Overview -
Red Lake-Campbell Mine Complex is Canada's largest gold mine and one of the world's highest-grade and lowest cost gold producing operations. The Red Lake and Campbell Mines were combined on April 2, 2007, and now operate as one underground mining operation referred to here as the "Red Lake Mine". The complex is located in Northern Ontario, and produced 629,200 ounces of gold at a total cash cost of $US302/oz in 2007. The Red Lake mine has an expected mine life through 2023, based on reserves and assuming significant mineral resource conversion to mineral reserves.
Mining is carried out using underground cut and fill techniques allowing maximum ore extraction and minimal dilution.
The high-grade, narrow vein system is being mined at the rate of 700 tons per day with an average grade of over 2 ounces per ton (60 grams/ tonne). The high-grade mineralization and complex geometry of the ore body require operating under unique circumstances. Various mining cut and fill methods are currently in use. The implementation of innovative mining techniques, as well as improvements and refinements to other areas of the operation, have been key to the success of the mine in the last four years.
Goldcorp has implemented the use of new Virtual Reality (VR) technology for mine design and planning purposes, and has recently built a state-of-the-art VR studio on site. Goldcorp is spending $132 million on a new 7,150 ft. deep shaft currently under construction.
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