New life for Canadian mine - Atlas Copco

The Pit Viper’s Rig Control System (RCS) makes life easier for operators like Mathew Leeker, above.at the overall situation. Thibault says themost recent survey found that 85 percentof the community was happy with the mine,10 percent were not affected and only5 percent didn’t like it. She says: “I don’tthink we can ever make everyone happy, butwe will continue to respond to their needsand communicate with them.”Equipment decisionWhen looking at equipment, there was onefocus in mind – to choose technology forthe future. “We knew we were taking achance with new-model equipment, but weare in this for the long term and going withAtlas Copco’s experience was important tous,” says Vezina.He adds: “We wanted the right structure.We needed the best rigs for where we wantto be tomorrow and the training to get usthere. Operating is one thing, operatingefficiently and safely is another.”Mine life and explorationIn total there are nine drills working onsite,with many exploration drills doing reversecirculationand core drilling. It is estimate dthat the mine has a 16-year life, but theexploratio n is continuing and there is hopethat it will go further.Adding to the PV-235 rigs alreadyworking, the mine has purchased threeadditional rigs.Vezina has signed a three-year servicecontract for Atlas Copco to maintain thedrills. “Those Atlas Copco service techsreally do a good job and know what theyare doing,” he says.The commitment from Osisko is not justfor 16 years, though. “This is a partnership,”says Vezina. “I think we need to have apartnership philosophy with suppliers andthe community. We learn from our partners.I’m proud of what we are doing here. Andwe are going to have a lot of fun.”Mining & Construction – 3 / 2011 11