HudBay positions itself for growth

With two mines in Manitoba having closed in the last 18 months, and two others in the Snow Lake division approaching the end of their productive lives, Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting (TSE) might seem to have difficulty finding concentrates for its new zinc plant, now under construction, and its long established copper smelter, both at Flin Flon, Man.

But this is far from the case. HudBay has discovered and mined no less than 25 orebodies since its founding in 1930. Half this number has been of limited tonnage with mine lives of less than 10 years, but the company’s policy of saturation geophysics has never failed to turn up replacement orebodies.

The two mines recently closed are Spruce Point in 1992 and Rod in 1991. The operations nearing the end of their lives are the Chisel open pit, producing at the rate of about 270,000 tonnes per annum (tpa), and the adjacent underground Stall Lake mine with output of 290,000 tpa.

Both feed the nearby Snow Lake mill, to which Spruce Point and Rod also delivered. The mill currently operates on a 4-day week. It has a nominal capacity of 3,765 tonnes per day and ore reserves at the two remaining mines will enable milling to continue until late 1993.

Despite a closure scenario, the mining potential of the Chisel Lake area is not exhausted. According to Donald Birak, vice-president of exploration, the Chisel North deposit hosts significant reserves in three separate oreshoots, all delineated by surface drilling. “Values here are primarily zinc,” said Birak. “Our present emphasis is on copper, so these reserves will remain for a later date.”

Proven and probable reserves for HudBay’s Flin Flon/Snow Lake mines, as of June 30, 1992 (latest figures), are 9.5 million tonnes grading 1.4% copper, 5.6% zinc and minor precious metals.

For the Ruttan mine, the figures are 8.3 million tonnes at 1.4% copper and 1.8% zinc, with no precious metals reported.

The Namew Lake nickel mine, 60% owned by HudBay, is scheduled to deplete its reserves in late 1993. However, a number of promising structures continue to be investigated.

In the town of Flin Flon, after several years of negotiation and a change in company ownership, an estimated $187-million upgrading of the metallurgical plant is under way. A Sherritt Gordon, 2-stage, pressure-leach plant with a nameplate capacity of 94,350 tonnes of slab zinc per year will be operational by mid-1993.

A decision will be made in mid-1993 on the installation of a Noranda continuous reactor in the 62-year old copper smelter. This plant will replace the existing roasters and reverberatory furnaces. Nameplate capacity is 77,000 tonnes anode copper per annum. Work on both the copper and zinc plants was originally planned to go ahead simultaneously. Projected cost overruns are the cause of the delay.