Nickel Rim South

Challenges

Nickel Rim South was a C$925-million exploration project on the northeast edge of the Sudbury basin
Develop surface infrastructure, a ventilation and secondary access shaft sunk to 1,685 m, and a production shaft sunk to 1,750 m
Include underground infrastructure, 11 km of lateral-mine access drifts and 105 km of diamond-drilling to improve ore-body geometry, mineral grades, and tonnage

Solutions

Completed prefeasibility and feasibility studies and were awarded the engineering, procurement, project and construction management, and commissioning phases of the project
Developed the mine for a 1.25 Mtpa production rate. Designed to accommodate ore and waste extraction rates of up to 1.3 Mtpa
A 75-person team managed five design groups with up to 15 contracting firms on site simultaneously
Site preparation, services and development of electrical systems completed in 2004; shaft sinking completed in 2007; lateral development and underground construction completed in 2010

Highlights

The Nickel Rim South project established a new technology benchmark for all future mines. It deployed the latest advances in controls and communications, including comprehensive Wi-Fi for surface and underground phone, data, asset, and personnel tracking
It was completed on schedule, under budget, and with a world-class safety record, reaching 5.7 million hours lost-time incident free in 2009

”The project has been an outstanding success with a world-class safety record, below budget costs and outstanding schedule performance.”

Marc Boissonneault | Vice President Sudbury Operations, Xstrata Nickel

Project numbers

1.3 Mtpa waste extraction rate
1,685 m secondary access shaft sunk
1,750 m production shaft sunk
11 km of lateral-mine access drift
105 km of diamond drilling