BP, partners to produce from third Selbaie zone

A third zone will be developed at the joint-venture Selbaie copper- zinc mine in northwestern Quebec, with production to begin during the last quarter of 1988. Estimated cost of bringing the new A2 zone into production is $9.5 million.

Partners in the mine, located west of Matagami, are BP Canada (55%), Esso Resources Canada (35%) and TransCanada Pipelines (10%). The operator is BP Canada’s Selco mining and minerals division.

Developing the new zone will extend the life of underground operations at the mine, and the related 138 jobs, for about four years, the joint venture says.

The two zones currently in production are the B and A1. The first into production, the B zone, is both an open pit and underground development. The A1 zone, a 5,000- tonne-per-day open pit operation, went into production late in 1986.

The joint venture says an underground exploration program at the A2 zone has delineated a mineable underground reserve of 1.9 million tonnes, grading 2.24% copper, 1.04% zinc, 1.23 g gold per tonne and 19.38 g silver lying above the 240-m level. Mineralized zones below that level have yet to be tested in detail.

The A2 zone ore will be mined in conjunction with the underground B zone ore at a rate of 1,650 tonnes per day and be trucked underground to the B zone crusher and hoisted through the existing B zone shaft. The joint venture says use of the existing facilities allows for a low capital-cost development of the A2 zone.

The joint venture is predicting the Selbaie project will in 1988 produce 52 million lb copper, 72 million lb zinc, 24,000 oz (746,400 g) gold and 2 million oz (62.6 million g) silver.