Kidd may add to reserves

Deep underground exploration at the Kidd Creek mine in Timmins, Ont., has turned up potential new reserves.

While precise figures are not available, speculation has it that as much as another 10 million tonnes might be added to reserves. But hard numbers will not be available until early in the new year, said Warren Holmes, president and general manager of Falconbridge.

“When we put together a hard reserve number and mining plan, we will say more about it,” he told The Northern Miner.

He did note that diamond drilling in the deepest part of the mine (at about the 7,000-ft.

horizon) has revealed the orebody “is similar to what we have had, a continuation of (conditions in) the upper orebody.”

While Holmes would not comment on the dimensions or continuity of the depth extension discovered by the latest drilling, veteran observers of the Kidd Creek camp might interpret his comments as meaning that the deeper portions may mirror the widths and the continuous nature of the upper orebody. However, that kind of speculation must await public announcements from Falconbridge. (The company is jointly owned by Noranda and Trelleborg of Sweden.)

Falconbridge Chief Executive Officer Frank Pickard would only say that results so far are “quite positive.”

If current rumors turn out to be accurate, another 10 million tonnes would add roughly three to four years of life to the mine. Without an addition to current reserves (roughly 32.8 million tonnes), the mine will run out of ore by about 2004.