Challenge: Extracting gold economically from narrow vein deposits
Solution: Developing and implementing a one-of-a-kind excavation system
For Anaconda Mining, innovation helps define the corporate culture. The publicly-traded Canadian gold mining and exploration company, with operations in Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia, is no stranger to finding innovative technology solutions to operational challenges.
Currently, for example, Anaconda is developing a novel extraction process for narrow vein deposits which are not feasible to extract using current technology.
“Together with expertise developed at Memorial University’s Faculty of Engineering originally for use in the oil and gas industry, we are creating technology to economically extract ore from these hard to access deposits,” says Allan Cramm, Anaconda’s vice-president of innovation and development.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, Anaconda is in production at its Point Rousse Project and in the exploration and development stage at its Argyle Project, both located on the Baie Verte Peninsula. Point Rousse, in operation since 2010, features an open-pit gold mine and a processing mill that produces gold doré bars. In its most recent year of operation, Anaconda had sales of $25.7 million. The company is also advancing a significant project at Goldboro in Nova Scotia, with exploration ongoing and a bulk sampling program scheduled for later in 2018.
This new technology will enable Anaconda to extend the life of their Newfoundland and Labrador operations, thereby maintaining good-paying jobs in a rural area of the province and creating spin-off opportunities for local suppliers. Anaconda presently employs nearly 100 people at its various sites in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.
“This initiative is a great opportunity for the company and for the provinces,” says Cramm. “We’re going to see some remarkable growth over the next few years. Our plan is to ultimately adapt and create technology that will position Anaconda and Newfoundland and Labrador as global leaders in narrow vein mining.”
Partnerships focused on innovation and developing new technology are key to Anaconda Mining Inc.’s continued success. One such partnership with the Government of Canada is helping Anaconda lead the way in the gold mining industry. With support from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), the government is investing $1.5 million towards the development, prototyping and optimizing of a new technology to mine narrow gold veins by adapting expertise developed at Memorial University’s Faculty of Engineering.
Anaconda Mining Inc. is a prime example of how innovation and resourcefulness fuel Atlantic Canada’s economy, at home and beyond.
Do you have a business concept? Do you have an innovative idea to improve or grow your business? For more information on programs and services available to businesses in Atlantic Canada call 1-800-561-7862 or go to canada.ca/acoa.
