In operation since 1988, the inexhaustible LaRonde mine has produced more than 6 million ounces of gold. The deepest mine in the Americas, more than 3 kilometers underground, Agnico Eagle must demonstrate extraordinary ingenuity and logistics for its operation, such as Press was able to see it firsthand. It’s your turn to take a look.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
The Penna well is the only visible surface well still in operation.
Located halfway between Rouyn and Val-d’Or, the LaRonde complex has nine plants (two concentrators, four water treatment plants, two backfill plants and a tailings filtration plant under construction). The LaRonde concentrator has a daily capacity of 8,100 tonnes, spread over two production sites: 5,100 tonnes from the Penna well and 3,200 tonnes from below the LZ5 pit. The Penna well, the headframe of which can be seen in the photo, is the only visible surface well still in operation. Often pushed back in time, the mine’s lifespan is currently set at 2032.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Miners’ clothes hanging from the ceiling after a shift
The day begins. You must first go to the locker room to change. Operation is carried out on two 10-hour shifts, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. About 250 miners descend during the day, between 150 and 175 at night and on weekends.
Elevator to the center of the Earth. A first cage brings the workers 2000 meters underground. Eight trips are needed to bring the workers down into the underground galleries.
The cage can hold 22 people per level. There are two levels. It moves vertically at a speed of 457 meters per minute. The journey takes about 5 minutes to reach level 206, or 2,060 meters below the surface.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
A garage to repair heavy machinery two kilometers deep
When you go so deep, you have to plan everything underground in the name of productivity and safety. Over the years, Agnico Eagle, operator of LaRonde, has built a mini underground city. Here we see the maintenance garage for a fleet of 250 heavy vehicles in the mine. Hangars 10 meters high were dug out of the rock. A spare parts warehouse has even been set up there. To keep the working environment clean, concrete has been sprayed on the walls to avoid dust caused by the crumbling of the rock.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
A refuge for minors, which is also used for breaks
In the vastness of the LaRonde mine, which has nearly 300 kilometers of underground galleries, some forty shelters like this one have been built. They serve as shelters in case of fire or emergency. Air-conditioned, the shelters also serve as cafeterias and rest rooms for minors. As it takes 45 to 60 minutes for each worker to get from the surface to his workstation, we limit the comings and goings during the day.
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PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
The journey has only just begun. The LaRonde deposit extends to depth and now reaches 3000 meters underground. You have to take a second freight elevator to go and operate it. The mining company had to install a second winch, but entirely underground, which required the excavation of a gallery over 12 meters high.
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PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Arrived at level 278, or 2780 meters below the surface, the workers must take a shuttle to travel the 800 meters separating the freight elevator from the deposit currently in operation. It’s hot underground. The temperature increases by 1 ° C every 100 meters. At 3000 meters, the temperature very often exceeds 30 ° C, not to mention the humidity. The mine is also air-conditioned and ventilated to expel the exhaust gases of heavy vehicles.
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PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
The mine is a real labyrinth. Even if 250 men and women are underground simultaneously, meetings are rare. Here, a farm tractor suitable for mining. A metal mesh covers the galleries to avoid debris in the event of seismic activity and rock movement.
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PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
At the heart of the action. Here, a gallery where ore is extracted. The blasting occurred in the previous days. About 50,000 tonnes of ore to be mined, with an average grade of 4 to 5 grams of gold per tonne, are ready for removal. The miner operates the loader remotely as a safety measure, because the site is 30 meters high and the ore can tumble.
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PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Each bucket can pick up 10 to 15 tons of ore at a time. Each trip contains 40 to 60 grams of gold, or approximately US $ 2,500 to $ 4,300. LaRonde is a polymetallic mine. It contains silver, copper and zinc. It is in fact the largest copper mine in Quebec. Visitors are looking for the finest nugget in the bucket.
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PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
The loader then goes to meet a truck to unload. If the day goes as planned, the miner will make a hundred trips with his loader during his shift. A paying day. The ore will then be deposited on a crusher to reduce the size of the rock. The ore then falls on a conveyor which joins the freight elevator. The ore will rise to the surface where trucks will transport it to the concentrator, about 500 meters to the west.
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PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Automation makes its debut at the mine. Here, a transport truck that can operate with or without an operator prepares to enter the ramp of pit LZ5, the second sector in operation at LaRonde. It is an underground deposit, 270 meters deep, located under an old open pit previously exploited. Approximately 3,000 to 3,200 tonnes of ore per day are extracted from the mine, at a grade of approximately 2 grams of gold per tonne. A heavy vehicle of this type costs $ 2 million. Its use for two years allows to work four hours more per day. Since explosives are used at the end of the shift, and then time must be allowed for the evacuation of the gases, it takes two hours before we can resume working with humans. Without a driver, the truck is back on the road without delay. Better productivity compensates for the lower grade of the deposit.
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PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Another example of robotization. An operator remotely controls an automated drilling rig from the comfort of his air-conditioned office on the surface. The drill holes the rock so that we can then insert explosives that we will detonate at the end of the day. By limiting movement between the surface and the underground workplace, productivity is increased. The implementation of all these new technologies is made possible by the deployment in 2018 of a private LTE cellular network in the mine galleries.
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The refinery or the lair of Lucifer. Press witnessed a spectacular gold pour. Heated to 1100 ° C, the gold concentrate flows into a series of seven bricks. A heavy metal, gold comes out last from the tank and is concentrated in the first bricks at the top, while the lighter impurities are expelled by the gold and are found in the lower bricks.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
We were able to witness a gold flow. The refiner has put on his Merlin suit.
The final result. A 700 troy ounce brick the size of a clay brick in our homes. Nineteen times denser than water, a gold brick weighs nearly 22 kilograms, or just under 50 pounds. It is worth 1.5 million CAN. It will make its way to the facilities of the Royal Canadian Mint in Ottawa. Mining 8,100 tons of ore every day at about 4 grams of gold per ton ultimately yields about one to two 700 troy ounce bricks of gold.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
A gold brick weighing nearly 20 kilograms