CanMine provided a full-service design-build package including labour, equipment, materials, and site infrastructure for this greenfield site.  The hydro project consists of over 1,800m of underground workings for conveyance of water from a mountain top lake reservoir to a surface penstock pipe.  CanMine’s scope included the excavation of 1,223m of lower tunnel using mechanized drill & blast techniques, 528m of Alimak raise, 68m of conventionally driven sub-drift, a lake tap blast, and supporting underground civil and mechanical construction. 

The lower tunnel was excavated without remucks and was completed at a rate of 6.8m per day.  This was accomplished by utilizing specialized equipment including narrow body haul trucks, a Häggloader continous loader, and a computerized jumbo drill.  The Alimak raise, one of Canada’s longest, broke through directly on target and within 17m of the mountain top lake.  The sub-drift, located near the top of the Alimak raise, was excavated with jacklegs and a slusher in order reach the lake breakthrough location.  The lake tap was completed with a fully submerged, single opportunity blast to complete the connection between the underground workings and the lake.