BBA joins Thunder Bay North Critical Minerals Project

Map courtesy Clean Air Metals.

Clean Air Metals has selected BBA as prime engineering consultant to lead pre-feasibility study (PFS) work packages for its Thunder Bay North (TBN) Critical Minerals Project, a platinum, palladium, copper and nickel site in Northwestern Ontario (see map above).

The work will include overall underground mine design, optimized life-of-mine planning, dilution estimation, mining selectivity and cut-off policy optimization, mining value chain optimization, estimation of proven and probable (2P) mineral reserves and reporting according to National Instrument (NI) 43-101 requirements. Also, to help achieve carbon neutrality for the project, BBA will conduct trade-off studies around conventional mine fleet, trolley-electric and battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), as well as site infrastructure design, tailings management and overall cost estimation.

DRA Global is continuing metallurgical optimization work, which started in May 2022 and is expected to be completed within the first quarter (Q1) of 2023, with the mill flowsheet and plant design phase commencing immediately and continuing into Q2. The completion of the entire PFS is expected in Q3.

Clean Air Metals has also engaged SLR Consulting to validate in-house resource estimates for the Current and Escape deposits within the TBN project, which is expected to be serve as the basis for a stand-alone technical report and the foundation for mine planning in BBA’s PFS technical report.