Côté Gold Project

Tailings Management Facility & Surface Mining Preparation (2020-Present)

Commenced: 2020
Completed: In Progress
Client: IAMGOLD Corporation

In October 2020, North American Nuna Joint Venture (NAN JV), a partnership between Nuna Logistics and North American Construction Group, was awarded the $250 million early works construction scope, which comprises dam construction, watercourse diversion channels, road building, crushing, and pre-strip activities for the ultimate open pit. A diverse equipment fleet, ranging from 45T rock trucks and 50T excavators to 785 heavy haulers and 2500 excavators, began mobilization in November 2020 and the work is estimated to be complete by summer 2021. The planned workforce for this scope consists of a mix of direct NAN JV employees and subcontractors that will peak at approximately 300 in the second quarter of 2021. Construction and mining are estimated to be complete by the end of 2023.

NAN JV’s work scope includes:

• Open pit mining in 4 separate pits, with 6 m benching up to 10 benches deep.
• Construction of 3 water management dams and spillway structures within the open pit for water storage and diversion.
• 400 m 10” HDPE pipe installation for pit dewatering to ultimate mine water pond.
• 7 million m³ of overburden removal; 6.6 million m³ in the open pit area the remainder from site infrastructure.
• 4 million m³ of rock excavation; 5.1 million m³ in the open pit and the remainder from site infrastructure.
• 530,000 m³ of ore excavation.
• Production of 1.2 million m³ of processed aggregate on site; 410,000 m³ stockpiled for Client use and the remainder for use in infrastructure construction.
• 3 million m³ of rock fill and 1.3 million m³ of common backfill.
• Installation of 280,000 m² of geotextile and geomembrane.
• Production of 700 m³ of concrete for plinth construction and foundation preparation.
• Construction of 5 major water crossings including mechanically stabilized earth wall installations.
• Installation of 1,500 m corrugated steel pipe
• Construction of 7.5 km of mine haul roads for 250t haul truck traffic connecting open pit mine to tailings management facility, mine rock area, overburden dump, and ore stockpile pads.
• Construction of over 13 km of service roads connecting mine infrastructure.
• Tailings Management Facility (TMF) construction including East Starter Dam, West Starter Dam and 7 small dams and dykes within the TMF footprint for water management and diversion during construction as well as 2 seepage ponds and diversions surrounding the TMF.
• Mine rock area water management construction including ditching and spillways.
• Overburden stockpile water management construction including ditching, dams, ponds and spillways.
• Construction of 8 watercourse realignment dam structures around the open pit area.
• Polishing pond dam construction with steel sheet pile wall installation.
• Construction of 25 m high, 25,000 m² crusher plateau and 250,000 m² medium grade ore stockpile pad.
• Major construction dewatering efforts and fish salvage dewatering throughout duration of the Project.