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Fairbanks Gold shells out $9 million for new equipment Fort Knox fleet grows with new shovel, haul and ore trucks; equipment will help boost gold production at mine by 30 percent, says Rick Dye Patricia Jones Petroleum News Contributing Writer
Fairbanks Gold Mining, operators of the Fort Knox gold mine northeast of Fairbanks, has spent more than $9 million so far this year to add to its existing fleet of heavy-duty earth-moving equipment.
The last of the new equipment, including a new shovel, four new haul trucks and seven over-the-road ore trucks, was assembled and put into service in late March.
That equipment, combined with an increase of 25 workers, will allow the mine to boost its dirt-moving production by 30 percent in 2003, according to mine manager Rick Dye.
“The new shovel and four new (haul) trucks give us that capacity,” he said. “We’re not retiring any equipment—it’s adding to the capacity of the fleet.”
The $3.7 million Hitachi 27.5 yard hydraulic shovel bucket, sold to Fairbanks Gold by CMI in Fairbanks, is operating along with two existing 23 yard Caterpiller shovels and one 23 yard loader — the bulk of loading equipment used at Fort Knox since its start-up in late 1996.
The four new 20-ton haul trucks, each with an $800,000 price tag, operate with extra electric motors that power the rear axles for durability and additional power. “These things are fast. They come out of the pit almost twice as fast as the Cat trucks on certain grades,” Dye said.
The seven ore trucks, all rebuilt Kenworth semi trucks, are being used to haul ore from the True North gold mine, located about 10 miles from the Fort Knox mill complex. In addition to the $100,000 cost for each refurbished truck, Fairbanks Gold spent $85,000 to retrofit nine 60 ton trailers, increasing their carrying capacity to 85 tons. Investment adds life “Overall, it’s good … it shows that we’re adding life to the mine by adding equipment,” Dye said, of the capital spending by Kinross Gold, the mine’s owner and parent company of Fairbanks Gold. “Obviously the company’s commitment is focused on Fort Knox and its longevity.”
The new equipment will allow the walls of the already gigantic open pit to be pushed farther out, in anticipation of extracting additional gold from the underground deposit. The mine’s pit will likely be about 500 feet deeper than the original planned 1,200 feet, said Lorna Shaw, tourism director at the mine.
Currently, Fort Knox will run out of ore to mine in 2010, although the company is spending $3.2 million on exploration this year in hopes of extending the life beyond that.
Fort Knox is one of the largest employers in the Fairbanks North Star Borough, with a full-time staff of 425, including the new mechanics, electricians and equipment operators hired this spring as part of the new equipment investment.
Dye estimates that in 2003 Fort Knox miners will move 51.3 million tons of rock and dirt, an increase of about 30 percent from 2002. Gold-mineralized material or ore will make up 17.7 million tons, with the remainder classified as waste or development rock — material that needs to be moved so miners can get to mineralized rock.
“We’re not changing the ore through the mill, but we’re going to move a lot more material,” he said. “We have a lot of waste that needs to be moved.”
The mine’s final output of gold should remain at 407,000 ounces of gold in 2003, close to last year’s production of 408,000 ounces.
“It looks like that will be the profile for the next few years, 408,000 to 410,000 ounces,” Dye said.
Cash costs should remain about the same as last year, about $234 per ounce of gold produced. “As mines age, that’s a pretty important cost. We’re adding more than 30 percent in production, with no increase in cash costs,” he said.
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