Louvicourt project on time, budget

Production of the Louvicourt project is scheduled to begin in October, 1994, a short five years after discovery of the base metal deposit, northeast of here.

“Quebec is still the best place to explore and develop a mine,” Robert Bryce, vice-president of operations for Aur Resources (TSE), told The Northern Miner. Bryce leads the Louvicourt team that is developing the project on time and on budget.

He added that much of the credit must go to the Quebec government, with which Aur enjoys “excellent collaboration.” It is a relationship that has resulted in well-timed permitting, thereby enabling Louvicourt to meet construction targets.

Aur has a 30% interest in the project. Teck (TSE) has 25% and Novicourt (TSE), which is controlled by Noranda (TSE), has the remaining 45%. Estimated minable reserves are 24 million tonnes grading 3.89% copper, 1.95% zinc, 1.2 grams gold per tonne and 31 grams silver.

After spending about $350 million, Louvicourt will be the biggest copper producer in Quebec. It will, moreover, be the largest underground base metal mine in the province, boasting a 4,000-tonne-per-day concentrator. The mine and mill will offer up to 450 permanent jobs.

When The Northern Miner visited the site, the exploration shaft had reached its final depth of 745 metres and workers were converting the headframe to handle waste from lateral development. Three main levels are planned. The production shaft had reached 570 metres, with Dynatec-Talpa sinking crews averaging 4.2 metres a day. Completion to 1,040 metres is scheduled for November.

The tailings area has been prepared and crews will make a major effort this summer to build the dams. Bryce expects to receive permits for their construction early in May. Then crews must place 5,000 tonnes of material daily to complete the dams before freeze-up.

“Louvicourt will be one of the most productive mines in Canada,” Bryce asserted. Several advanced technologies, including paste backfill, will be employed toward that goal.

The orebody consists of four parallel lenses. Stoping will proceed sequentially from the hangingwall to the footwall. Ore will have to be blended to give the mill predictable head grades.

“Based on the diamond drilling information, I believe we have fairly good ground,” noted Mine Superintendent Keith Boyle.

The stopes will be large: 45 metres high, 15 metres wide and about 25 metres deep. Transverse open-stoping with 6.5-inch blastholes is the mining method of choice. Remote-controlled, 8-cubic-yard load-haul-dump vehicles will do more than half of the mucking. The rest of the equipment will operate conventionally.

Barren ground between the lenses will create irregular, natural pillars. Paste backfill was chosen because planners considered it to be stronger than hydraulic fill, one reason being that the former has fewer fine materials washed out of it.

Louvicourt’s production hoist is the first in Quebec to receive permission to do without Lilly controllers. Instead, it will have electronic control. Piston-diaphragm pumps will remove dirty mine water in a single 1,015-metre lift. This water will contain up to 10% solids.

Designers specified that highly efficient electric motors be used throughout the project. All will be equipped with diagnostic starters, which allow remote-monitoring of their condition.

Louvicourt plans a sub-aqueous tailings disposal system. The sulphide wastes have a potential for acid generation, so they will be covered with a metre of water to prevent air from penetrating.

Few particulars about the concentrator were available at the time of our visit. Detailed engineering studies have begun. Site clearing is under way and the building will rise in the summer. Mill tune-up begins in July, 1994, with full production anticipated in October.

The site visit, a feature of “Mining Week in Quebec,” was sponsored by the Quebec Mining Association, the Quebec Prospectors Association and the Quebec Ministry of Energy and Resources.