The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Tailings dam lift, added treatment capacity adds flexibility North of 60 Mining News – October 30, 2020
Zinc production at the Red Dog Mine begins to improve as Teck resolves water storage and maintenance issues.
Teck Resources Ltd. Oct. 27 reported that water-related restrictions and unexpected repairs at Red Dog slowed zinc and lead production at this mine in Southwest Alaska during the third quarter.
During the three months ending Sept. 30, the Red Dog Mine produced 123,300 metric tons (271.8 million pounds) of zinc, which is a 20% drop from the 153,100 metric tons (337.5 million lb) produced during the same period of 2019. Likewise, lead production during the third quarter of this year was 26,300 metric tons (58 million lb) down 9% from the 28,900 metric tons (63.7 million lb) during the third quarter of 2019.
While lower than 2019 production, this is a substantial improvement over the 83,900 metric tons (185 million pounds) of zinc and 21,500 metric tons (47.4 million lb) produced at the Northwest Alaska operation during the second quarter of this year.
Teck says climate change is resulting in increased precipitation around Red Dog, which has resulted in the company needing to store increasing amounts of water at the mine.
During the third quarter, the company completed a raise of the tailings facility earlier than originally planned to provide additional flexibility for water storage and installed a new water treatment plant to increase the water discharge capacity when permit limitations allow. These projects have removed the temporary restrictions from the mine plan put in place to manage water levels.
Teck says the unexpected maintenance issues experienced in the third quarter have also been resolved. The company expects Red Dog to produce at least 136,700 metric tons (301.4 million lb) of zinc and 18,700 metric tons (41.2 million lb) of lead during the fourth quarter.
Zinc and lead concentrate shipping from the Delong Mountain Transportation System port was also challenged this year. Red Dog concentrates produced during the winter are stored in an enormous storage facility at the DTMS port for shipping during the ice-free summer season in Northwest Alaska.
This year's shipping season was delayed until July 13 due to the failure of the loading arm on one of two barges that transport concentrates out to oceangoing ships. Teck currently expects concentrate shipments to continue into November and all of the Red Dog production by the time the last vessel leaves the DTMS port.
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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