JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Pretium Resources has contracted AMEC Americas to provide the engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services for its Brucejack high-grade gold project in northern British Columbia.
Pretium noted on Thursday that AMEC had started detailed engineering and was advancing procurement for surface facilities and underground infrastructure. Flowsheets had been finalised and preparation of general arrangement drawings and procurement packages for long lead items was under way.
AMEC, an international engineering and project management firm, recently completed mining projects in British Columbia, including New Gold's New Afton mine and Thompson Creek Metals' Mount Milligan mine.
"AMEC's record of effectively partnering with companies to move projects from feasibility to mine construction, combined with [its] significant experience in British Columbia, makes [the firm] a natural fit for the Brucejack project," said Pretium's COO Jim Currie.
AMEC was involved with the Brucejack project as a third-party reviewer of the June 2014 feasibility study for a 2 700 t/d underground mine and participated in constructability and capital cost reviews of the project.
Brucejack is expected to produce 7.27-million ounces of gold over an 18-year mine life, and commercial production is scheduled for 2017. The estimated project capital cost, including contingencies, is $746.9-million.