Osisko Mining Corporation has updated its assessment of fire damage incurred last week at the Canadian Malartic Mill and the preliminary time estimates for the recommencement of production.
Civil engineering inspections have been conducted on the mill floor and roof areas affected by the fire, and safety concerns in the area of the Number 4 cyclone bank have been addressed. Clean-up and repair work has commenced.
A 600 tonne capacity mobile crane has been brought to site, and the Number 4 cyclone bank has been removed from the building for refurbishing. Combined with the existing inventory of spare parts at the mine and work being carried out by suppliers, Osisko believes the Number 4 cyclone bank can be rehabilitated to working state in the near term.
SAG mill, ball mill and crusher wear steel is being replaced concurrently with work on the cyclone, work which was previously scheduled for the mid-May maintenance shut down but is proceeding ahead of schedule because of the fire-related shut down.
Osisko currently believes production will be able to resume in the near term using the three undamaged cyclone banks at a reduced throughput. Exact timing of the restart of production should be available later this week, as well as an estimate on the delay time needed to re-establish service of the Number 4 cyclone.
Mining activity in the pit has continued uninterrupted, and was not affected by last week's fire.
