Komatsu and its largest Canadian dealer, SMS Equipment, will supply all of the loading and hauling equipment for Canada Nickel’s proposed Crawford open-pit mine, north of Timmins.
The Alberta-headquartered SMS Equipment has branches in Timmins and Thunder Bay.
It’s a big procurement deal at $1.5 billion.
In a Sept. 14 news release, Canada Nickel said Komatsu was its choice from four equipment vendors and was chosen for its proven automated and electrified technologies. The company said this falls in line with the mine developer’s vision to run a low-carbon mining operation using electric equipment.
In a statement, Canada Nickel CEO Mark Selby said this marks a “major step” in the Crawford development, located 40 kilometres north of Timmins. It will be a low-grade, high-tonnage project that contains 3.8 million tonnes of proven and probable nickel reserves. The company ranks Crawford as the second largest nickel reserve in the world, behind Norilsk, Russia.
Selby said Komatsu and SMS Equipment have considerable experience in implementing trolley-assisted truck haulage. This is a system where heavy trucks in an open-pit mining operation connect to overhead power lines via roof-mounted arms in climbing up-hill roads.
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