Refurbishing and Recommissioning of a gold mining mill

Eldorado Gold produces gold and base metals and made its first investment in Canada in 2017 by purchasing Integra Gold and the Lamaque underground gold project. The Triangle gold deposit is a new orebody which forms the basis of the Lamaque mine. Triangle is located just 2.5 km south of the historic Lamaque and Sigma mines, which are also on the property. These mining facilities have been modernized several times, the most recent dating back to the early 2000s. The Sigma mine is now mined out but the existing Sigma mill has been refurbished and is currently being used to process the ore extracted from the Triangle deposit.

Client: Eldorado Gold
Location: Val-d’Or, Québec

OUR EXPERTS’ SOLUTIONS

After being involved in the feasibility study, our experts developed an operational readiness and commissioning plan for the Sigma mill that included upgrading most of the existing mechanical equipment and preparing a detailed commissioning strategy.

Additionally, our experts modernized the concentrator’s power distribution and the mine’s electrical engineering along with the plant’s control system. They also recabled all instrumentation and control systems. It was a very complex project given the outdated installations and very short lead times.

Participate in feasibility studies to re-start the mill
Integrate the study’s capital costs
Manage overall project (monitor schedule, control costs, provide monthly reports, etc.)
Manage an operational readiness and commissioning plan
Procure and purchase new equipment
Perform electrical engineering for the Triangle mine and the Sigma mill
Perform instrumentation and control engineering for the Sigma mill

Perform piping engineering for the Sigma mill’s existing process
Prepare functional descriptions required to program the control system
Participate in upgrading most existing mechanical equipment
Perform pre-operational verifications by a dedicated team of about ten people using BBA’s SIIP application to track non-conformities
Provide commissioning support for the Sigma mill by the Eldorado Gold operation team.

IN THE WORDS OF OUR CLIENT…

“BBA’s approach of quickly guiding and supporting the project team was a key factor in successfully restarting the mine.”

Shane Williams, Senior Vice-President, Capital Projects and Greece & Quebec Operations

IN NUMBERS*

Current life-of-mine estimated at 7 years
Production estimated at an average of 117,000 oz of gold per year
Average grade of 7 g per tonne gold

*Based on PFS published in March 2018.

DO YOU HAVE A SIMILAR CHALLENGE?

TRUST US WITH YOUR PROJECT