Falconbridge seeks silica for Kidd Creek copper smelter

Companies with silica deposits or stock piles of silicious ore within 100 km of Timmins could find a market for that material at Falconbridge which is currently seeking silica to use as flux at its copper smelter near Timmins, Ont. Falconbridge, which is jointly owned by Noranda (TSE) and Trelleborg of Sweden, has been looking for precious-metal bearing silicious ores containing 60-100% silica along with minor values in gold, silver or copper. The siliceous rock is needed for smelter flux at the company’s Kidd Creek operation near Timmins.

Since it began an advertising campaign a few weeks ago, Falconbridge has already received nearly 20 replies from companies and individuals with silica deposits across northern Ontario and Quebec.

“We’re interested in seeing what’s out there,” said Harvey Caron, a purchasing agent for Falconbridge. “Already we’ve received a lot of calls from the Sudbury area, but that’s too far for trucking to our Timmins operation.” He said Falconbridge uses up to 100,000 tonnes of silicious ore per year at its copper smelter in Timmins.

The company currently gets most of its silica for smelter flux from the Hoyle Pond and Owl Creek gold mines owned by affiliate Falconbridge Gold (TSE). According to Caron, prices for quartz-bearing siliceous ores, containing 90-100% silica and no precious metal values, can range from $10 to $20 per tonne.

He said about four of the 18 companies that have contacted him so far were asked to send samples of their siliceous ore for further evaluation.

Last year, the company’s Kidd Creek mining operation extracted nearly four million tonnes of copper- zinc ore, and the deposit still has remaining reserves good for another 16 years. The operation turns out about 95,000 tonnes of refined copper and 135,000 tonnes of zinc annually. Considerable amounts of silver are also extracted from the refiner sludge. Copper and zinc produced at Kidd Creek accounted for 39% of Falconbridge’s total sales last year.

Meanwhile, nickel and ferro- nickel produced at Falconbridge’s Sudbury operations accounted for nearly half (49%) of the company’s sales last year. Nearly 2.6 million tonnes of nickel-copper ore were mined in 1989 at six mines owned by Falconbridge around Sudbury.

Construction was also started last year on opening of a new mine — the Craig mine — which in 1994 is expected to account for 60% of the company’s nickel production in the Sudbury area.

The bulk of Falconbridge’s nickel ores are processed in the company’s own dressing and smelting plants, while matte is sent to the Nikkelverk refining plant in Kristiansand, Norway.