Yellowknife (May 17/04) - Ekati Mine is going underground. The word came through May 4, when BHP Billiton announced it would be funding underground production at the mine to the tune of US$182 million.

Ekati's Panda pit will become an underground mine operation. Ekati was recently handed US$182 million to accomplish the task by BHP head office in Perth, Australia. - photo courtesy of BHP Billiton

Ekati Mine president Wayne Isaacs says the mine is already in the preliminary stages of underground development.

"The project will last through to January 2006, when we will commission the conveyor to the processing plant, but there will be some ore coming out before then," said Isaacs.

The cash will be used on a lot of infrastructure development, Isaacs said.

"It includes the conveyors, vents, the shaft and fans. In some cases, for offices and a tri-change area, so the miners can change their clothes as well as a warehouse. The significant part in the development will be to drive the entries in to access the ore," said Isaacs.

Changing over from an open-pit operation to an underground operation at the Panda pit will be a bit of a challenge, says the Ekati Mine president. "It involves a different skill set, but we've been in the planning stages for seven years. Plans are to make a good smooth transition and to involve aboriginal partners to up their skill sets for underground," said Isaacs.

Training for the switch to underground at the Panda pit has already commenced.

"We've had four to six people through training every few months to provide them with the proper underground skills. We have a fourth group going through right now," said Isaacs.

Over the longer term there may be a slight decrease in employment at the mine, but BHP has already put plans in place to keep its overall employment levels high.

"Hopefully, once the Panda pit construction is complete, we'll follow close on the heels with taking the Koala pit underground," said Isaacs.

Everyone was excited when the funding news came through from BHP Billiton's head office in Perth, Australia.

"We're very excited to have this approval in place. I think it demonstrates a very strong commitment to Canada and the Northwest Territories on behalf of BHP," said Isaacs.