Alamos Gold
Alamos Gold requested BESTECH to assess and verify the production capacity of the Island Gold Mine with respect to a recent Phase III Expansion Study.
This work represents the Company’s required independent confirmation as a third party to support a project funding decision for the planned expansion.
SCOPE
The Phase III study indicated a possible increase in production from 1,200 to 2,000 tonnes per day. A deeper assessment of this work was warranted, to provide due diligence to the Company on the ability of the orebody to meet the increased production target, and to offer any risks and opportunities associated with the planned productivity increase from the underground operation and processing facility.
Regarding our methodology, we reviewed the Island Gold Mine’s mine design, production plans, and the current vs planned mining and milling rates and productivities. We used Island Gold’s Deswik™ interactive scheduler model to complete a thorough interrogation of the build-up of the model, with a review of the rates, sequencing, assumptions, linked activities, and model constraints. Alamos’s existing Deswik™ model is very comprehensive, with layers of tasks embedded in over 35,000 lines of code. We used a systematic approach to validate and support its logic. We also modified the model to reflect potential options in the mine plan, such as backfilling practices.
OUTCOME
Our outcome was a thorough analysis of the mining methods and mining plan, with an identification of the main bottlenecks and improvement opportunities. We successfully completed the review and validated the maximum sustainable production rate for the life of mine and supported the next stage in permitting efforts.
In addition to the revised and updated Deswik™ model, BESTECH issued a detailed engineering report to the Company summarizing all findings, identifying the potential improvement strategies to increase stoping productivity of the mine, and validated the orebody capacity to support the planned expansion financing.