The mill at Huckleberry Mine looks like it will be restarting in the next couple of weeks.
“We’re fairly confident that we’ve found a short-term solution through our various consultants and milling experts,” said Randall Thompson, Vice President of Operations at Huckleberry Mines.
Asked what the temporary solution involves, Thompson said they are changing the operating parameters [restrictions] of the gear with the goal of achieving 100 per cent capacity.
“We’re looking to re-start [the mill] within a couple of weeks,” he said.
The SAG mill at Huckleberry Mines was temporarily shut down Feb. 26 after a break down involving the bull gear – a gear involved in grinding big chunks of rock into smaller pieces.
Finding a replacement part, a bull gear, takes four to six months, and Thompson says that is an on-going process which they are continuing to work on for the long-term.
While the mill was shut down, mill employees were put to work on upgrades and maintenance projects at the mill.
“We’ve done a lot of strategizing about how to best keep everybody employed and to ensure the delivery of our mine plan for this year,” Thompson said.
“Right now, mill workers are focused on the temporary solution and preparing for the restart of the mill.”
“Huckleberry has been operating for 15 years, employing people in the region, and we want to continue to do that and work closely with our employees in terms of developing strategies as we move forward.
“I can’t emphasize enough the appreciation that we have of all the work and the patience that everybody has demonstrated, that includes Huckleberry staff. We really want to thank the employees,” he said.
