Remote Mahn Choh Mine Tackling Challenges
The Manh Choh Mine, which sits atop the rolling Tetlin Hills approximately 12 miles northwest of the Native Village of Tetlin, holds a substantial 1 million ounces of gold. Kinross Gold Corporation, a majority owner and managing partner of a 70/30 joint venture with Contango Ore, plans to extract ore and truck it to a processing facility at Fort Knox Mine near Fairbanks, Alaska—250 miles northwest of the Manh Choh Mine.
However, before trucks could be loaded and ore sent to the Fort Knox mill for processing, Kinross sought comprehensive infrastructure support to meet needs outside the pit rim. The following challenges needed resolution:
- Transport with heavy-laden, ore-filled trucks 1,600 feet down to the valley, across the Tetlin flats, and to the Alaska Highway, covering 18 miles
- Water management that involves 5 miles of perimeter ditches and detention basins, a raw water storage pond, a combined open pond and reverse osmosis plant treatment, and a brine storage pond and disposal
- Infrastructure pads for the mine site, explosive storage, and ore load-out facilities
- A 300-personnel camp development
- Robust generator and fuel storage/dispensing systems
However, before trucks could be loaded and ore sent to the Fort Knox mill for processing, Kinross sought comprehensive infrastructure support to meet needs outside the pit rim. The following challenges needed resolution:
- Transport with heavy-laden, ore-filled trucks 1,600 feet down to the valley, across the Tetlin flats, and to the Alaska Highway, covering 18 miles
- Water management that involves 5 miles of perimeter ditches and detention basins, a raw water storage pond, a combined open pond and reverse osmosis plant treatment, and a brine storage pond and disposal
- Infrastructure pads for the mine site, explosive storage, and ore load-out facilities
- A 300-personnel camp development
- Robust generator and fuel storage/dispensing systems
Mine operations
Water management under construction
To meet these needs, RESPEC’s team, comprised of engineers across our Infrastructure (INF) and Mining & Energy (M&E) units, conducted scoping and feasibility studies and provided technical support for the permitting, detailed design, and construction documents, as well as oversaw construction in the harsh windy, snow-drifting environment. This project marked one of the first and, to date, most extensive collaborations between our INF and M&E units since RESPEC’s acquisition of PDC Engineers, thus establishing the INF unit.
Starting in January 2021, INF engineers Karen Brady, Keith Hanneman, Heather Estabrook, and Mike Goulding and M&E engineers Patrick Wieck and Peter Christensen proved to be instrumental in the infrastructure concept development and related cost estimating and scoping study chapters to kickstart the project. After the feasibility study began, the design development supported the Kinross-led permit submissions by the end of the year. Permit support and final design allowed construction to begin in Fall 2022 and continue through the winter. This timeline enabled mining operations to mobilize in Spring 2023 and complete the infrastructure support facilities in the fall.
In June 2023, RESPEC joined Kinross, Contango, and the Tetlin Village leaders in celebrating the groundbreaking of mining operations at the Manh Choh site. RESPEC is proud to have supported Kinross’ fast-track project development, permitting, and construction, moving from scoping to operations in less than 3 years—an incredibly short turn time. This remarkable speed underscores the dedication of our RESPEC team. With our mining experts working alongside our infrastructure specialists, we look forward to delivering outstanding infrastructure and mining support services to the mining industry in Alaska.