Overview
Stage | Production |
Mine Type | Underground |
Commodities |
- Nickel
- Copper
- Cobalt
- Platinum
- Palladium
- Gold
- Silver
- Rhodium
|
Mining Method |
- Cut & Fill
- Blast Hole Stoping
- Longhole stoping
- Hydraulic backfill
|
Production Start | ...  |
Mine Life | 17 years (as of Jan 1, 2021) |
Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations (Sudbury INO) include two underground mines (Fraser and Nickel Rim South), Strathcona Mill and the Sudbury Smelter.
The Strathcona Mill receives ore from the two mines as well as third-party custom feed ores. The Sudbury Smelter processes the nickel-copper concentrate as well as custom feed materials to produce a nickel matte, which is sent to port facilities in Quebec City, and from there to Glencore’s refinery in Norway. |
Source:
p. 27
Contractors
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Summary:
Sulphide deposits sit on broadly defined trends of mineralisation along basal brecciated rocks of the Sudbury Igneous Complex as pentlandite-pyrrhotite chalcopyrite rich concentrations as well as within the underlying footwall in fractured pathways as chalcopyrite dominated polymetallic (Cu, Ni, Au, Ag, Pt, Pd) vein-style sulphides. The total Mineral Reserve tonnage increased from 2016 due to the addition of the Onaping Depth deposit.
Mining Methods
- Cut & Fill
- Blast Hole Stoping
- Longhole stoping
- Hydraulic backfill
Summary:
Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations (Sudbury INO) consist of two underground mines (Nickel Rim South Mine and Fraser Mine), Strathcona Mill and the Sudbury Smelter.
All these operations are hard rock mines, with excellent rockmass quality. The depth of mining is sufficient to develop pervasive stress fracturing around most openings.
Two mining method are used at Sudbury Operations depending on the spatial orientation of the orebody as well as size and geometries:
- Cut and Fill mining is used when the orebody is dipping lower than 50o or sub-horizontally
- Blasthole and Longhole is used when the orebody is above 50o.
Nickel Rim South (NRS) is a modern mine using blast-hole open stoping with backfill as a means of bulk mining.
Cut and Fill – Plan view
Access x-cut are driven from main ramp and drifts to the ore zones. Ore is mined upwards by successive breasting cuts techniques. When the ore zone exceeds 11 m width post pillar pattern is applied. Post pillars (5m X 5m) are established between 11m width panels. These post pillars are carried through subsequent cuts.
Cut and Fill – Cross section
X-Cut distance from the main access permits to mine 5 cuts. First access is at -15% and other access by increment of 7.5% after to a maximum of +15%. Hydraulic backfill is used to fill finished cut.
Blasthole & Longhole Stoping
Blasthole mining is used where geometry and geologic confidence in the ore outlines are favorable. It is utilized to recover pillars located between area ........

Flow Sheet:
Summary:

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Production:
Commodity | Product | Units | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
Nickel
|
Metal in concentrate
|
kt
| ...... * | ...... * | ...... * | 0.5 * | 0.5 * | 0.6 * |
Nickel
|
Metal
|
kt
| ...... * | ...... * | ...... * | 60* | 57* | 66* |
Copper
|
Metal in concentrate
|
kt
| ...... * | ...... * | ...... * | ...... * | ...... * | ...... * |
Copper
|
Metal
|
kt
| ...... * | ...... * | ...... * | ...... * | ...... * | ...... * |
Cobalt
|
Metal
|
kt
| ...... * | ...... * | ...... * | ...... * | ...... * | ...... * |
Platinum
|
|
koz
| ...... * | ...... * | ...... * | ...... * | ...... * | ...... * |
Palladium
|
|
koz
| ...... * | ...... * | ...... * | ...... * | ...... * | ...... * |
Gold
|
|
koz
| ...... * | ...... * | ...... * | ...... * | ...... * | ...... * |
Silver
|
|
koz
| ...... * | ...... * | ...... * | ...... * | ...... * | ...... * |
Rhodium
|
|
koz
| ...... * | ...... * | ...... * | ...... * | ...... * | ...... * |
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Operational Metrics:
Metrics | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
Ore tonnes mined
| ......  | ......  | 1,986,719 t | 2,002,221 t | 1,955,548 t | 2,000,416 t |
Tonnes milled
| ......  | ......  | 2,114,311 t | 2,010,354 t | 2,005,200 t | 2,054,200 t |
Annual milling capacity
| ......  | ......  | 2.75 Mt | | | |
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Reserves at December 31, 2021:
Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade |
Proven & Probable
|
19.52 Mt
|
Nickel
|
1.77 %
|
Proven & Probable
|
19.52 Mt
|
Copper
|
0.89 %
|
Proven & Probable
|
19.52 Mt
|
Cobalt
|
0.04 %
|
Proven & Probable
|
19.52 Mt
|
Platinum
|
0.39 g/t
|
Proven & Probable
|
19.52 Mt
|
Palladium
|
0.41 g/t
|
Measured & Indicated
|
27.8 Mt
|
Nickel
|
1.97 %
|
Measured & Indicated
|
27.8 Mt
|
Copper
|
2.23 %
|
Measured & Indicated
|
27.8 Mt
|
Cobalt
|
0.04 %
|
Measured & Indicated
|
27.8 Mt
|
Platinum
|
0.88 g/t
|
Measured & Indicated
|
27.8 Mt
|
Palladium
|
0.99 g/t
|
Inferred
|
37 Mt
|
Nickel
|
0.9 %
|
Inferred
|
37 Mt
|
Copper
|
2.2 %
|
Inferred
|
37 Mt
|
Cobalt
|
0.02 %
|
Inferred
|
37 Mt
|
Platinum
|
0.8 g/t
|
Inferred
|
37 Mt
|
Palladium
|
1 g/t
|
Financials:
| Units | 2020 | 2017 |
Capital expenditures
|
M CAD
| ......  |
150
|
Corporate Filings & Presentations:
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