Glencore to go deeper at Sudbury operations – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – November 7, 2018)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

“We have still, I believe, a lot of untapped potential in the Sudbury
basin, especially at depth,” said Xavier. A series of deep copper
deposits dubbed Norman West is particularly intriguing to the company.

Xavier also highlighted the strides the company has taken to reduce its emissions,
which have dropped 90 per cent over the past 30 years, while production has climbed.
And he noted Glencore has spent $272 million on a Process Gas Project at its smelter,
which will further reduce sulphur dioxide emissions.

“We’re committed to a long, stable future in Sudbury,” he said.
(Peter Xavier, VP of Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations – Glencore)

Cleaner. And deeper. That’s the direction Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations (Glencore) is heading with its existing properties, a new nickel mine in the Onaping area and copper deposits it hopes to develop north of Capreol.

“Deep mining is where the future lies for us,” said Glencore VP Peter Xavier during an address to a Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce audience Tuesday. “After 100 years of mining in the Sudbury basin, you can imagine a lot of the close-to-the-surface operations are getting depleted, and we’re having to go deeper.”

With that comes the need to incorporate new technology, including on-demand ventilation, remote monitoring, more autonomous (unmanned) equipment and vehicles that, in the case of the Onaping Depth project, will be 100 per cent battery-powered.

The Onaping deposit is located 2,500 metres beneath the Craig Mine, which was shuttered in 2009. Glencore will be using the existing infrastructure at Craig but needs to bore a new horizontal tunnel, extending more than a kilometre in length, to reach the ore.

A commitment of $700 million was approved last year to launch the project and work began this year on the internal shaft, which will be sunk from the 4025 Level of the Craig Mine and then branch out for 1.4 kilometres.

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