DavyMarkham in $20m gold mining deal

YORKSHIRE-BASED engineering business DavyMarkham has been awarded a massive $20m order for mining equipment from a Canadian gold mining company.

Sheffield firm DavyMarkham will supply mining hoists and associated electrical drives and controls to IAMGOLD Corporation of Toronto, Canada.

The contract includes the largest double drum hoist supplied to North America in recent times, with a diameter of 21ft (6.4m), a drum width of 8ft (2.4m) and a payload capacity of 44,000lbs (20,000kg). It will serve as the main production hoist, operating at depths down to 8,700ft (2,652 metres), at IAMGOLD’s new Westwood exploration programme.

“This is a very important contract gain for DavyMarkham and it is testimony to the cutting-edge design engineering technology we are applying to this key market sector and the extreme precision of our heavy engineering,” said managing director, Kevin Parkin.

“The IAMGOLD Corporation is a major new customer for us and we are delighted to have won this major order in international competitive tender.”

Over recent years, DavyMarkham has been developing world-leading mine winder technology and has made particular inroads into the flourishing Canadian minerals market, supplying more than a dozen new hoists for gold and nickel mining projects; it was also the first supplier to the North American market to comply with the internationally-recognised South African SABS codes of practice, for deep shaft exploration.

For the Westwood project, DavyMarkham will design, manufacture and supply a 21ft diameter production hoist and an 18ft (5.5m) double drum service hoist, together with associated clutch assemblies and multi-channel hydraulic brake control system.

With eight different mining operations in North America, South America and Africa, IAMGOLD is a leading global gold producer and additionally owns four mineral development projects that provide a strong platform for continued growth.

Located two kilometres from the company’s existing Doyon Mine operation in Northern Quebec, within one of Canada’s most prolific gold production areas, its Westwood advanced exploration project began in 2004 to identify potential new deposits.

A raise boring machine is already excavating an initial shaft and, once this is complete, the sinking of the main 5.5m diameter exploration shaft will begin.

Both double drum hoists are being manufactured at DavyMarkham’s Sheffield works in halves, for ease of transportation and assembly on site.