Rankin Inlet mine ramps up production, putting strain on local housing – by Emma Tranter (Nunatsiaq News – September 26, 2019)

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Meliadine gold mine set to enter phase two of production in 2023

MELIADINE MINE—A 25-kilometre road winds through the brilliant yellow tundra surrounding Rankin Inlet leading to Agnico Eagle’s newest gold mine. From a distance, the site looks like a small town, with new buildings stacked beside rows of living quarters.

The long-awaited mine, which cost more than $900 million to build, officially began commercial operations in May 2019. Agnico bought the property in 2010, but the area has been explored for its mineral potential since the 1980s, said Martin Plante, Meliadine’s general manager.

Although there were some “bumps along the way” to production, things are now going smoothly, Plante said. “Right now we are in production mode. We started to hire our permanent employees in 2017 at the mine and as the new department is getting in line, we’re starting to hire people in the other sectors too,” he said.

“The goal was to start in the second quarter of this year and achieve a production rate of 3,750 tonnes per day, up until we reach the second phase.”

Phase two of production will ramp up from 2021 to 2022 and begin officially in 2023, when the target production rate will be 6,000 tonnes per day, Plante said. The underground portion of the mine currently reaches 450 metres at its deepest point.

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