Generation Mining is expected to make a decision in September to begin digging the pit for its $1-billion Marathon copper and palladium mine. In the meantime, the north shore developer is making moves to put all the supporting pieces in place.
The Toronto company delivered a status report on Aug. 12 of its Marathon project in northwestern Ontario as it moves into the procurement and final design stages.
The Marathon project is a large, undeveloped copper-palladium deposit, 10 kilometres north of the town, next to the airport and just off the Trans-Canada Highway.
If everything falls into place, mining could start in 2028 after a 20- to 24-month construction period.
In its latest release, Gen Mining said early bid pricing for 30 per cent of the mine’s capital costs have come in at or below its 2025 feasibility study projections.
That’s encouraging for Clinton Swemmer, the company’s vice-president of projects.
“While individual package results vary, the combined outcome provides additional confidence in the overall capital cost estimate as we advance detailed engineering and construction readiness activities,” he said in a statement.
Ausenco was named the project’s lead contractor earlier this year.
On the procurement side, Gen Mining said an equipment manufacturer has been selected to deliver the mining fleet, along with a fuel supplier. The suppliers were not named in the news release.
A detailed design and planning team is working on the mill and processing facility buildings and machinery, the infrastructure layout, the access road, and generally how construction will proceed efficiently and safely.
Some of those planning activities are related to safety systems, medical facilities, telecommunications, real estate, laydown areas, and mining operations, such as drilling and blasting.
The initial mine life is 13 years. During that span, 2,161,000 ounces of palladium, 532 million pounds of copper, 488,000 ounces of platinum, 160,000 ounces of gold and 3,051,000 ounces of silver will be produced.
All the construction permits are in place and the project is basically shovel-ready. Gen Mining has said a formal decision to break ground will come when all the project financing is in place. The company has told those in the mining media that decision will come next month.
Project financing remains a work in progress, the company said in June.
The Marathon Project will have a major economic and job-generating impact on the north shore of Lake Superior, creating as many as 1,000 construction jobs during a 20- to 24-month period. There will be 400 mining jobs once it’s in operation.
Last month, Gen Mining signed an agreement with Valard Construction to lease a workforce accommodation camp that was used during the construction of the East-West Tie transmission line construction. There are beds for 263, during the initial mine site prep and into early construction, but the company said they’ll need 786 beds heading into the peak period of construction.
Nearby Biigtigong Nishnaabeg First Nation will operate and service the camp as stipulated in a memorandum of agreement inked in January 2022.
