Being a northern mining company isn’t always easy, but our safe and environmentally-focused process ensures our partner and customer always receives a high-quality, sustainably sourced product.
Copper/gold concentrate produced at the Minto mine is loaded onto trucks headed for Alaska. En route, the concentrate trucks must cross the Yukon River by barge or ice bridge.
When the concentrate arrives at the Skagway Ore Terminal, it’s stored until there is a sufficient load to be shipped to Japan.
The product reaches its final destination, a smelter and refinery at the Port of Niihama, Japan, and is delivered to our partner and customer, Sumitomo Corporation.
Mother Nature isn’t always predictable. During the spring and fall, when the river is not high enough for the barge to operate, the only means in and out of the mine site is by chartered plane. Therefore, the concentrate must be stored at Minto until the shoulder season is over. Given the potential for logistical challenges, Minto has an agreement with Sumitomo Corporation. This agreement creates a long-term relationship for the purchase of Minto’s concentrate.
The Minto mine commenced Yukon mining operations in 2007 as an open pit mine. In 2012 the company began underground development on the Minto South Deposits while continuing to mine additional open pits as the primary mining method. Today, the mining is entirely underground and we are currently producing in the Minto East and Copper Keel ore bodies.
We have recently completed critical infrastructure in our underground operations including commissioning the Copper Keel Secondary Egress (an alternate exit route in case of emergency), relocating the Portable Refuge Station, and installing the Copper Keel access ramp. We’ve also upgraded the electrical system in the Copper Keel ore body to ensure there is the capacity for future development.
The Minto mine sits within the Minto Copper Belt, a 42-kilometer-long northwest-trending corridor of copper-gold-silver mineralization in central Yukon. The copper mineralization we’ve found in the belt is hosted within migmatites (metamorphic rocks that have undergone high degrees of partial melting). And in fact, only a few examples exist worldwide that host high-grade copper mineralization associated with migmatite similar to that of Minto. This is a new and exciting opportunity for us as we continue our primary objective of upgrading mineral resources to reserves and exploring new ore deposits.
Minto performs underground mining using a long hole mining method. The long hole stopes are retreated from an extraction development drive with rib pillars left between stope lines for ground stability. Ore is extracted from the mine with 45-tonne haul trucks utilizing a 15% ramp to surface. Minto underground is currently producing 2,000tpd and ramping up as we are expanding into our newly developed Copper Keel Deposit. This mining area will also utilize longhole stoping and will be mined with two new Komatsu 22HD loaders, an 11yd loader powered by a hybrid-electric drive.
Since restarting operations in October 2019 we have processed 391,964 dmt of ore through the mill and produced 19,187 dmt of copper/gold concentrate. Mill throughput has increased from 2458 tpod to 3965 tpod. The mill is currently running on a 2 week on/2 week off schedule as we continue to develop Copper Keel and ramp up operations. Soon we will be running the mill on a 3 week on/1 week off schedule.
Minto values the health and safety of our people! Minto maintains a Target: ZERO philosophy that believes all incidents are preventable and that every effort must be made to eliminate significant accidents and reduce minor incidents toward ZERO. Our safety standards are such that no one is expected to put themselves at risk in any way while performing their duties at the Minto mine.
Want more insight into how we work or deliver our product? We’d love to tell you more.
