the mine where about 300 people are currently employed.”

Trevali is a zinc-focused, base metals mining company, which owns the Caribou mine and mill, the Halfmile mine and Stratmat deposit all located in the Bathurst Mining Camp.

The company is currently advancing its 3,000 tonne per day Caribou mill complex and mine, which is located 45 kilometres (km) west of Bathurst, in Restigouche County.

In support of the project, the provincial government is providing a $150,000 investment towards infrastructure and a $150,000 forgivable loan for job creation.

According to the environmental assessment produced by Stantec in February 2015, the Project involves adding a copper separation circuit within the pre-existing Caribou concentrator, as well as adding a copper storage/loading building to the already existing concentrate building.

The circuit will be installed between the existing lead and zinc circuits, which allows copper to be recovered from the lead tailings. The addition of the copper circuit will be completed within the current concentrator footprint.

No external modification to the concentrator will be required, except that an extension of the concentrate building to accommodate the new copper storage and a new transformer pad adjacent to the concentrator.

The majority of the construction for the separation circuit will be done offsite at the equipment manufacturer or within the current concentrator footprint.

The remaining work includes the construction and installation of the float cells, thickeners, pump tanks, piping and electrical connections.

Additional concrete pads will be required throughout the area to allow the installation of various equipment such as pumps and motors.

Contractor mobilization is scheduled for mid-May 2015, with some concrete work and steel erection taking place prior to the concentrator start up scheduled in April 2015.

The concentrator can start-up prior to the copper circuit being installed.

Electrical work includes the following:

— installation of new 3c #350MCM 5 kV cable from cell #9 in main substation to a new medium voltage switch SW06 located next to new transformer T6;

— installation of a new 1.5 MVA transformer, mounted on a concrete slab west of the existing SO2 tank;

— extension of electrical room B (located within the concentrator) to accommodate the new electrical equipment;

— installation of a new switchgear SG16 in the electrical room B extension;

— installation of one (1) new three (3)-section MCC rated at 600A for the installation of new copper rougher 30 HP motors;

— installation of new cable trays, as required, to power the new copper line motors; and

— installation of new starters in the existing free MCC buckets.

It is anticipated that the Project will extend over a 3 month period.

The project is expected to increase the provincial GDP by about $54 million annually once all the positions have been filled.

The Caribou mine and mill was previously subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment registration process in 1996 under East West Caribou Mining Limited.

As a result, the proposed construction and operation of the mine were deemed acceptable by the New Brunswick Department of Environment, which lead to the approval of the current operations.

For the original source of this article, click here: http://dailycommercialnews.com/Projects/News/2015/5/Bathurst-Mining-Camp-construction-moves-forward-in-New-Brunswick-1007635W/