What was once viewed as a temporary shutdown of Xstrata Nickel's Montcalm mine has now become an indefinite suspension.
Ground failure at one of the mine's two main stopes brought about a forcible stop to underground activity at the end of March 2009 in the interests of worker safety and to allow for geotechnical investigations and monitoring.
"The best we can say is it's not going to be a few weeks," says Montcalm mine manager Keith Bullock. "It's going to be the range of months, but beyond that we can't really speculate."
Xstrata is still in the midst of investigating its options, with staff examining both the possibility of returning to the mine and what would happen if this return is not feasible.
The move impacts contractor J.S. Redpath Limited, whose 90 staff had been operating on the site. Twelve staff will remain to maintain the water treatment plant and various electrical systems.
Montcalm, whose mine life was to end in mid-2011, was to produce nearly 9,000 tonnes of nickel contained in concentrate in 2009.
The drop in feed to the Sudbury Smelter is expected to be offset through the continued processing of concentrate from initial ore from Nickel Rim South, Xstrata's Raglan and Australasian operations, and various third-party sources.
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