LAKEFIELD PASSES THE 50 MARK
Thayer Lindsley had an undisputed talent for finding and developing mines. Patience, however, wasnt one of his strong points. As president of the rapidly expanding Ventures Group in the early 1940s, L…
News
THE LITTLE MILL THAT COULD: Est Malartic mill copes with a variety
If ever there were to be a country-wide award for flexibilty in processing plants, for adapting to changing times, then LAC Mineral’s Est Malartic mill would be the run-away winner. The mill was built…
GROUND CONTROL
Rockbolts are rare at El Indio. You might find them in the service bays, along with screening or shotcreting. But they are not in evidence in the main drifts or in stopes. Only where drifts cross faul…
WHAT’S NEW: HOSE ASSEMBLY MADE EASY
Aeroquip (Canada) Inc. has introduced MatchMate Plus, a trademarked crimp hose assembly system that includes a new one-piece global fitting and other enhancements to its popular Match Mate system. The…
LAC MINES THE AMERICAS
Modern-day LAC Minerals rests on four pillars — the Doyon mine (featured in the Fall Issue of The Northern Miner Magazine), the Bousquet complex, Bullfrog in Nevada and the El Indio complex in the wi…
ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECT
Arsenic has been the bugbear at El Indio since its inception. Currently, 93% of the arsenic is captured before it goes out the roaster stacks. LAC is working to increase the gas capture to 98%. Accord…
MINE EXPLORATION
The El Indio complex has reserves that will last for at least another 10 years. At the 3700 level, the deepest mine access, the San Paulo drift is being extended to confirm mineralization and to set u…
THE CRITICS ARE SILENT: LAC’s innovative hedging is now industry
LAC Minerals was criticized at the turn of the 1980s for “speculating” on the gold price by hedging gold production. For the mining industry back then, this was a true innovation — and heresy. Hedgin…
50 YEARS AGO (December 01, 1991)
GOLD FIELDS DRILLING AGAIN Due to difficulties with overburden there have been no further results from drilling in the new west ore area at Malartic Gold Fields. Hole No. 154, located 100 ft. west of …
HEAP LEACHING, A PROFITABLE SIDELINE
Heap leach ore at El Indio is a byproduct of mining in the Tambo open pits. Low-grade ore running on average 1.2 g per tonne — waste rock were it not for heap leaching — is piled in 6-m lifts up to …
WORKER PAYRATES
Labor costs run between US$500 to $1,000 per month for unionized workers at El Indio. Workers also benefit from an incentive program, similar to mining bonuses at Canadian operations, and a profit-sha…
A SURVIVOR AND THEN SOME: Macassa is the lone mine in Kirkland
On May 23, 1990, the three millionth ounce of gold from the Macassa mine was poured. Macassa, owned and operated by LAC Minerals Ltd., is located on the outskirts of the town of Kirkland Lake, in Teck…