Development Projects of KGHM

Based on the new site plan, the maximum value of the project will be reached, with key infra-structure located farther away from people’s neighborhoods and capital expenditures opti-mized. The relocation of some facilities outside City of Kamloops will ease the process of finalizing environmental assessment, reduce dust and noise, and decrease costs of delivery.

“We have listened to local communities since the beginning of exploration works at the Ajax site, and the mine’s new General Arrangements prove this. At the same time, the change is economically well-founded. It will allow us to optimize capital expenditures and costs of pro-duction. With part of infrastructure relocated outside City of Kamloops, we should also be able to gain timely approvals from the regulatory agencies,” said Marcin Mostowy, the CEO of KGHM Ajax Mining Inc.

The key changes include: the redesign of the tailings storage facility and its relocation closer to mine operations, as well as the relocation of waste rock storage facility, mine processing plant, primary crusher and temporary ore stockpiles farther from the City of Kamloops. KGHM believes these modifications will have a positive effect on gaining timely the neces-sary approvals.

The schedule of the Afton-Ajax project
Currently, the Environmental Assessment Applications are planned to be submitted at the end of first quarter of 2015. The adopted schedule should allow to begin construction of the mining plant in-2016 and postpone part of project’s capital expenditures financed by KGHM. KGHM also believes the initial production of copper concentrate from the Afton-Ajax mine should be seen in late 2018.
For more details on the mine’s facilities relocation in the Afton-Ajax Project visit: www.ajaxmine.ca. 

Victoria – the construction of adit to the first mine shaft completed

Works on the Victoria project are continued on time. On May 26, the construction of a 200-meter long mining tunnel (adit), reaching 40 meters below the surface of land, was completed. The tunnel will act as a ventilation duct in the course of development and operational phase of the project. It should also optimize works during the first-stage development of the infrastructure for Victoria project. The horizontal excavation works connecting shafts with the adit are under way with completion planned for September 2014.

At the same time, the process of land surface levelling is taking place in order to prepare the area for the needs of development of appropriate mining infrastructure, which due to rocky characteristic of the terrain must be conducted with the use of explosives. On May 16, the felling of the forest on the way of the future power line has been finished. 

Excavation works for the drilling of the exploration shaft will begin in late 2014 or early 2015 and will take approximately three years. The contractors are DMC Mining Services and Pe-BeKa, KGHM’s subsidiaries. The two-phase nature of the project enables to finance the con-struction of the second phase with the operating cash flow of the first phase. 

From the level of the first shaft, additional exploratory drilling enhancing the resources of the project will also be pursued. This will optimize costs related to the deep drilling. The obtained geological information will have strategic importance in the planning and development of the further development of the project, additionally increasing its value.