The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Operator targets boosting underground production capacity to reach 2,500 tons per day at high-grade gold mine in Interior Alaska
Teck Pogo recently briefed state and federal government agencies on its 2008 activities and provided an update of the company's plans for 2009 at the Pogo underground gold mine which it operates in Interior Alaska.
Teck Pogo operates the mine on behalf of the Pogo Joint Venture, a partnership between Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. (51 percent), Sumitomo Corp. (9 percent) and Teck Cominco Limited (40 percent).
The company said the focus of milling in 2008 was consistency through improved operations and equipment availability. The mill processed 2,236 tons per day in 2008 for a total of 818,237 tons for the year, producing 343,296 troy ounces of gold.
In an overview of the operations, Teck explained to regulators that the Pogo Mine is a mechanical drift-and-fill underground gold mine accessed via three portals denoted by their elevation, the 1875, the 1690, and the 1525. After blasting, the ore is loaded by 3-yard and 9-yard loaders into 30-ton and 50-ton trucks and hauled to a 3,000-ton underground ore bin. The ore is then transported out of the mine on a 2,500-foot-long conveyor via the 1690 portal to a surface mill.
Underground development to maximize production
Teck informed the agencies that its underground focus in 2008 was on the development required to open up additional ore headings that are needed to reach full production rate of 2,500 tons per day. During the year, Pogo mined 882,000 tons of ore and lateral development exceeded the 14,427 feet planned for the year.
The company said efforts at the mill in 2009 will continue to focus on circuit optimization and recovery improvement. A continued focus on underground development is required to open up the additional ore headings needed to reach the operation's full production rate of 2,500 tons per day.
Teck said it is planning to mine 900,000 tons of ore and 13,500 feet of lateral development. A development contractor will remain on site throughout the year with 40-50 employees operating out of the construction camp.
Continued exploration
In 2008 Teck-Pogo carried out a surface and underground exploration drilling program at Pogo. The company said the helicopter-supported, two-rig surface drill program completed 20 holes totaling 37,449 feet. This included 18 holes (33,331 feet) drilled within the Pogo mill site lease. Crews also completed an additional 16-hole, 13,529-foot underground drill program within Pogo Mine.
In 2009 the company is planning to drill about 45 surface holes totaling 48,000 feet; this includes 35 holes of helicopter-supported drilling. The remaining 10 to 12 holes are planned to be completed from seven road-based drill sites. The underground drill plan involves about 30 holes totaling 20,000 feet.
Teck said a new 85-person camp to replace temporary facilities is scheduled for construction in 2009. At year end, Teck-Pogo had 287 employees, with an additional 98 people employed by contractors in housekeeping and underground development.
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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