Client: Gold Producer in Northern Ontario
Location: Timmins, Ontario
Size: 3000 MTPD
Porcupine Engineering Services (now part of JLR) was retained by a local gold producer in Timmins, Ontario, to increase throughput to 3000 MTPD. It was a conventional gold mill circuit, involving crushing and grinding, gravity, and leaching, followed by carbon-in-leach and carbon-in-pulp processes for gold recovery. The mill, which processes ore from multiple mines, has consistently achieved metallurgical recoveries exceeding 95%. The mill employs approximately 650 people and about 70 full-time contractors; the two mines that feed the mill are projected to produce until 2025.
The main challenge for the initial expansion was posed by the extreme “brown fields” environment where work had to be performed. The integration of new equipment into an existing and operating mill made the precise coordination of work critical to meeting schedule and budget targets.
JLR’s scope of work included fast-track detailed engineering to meet critical path milestones and preparation of the detailed engineering construction documents for the structural, mechanical, piping, electrical, instrumentation, and automation disciplines.