Overview
Stage | Restarting |
Mine Type | Underground |
Commodities |
|
Mining Method |
- Longhole open stoping
- Transverse open stoping
- Longitudinal open stoping
- Cut & Fill
- Cemented paste backfill
- Cemented (undefined) backfill
|
Mine Life | 13 years (as of Jan 1, 2023) |
The Bucko Lake Mine and surrounding deposits is located near Wabowden, Manitoba, Canada. From 2009 to 2012, nearly 450Kt of mineralized material were mined to produce 6.9Mlbs of nickel before the mine was put on care and maintenance due to operational challenges and low nickel prices.
With surging nickel prices driven by the global transition to green energy, results from a new PEA on the Bucko Lake Mine was released in early 2023 showing robust project economics.
The Bucko Lake Mine Is One Of The Most Advanced Nickel Sulfide Projects In North America Today. |
Source:
p. 12
The Bucko Lake Nickel Property is 100% held by CaNickel Mining Limited
Contractors
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Summary:
The Bucko Lake Deposit and its satellite deposits are magmatic sulphide deposits formed as a product of komatiitic magmatism during formation of the Thompson Nickel Belt (“TNB”), a segment of the Circum-Superior Craton Belt (Ciborowsky et al., 2017). Since formation, the magmatic sulphide deposits have been variably modified and remobilized during post-depositional tectonism and high-grade metamorphism of the TNB.
The Bucko Lake area of the Property is underlain by Archean gneisses and Paleoproterozoic Ospwagan Group metasedimentary and ultramafic intrusive rocks. The Archean gneisses are intruded by Paleoproterozoic ultramafic sills, including the Bucko Lake Ultramafic, which hosts the Bucko Lake nickel sulphide deposit. The Bucko Lake Ultramafic sill is on the northeast flank of the Resting Lake Pluton. The footwall contact of the nickel sulphide deposit occurs in close contact with granodiorite gneiss associated with this intrusion.
The Bucko Lake Ultramafic sill is mainly composed of metamorphosed peridotite and dunite with smaller amounts of olivine orthopyroxenite, poikilitic harzburgite, orthopyroxenite and amphibole-bearing peridotite. This sill has been interpreted to be a hook-shaped body 800 m long and dips 75° to 80° east. It is approximately 20 m wide at the south end and gradually increases to >150 m wide at the north end, where it wraps around the nose of a synformal fold structure that plunges steeply to the south.
Contacts o ........
Mining Methods
- Longhole open stoping
- Transverse open stoping
- Longitudinal open stoping
- Cut & Fill
- Cemented paste backfill
- Cemented (undefined) backfill
Summary:
Historical mining on the Bucko Lake Mine progressed to a depth of ~305 m below surface utilizing a combination of Cut-and-Fill (“C&F”) and Long Hole (“LH”) mining, with pumped backfill at varying nominal cement quantities. LH mining was utilized between 260 and 305 m below surface, with C&F mining used above that horizon (130 to 240 m below surface). No mining northeast of the fold was undertaken during historical operations. The area between 240 and 260 m below surface was not mined, however, groundfalls in stopes below have unravelled into this area.
Evaluation of both C&F and LH methods have shown that both have potential applications for future mining at the site. Oversized excavations and ineffective backfilling at the site resulted in falls of ground and contributed to the eventual suspension of the mine, however, the methods themselves do not pose any fatal flaws to future mining provided that design, mining, and backfilling procedures are properly followed and proper QA/QC controls for backfill manufacture and placement are implemented. As a result, both C&F mining and LH mining with Pastefill (“PF”) are proposed for use at the Bucko Lake Mine. The PF utilizes two different nominal cement contents (2.5% or 5.5% binder by mass) depending on whether adjacent mining (exposure in a wall) is required, or whether undermining (exposure in the back) will be required. These cement contents are derived from the Author’s work with other mines and should be verified t ........
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Flow Sheet:
Summary:
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Reserves at January 13, 2023:
The 0.70% Ni cut-off grade was based on an underground long-hole method mining cost of $60/t, processing cost of $33/t, G&A cost of $12/t, Ni price of US$8.75/lb, 79% Ni process recovery, 90% smelter Ni payable, 16% mass pull, $276/dmt (dry metric tonne) smelter treatment charge, $105/wmt (wet metric tonne) concentrate freight cost, 2.5% NSR royalty, $1/t penalty charge and $3/t price participation cost.
Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained Metal |
Measured
|
1,753 t
|
Nickel
|
1.25 %
|
48.32 M lbs
|
Measured
|
1,753 t
|
Copper
|
0.09 %
|
3.4 M lbs
|
Indicated
|
3,975 t
|
Nickel
|
1.23 %
|
107.94 M lbs
|
Indicated
|
3,975 t
|
Copper
|
0.11 %
|
9.99 M lbs
|
Measured & Indicated
|
5,727 t
|
Nickel
|
1.24 %
|
156.26 M lbs
|
Measured & Indicated
|
5,727 t
|
Copper
|
0.11 %
|
13.39 M lbs
|
Inferred
|
10,587 t
|
Nickel
|
1.18 %
|
275.59 M lbs
|
Inferred
|
10,587 t
|
Copper
|
0.13 %
|
31.15 M lbs
|
Corporate Filings & Presentations:
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