Homeabout the companyProcessStaffEnvironmentEntrepreneursHistoryplugWork with us Everything is gold that glitters In the spring of 1987, rumors began to flourish about a new gold mine in the large and strong Bolidenbolaget's backyard. Terra Mining invested in the new deposit near the village of Björkdal. The business started with the evacuation of upper surfaces, construction of offices, roads, crushers, concentrators and dam systems. Now, several years later, a prosperous company, Björkdalsgruvan AB, is moving forward towards a future with new destinies and adventures. Loyal staff There are still about a dozen of the employees left who were present at the start of production or were hired shortly afterwards. They have followed the company through changes of ownership and the bankruptcy that became a fact in 1999. When they restarted in 2001, they returned, several even quit their new permanent jobs to return to a then uncertain future in the Björkdal mine. Together, we have, and all the new expertise that has been added over the years, brought the company forward to where we stand today. It is hard work and I want to dedicate an extra great praise to these people. Three treasures Björkdalsgruvan has the privilege of having three different treasure hides to scoop from. The gold ore can come from the open pit, from the underground mining or from the previous editions. These piles of ore have a lower content of gold but instead have very low production costs. The Björkdal mine has gone from "just" an open pit to now also produce over 500,000 tonnes of ore per year from the underground. Prior to 2008, this break was more of an investigative nature. Today, the underground ore accounts for almost 45% of the total need. Grows so it cracks Since underground mining took off, the need for our own staff has increased in several areas. With some growing pains in the organization and the need for more space, the head office from 1988 has been expanded and renovated in 2011 and in a few years we have gone from about 40 employees then to 85 own now. In addition, there are just as many contractor employees. Spännande framtid Nu står flera intressanta projekt för dörren, t ex kabelbultning och utvecklad RC-borrningsteknik för att höja halten av guld från gruvan. Från september 2011 har de krossade fraktionerna reducerats ytterligare vilket inneburit högre genomsättning i anrikningsverket. Justeringar i produktionskedjan och implementering av teknisk utrustning som ger mer information om hur malmen malts ner har ökat genomsättningen i kross och anrikningsverk med närmare 10%. Det är mycket lovvärt. Fortsätter utvecklas Trots att verksamheten går bra finns det alltid områden som det måste arbetas hårt med. Ett sådant område är våra driftkostnader. De är egentligen låga sett i kronor per ton. Internationellt mäts vi dock efter hur stora våra kostnader är för att producera ett ounce guld (31,1 gram). Eftersom guldhalten i vår gruva är låg visar det tyvärr höga tal i den kolumnen. Därför måste vi fortsätta att utvecklas och bli ännu mer effektiva. Verksamheten ligger nu nära den produktionsgräns som våra tillstånd tillåter. Vid ytterligare förstärkning av malmbasen är det naturligt och intressant att göra en bedömning om utökning av verksamheten. Detta arbete har påbörjats. In this magazine, we tell more about the different parts of Björkdalsgruvan, our knowledgeable staff at all levels and our future opportunities and challenges. Nice reading! The fall in the price of gold With almost 30% in 2013 has of course had a major negative effect on our revenues. We have been forced to make some adjustments in our mining planning, both in the open pit and underground. The investment volume has been reduced during the last six months and some objects will have to wait their turn. During the latter part of 2013, Björkdalsgruvan's staff took over all underground mining under its own auspices. A milestone that marks a belief in the future. For many years we have had very good help from skilled contractors such as Bergteamet and Strabag to develop the underground mining. There has been a bit of nervousness in the ranks when the "thoroughbred professionals" have left us, but our own staff has succeeded beyond expectations. A great deal of praise is due to you from the management and owners. In order to be able to operate underground with its own resources, Björkdalsgruvan has purchased a completely new machine park for approximately SEK 60 million. The technical development within the business has continued. Underground, a so-called charging robot is now being tested for charging the ointments in collaboration with the company EPC. In the crushing plant , a new type of fine crusher has been implemented for just over 1.5 years. This product is under development together with Sandvik. It is not fully developed but has great potential. In the concentrator, a single-deck wet sieve has been replaced with a double-deck one. Another type of flotation cell, a so-called Skim-Air, has been installed between gravimetry and the flotation departments. The technical changes described above show a possible increase in turnover in the concentrator. Björkdalsgruvan has therefore applied for a temporary increase in turnover from the current 1.3 million tonnes per year to 1.5 million tonnes per year. With the current ore base of about 5 years for the open pit and between 5 - 10 years for the underground mine, our gold in the Björkdal mine will be mined for a long time to come. Mats Lindegren acting site manager GOLD FACTS Björkdalsgruvan A gleaming gold mine Location: 40 km west of Skellefteå in Västerbottenslän. Björkdalsgruvan currently has 550 hectares of land. Mining takes place both in open pits and underground. Area open pit: Approx. 50 hectares Underground: About 40 km of roads and tunnels divided into 9 levels, the deepest 325 meters down. Gold content: Approx. 1.0 gram / ton in the open pit and approx. 1.7 grams / ton underground. The total gold production amounts to about four kilos per day. Products: Gravimetry, containing about 50% gold • Middling, which contains about 1500 grams of gold per tonne • Knelson, which contains about 500 grams of gold per tonne • Flotation, which contains about 100 grams of gold per tonne Björkdalsgruvan's various concentrates are sold to various smelters in Europe Personnel: About 200 people, of which 1/3 belong to contractors. Production rate: Approximately 1.3 million tonnes per year, meaning 3,600 tonnes of ore per day. Of this, approximately 1,500 kg of gold is produced per year. World production is about 2,500 tons of gold per year and of this 5-7 tons are produced in Sweden. Development potential: Very large. Specifikt för gruvan: Har ovanligt grovt guld och ett tätt nät med kvartsgångar att följa vid brytning. Den är också extremt ren miljömässigt sett. Björkdalsgruvan AB Björkdalsgruvan 1 934 94 KÅGE Växel: 0910-725750