Kemess North

Kemess is located in north central BC, approximately 250 kilometres north of Smithers and 400 kilometres northwest of Prince George. The Kemess North deposit is an open pit mine and is located approximately 5 km north of the existing operation. The 85,000 to 100,000 tpd copper/gold concentrate milled will extend ore reserves from 2005 to 2020.

Northgate's development plan proposes that ore will be mined from the Kemess North pit, and hauled to a primary crusher on the western side of the pit. The crushed ore will then be transferred via a conveyor (partially through a 2.8 km tunnel) to the existing Kemess South mill. The existing mill will be expanded by adding a parallel circuit that will include a SAG mill, ball mill and flotation tanks, to accommodate an increased milling rate from 52,000 tpd up to 120,000 tpd. Following milling, tailings will be pumped to a new waste disposal facility in the Duncan Lake valley, 3 km north of the mill. The copper-gold concentrate product will be transported offsite to a smelter.