semadeniNew technology and new ideas are allowing Kidd Operations to dig deep and stay running.

General Manager Tom Semadeni says out of all the investments they’ve made to keep the mine running, it’s the people that really make the difference.

“Everybody is pitching in, and coming up with good ideas,” he said.

“Even just things like reducing the amount of waste materials, reducing our electricity use.  Every little bit helps.”

Semadeni says approaching their sunset years, it’s all about making the most with what they have.

“We know the extent of the ore body, we know that there’s not more ore out there, other than the material we can render economically,” he said, “It’s all about reducing our costs, being efficient, employing technology wisely so we can improve efficiencies and maybe convert a bit more material to ore and mine at a profit and therefore, extend the life of the operation.”

He also mentioned how safety is a big topic for them.  Kidd has gone over 1-million man hours without a significant injury.  The mine employed around 900 people in 2014.

Kidd is the deepest base-metal mine in the world, going down 8,907 feet below sea level.

Since 1966, over 150-million tonnes of minerals have been mined and milled from their operations.

Semadeni, speaking at the Dante Club Thursday, also spoke of a few fun facts.  The water in their rock structure is said to be over 1 Billion years old.

As well, the amount of silver they’ve mined is enough to re-create the Stanley Cup 839,000 times.

But how much longer do they have?  It’s widely known that 2021 is the year they think the mine will close “unless there’s some surprise out there that we don’t know about today,” he added.

Only the future can tell.

“Maybe the price of metals will triple, who knows what can happen in the future but (a 2021 closure)’s what it looks like today,” Semadeni said.