GREENSTONE—The Greenstone gold mine project has been a work in progress for some time now, and according to Eric Lamontagne, general manager of Greenstone Gold Mine, the timeline for work now and in the next year, is falling into place quite nicely.
Lamontagne candidly offered his views and outlook for this project. When asked where things stand today with the Greenstone Mine, he was quite straightforward. He shared that “Lots of things have happened since the last week of October 2021. We first progressed a lot with the needed work, such as the engineering projects, which are at 85 per cent and we hope to be at 90 per cent by this April”.
He spoke about how the past months have been spent purchasing needed equipment and how “The procurement team has faced several challenges with the changes taking place around the world”. Obviously alluding to the changes caused by a worldwide pandemic, it became clear that the delivery of necessary equipment was delayed. “Delivery time increased. What was supposed to take six months to arrive is now taking nine months to a year”.
Throughout each of the challenges faced, the project still remains on schedule and on budget. He proudly spoke of the team and that regardless of the unforeseen challenges faced, they are keeping this project on time.
Lamontagne spoke about the stages of construction and build of this project. They began pouring concrete in November 2021, on site and because the winter months were extremely cold it made work even more difficult. As a result, he described how, “We decided to not push too much during the winter. Currently, we have run a lot of concrete and we have finalized our proposal for the concrete. We have hired two contractors for the mobilization and we are in this mobilization currently. In two weeks, we will have 100 people working here to pour the concrete. By April we hope to be returning on schedule with the concrete.” He spoke confidently about how all of these things are lined up to be erected by April and that they are still on target to close all of this concrete work by next winter.
The project manager then took time to speak about more specific things required to be built, such as the administration building for the mine. He described how this building will incorporate 16 modules which will start to arrive on site in March 2022 and be completed by July 2022. The “Flack shop” (the interior floor boards, interior structure etc.) will be functioning soon, and the power plant will be functioning in the summer of 2023. Presently power for this project is being provided by Hydro One, which he confirmed is temporary.
Highway 11 realignment has also been a huge part of this mine project. Lamontagne spoke about the timeline for Highway 11 and how there are two sections, with the west section having seen a lot of work. Work on the East section of the highway is scheduled to start the first quarter of 2022, which is this quarter. “We’ll have a need to wait two months for the segment of old paving because the highway will pass on the old paving for one section. Then after a few more months we go back to finalize the highway. This will mean we will be working on it in 2023 and the highway will be completed by the first quarter of 2023.”
Lamontagne said the biggest change will happen this summer and that these changes will definitely be noticeable. What is being seen currently is the building of all the foundation needed for the mining project. This summer will see the “erection of all the buildings and this will change things completely for many years in the future.” During the last year of construction, he feels that the people of the region and the community will see less change because interior work on the project and the buildings will be the primary focus.
He wanted to remind everyone that this mine project “Had three different construction projects going on: the Process Plant, with all the buildings, the infrastructure to process, and the need to relocate the highway. We have a contractor with 75 employees working at the same time relocating the creek”.
He also described how currently there is a need to do some work on the other side of the current highway, during the summer months. Timelines will depend on the construction of the open pit. “It’ll trigger the move of this different infrastructure because the pit will progress East to West. The first infrastructure will be the Hydro One Sub-station. After that will be the other buildings as needed, with the OPP detachment building being last. We have tried to finalize negotiations with the landlord involved, to keep the OPP building as close to the old location as possible," said Lamontagne.
The Greenstone mine project has resulted in a lot of excitement, and rejuvenation for the community and region. This project according to Lamontagne will have 800 people working onsite, and it is a process that they review weekly. “When we check our planning each week, we grow by 50 up to 800 in June, July and August 2022. Peeking during the summer means we will have a lot of activity happening at the same time.”
When he reflected on all that has occurred since the beginning of this project, he fondly spoke about how much the project is growing and how he enjoys walking into the mine area and the support that he and the entire project has received. “First the population, the community, the Indigenous communities, the First Nation, Metis, all behind us. It’s team work; the different contractors that have had to be hired from all locations in Canada. They have all brought forth the same ambiance all working together as a team to complete the project on time and on budget”, stated Lamontagne.
His excitement rose when he spoke about how the physical mining operations will start next Fall, in September, and October. “The first year will be to create waste rock in the pit to build infrastructure. After one year, in Fall of 2023, the mine will start to ramp up our team to full production to reach this stage by late 2023 and early 2024”.
In spite of a world pandemic, extreme winter weather, and supply chain issues, the Greenstone Gold Mine and the completion of all of the required stages of build, remains a strong focus of every team member involved, under the guidance and direction of Lamontagne.