In 2004, the Osisko Mining Corporation purchased the Canadian Malartic property in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, south of the city of Malartic. This transaction set the company on a course to re-open a mining site with one of the largest gold deposits in Canada.
Operating this open-pit mine, which is low in gold content, would be a real technical, environmental and economical challenge. This mine has to process over 55,000 tonnes of ore a day, so the required process equipment is enormous and the processing plant is among the largest in Canada.
After completing the feasibility studies for Osisko, BBA was entrusted with designing the ore processing plant, the main crusher, the ore handling and storage equipment, and the waste processing and pumping system.
The grinding and gold recovery systems designed by BBA experts are among the most powerful and impressive to date. The proposed solutions demonstrated that it was possible to balance mining with sustainable development. Here are a few project highlights:
From the outset of this venture, BBA was a high-calibre ally. The rigour with which the studies were carried out enabled Osisko to proceed with the detailed engineering for this project. When the time came to select an engineering firm to design the colossal gold mine site, we naturally turned to BBA. BBA’s expertise was critical to the quick start-up of the Canadian Malartic Mine, whose future looks bright in terms of productivity.