Cementation Skanska has negotiated a contract worth £38 million with Falconbridge to design, construct and equip a new underground access shaft 1,906 metres deep to allow mining 3,220 metres below the surface at Kidd Mine, Timmins, in Ontario, Canada.
To carry out the project, Skanska’s underground construction specialist has formed an alliance style partnership with Falconbridge that involves both companies working together in a fully integrated project team. The shaft is scheduled for completion by 2004, over a year earlier than planned after Cementation’s proposals cut the original programme.
Cementation Skanska managing director Stewart Keeble said: “I am delighted that we have formed such a close partnership with Falconbridge. This alliance, combined with our wide ranging role that includes responsibility for the design of the installations as well as the structures, has given us more scope to generate programme efficiencies.”
The new shaft will make Kidd Mine the deepest operating mine outside South Africa.
Mr Keeble said, “This project is a major boost to the strategy of growing our local mining operations across the world. It is also a great example of our in-house design capabilities.”
Cementation’s strategy to have strong local business units in its main markets has been evident in other parts of the world. This year it announced an intention to increase the stake in its South African business, Cementation Mining Skanska, to 79 per cent and the company now operates out of established offices in the UK, Canada, South Africa and Australia.