BY CRAIG GILBERT
A significant number of new jobs will be created once the now-dormant Levack mine is put back into production by the Sudbury Joint Venture.
The two companies that form the SJV, Dynatec Corporation and FNX Mining Company Inc., announced last week they will be investing $8 million to refurbish the former Inco Ltd. mine once they get the go-ahead from the government and the nickel giant.
The SJV already has reasonable employment at the McCreedy West mine next door and will be looking for new hires soon, according to Dynatec vice-chair Bruce Walter.
?We?re looking to double the rate of mining at the site,? he said. ?That doesn?t mean a doubling of employment, but there will be a substantial boost in mining opportunities.?
Most of the $8 million will go toward reconditioning the Levack No. 2 Shaft and headframe.
Once phase two mine preproduction development work is done and the shaft is ready, all ore from the McCreedy and Levack mines, which are
connected underground, will come to the surface via the No. 2 shaft.
The mines together have a number of promising ore zones, according to Walter.
Exploration is ongoing, he said, and has been expanded in some areas since it began.
?It?s good grade ore,? he said. ?It?s quite valuable rock to be mining.?
He described the forecasted mineral finds as ?not spectacular, but very good.?
The McCreedy west mine began producing ore last May, averaging 500-1,000 tonnes per day.
The Levack mine is expected to have a similar output.
The multi-compartment Levack No. 2 shaft has a production capacity of 4,000 tonnes per day.
All the ore produced at the joint site will be milled and processed by Inco, according to spokesperson Cory McPhee.
He said Inco was more than agreeable to the SJV coming in and reconditioning a number of their old mines.
?We need the feed material, and the employment they are creating is good for the local economy,? said McPhee.
Dynatec generated in the region of $200 million in revenues this year, according to Walter.
Incepted in 1980, Dynatec is now shifting its focus from providing its expertise in mining, drilling and metallurgical operations as a service to other
companies, to owning its own projects.
?In that regard, the SJV is a first major step for us,? said Walter. ?It?s been successful this far, and we have three more mines we hope to have in
production over the next few years.?
The SJV hopes to reopen the Victoria, Norman and Kirkwood mines as well.
