New Gold

New Gold

Custom Concrete Northern was contracted by New Gold Inc. to supply and commission a concrete batch plant along with cement and admixtures for the production of CIPC.

CIPC is used for the construction of the gold mine crushers and mill. This project was done as a Joint Venture with the Onikaajigan Construction LP.

The complexity of this project brought a number of issues which provoked creative and efficient solutions:

  • Aggregate gradation and segregation as a result of out of specification sand. To counteract, viscosity modifying agents and varying cement contents were used to improve pump-ability while using the available materials.
  • Water storage issues beyond 27,000 gallon. For large pours the contracted water storage would not be sufficient for production due to a low flow rate from designated well sources. A pond was dug and lined to add a buffer between high-demand production periods.
  • Additional mix designs were required.
  • Low shrinkage and highly flow-able for grout mixtures underground ore conveyor culverts. Here a non-shrink grout was specified for the portion of the project and was not a part of our original scope. Instead of supplying a bagged product we were able to achieve the specifications with our regular cement blend, the very fine sand available on site, low water/cement ratio and a shrinkage reducing agent. Low shrink wasn’t the only issue; the material flow through a small pipe by gravity would not happen due to the fine materials available. To assist in the process a variety of low W/C, shrinkage reducing agents, highly plasticized with a viscosity modifying agent helped the grout flow freely but maintain consistency and then keep it from shrinking.
  • After the initial concrete requirements were fulfilled and only intermittent concrete would be required Custom Concrete Northern was able to negotiate an operating and dormancy rental agreement to keep the plant on site for minimal costs while still meeting all client needs.

Location: Chapple, Ontario
Managing Contractor: AMEC Foster Wheeler
Start Date: 2014
End Date: 2016