Sudbury's Crean Hill Mine begins operations

What was old is new again at Greater Sudbury's Crean Hill Mine.

Magna Mining, which purchased the site in 2022 in partnership with Vale, hosted a tour of the re-opened site Thursday.

Sudbury MP Viviane Lapointe and Nickel Belt MP Marc Serré attended the tour.

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"It's really important when we look at the critical minerals strategy and we're looking at a lot of the mining in northern Ontario," Serré said.

"Also moving forward, here's a lot of good paying jobs in the area once again, that we're trying to build that mining brand in northern Ontario."

Previously owned by numerous companies, including the former Inco, the nickel and copper-producing mine operated from 1900 to 2002, but closed due to low nickel prices.

Jason Jessup, CEO of Magna Mining, said a lot has changed since the mine's closure.

"Since then, there's been a rebound in metal prices. There's been over 90,000 meters of drilling completed on the project," Jessup said.

"So we're fortunate to acquire the project, come out with a large resource and we believe it has potential to sustain a long mine life."

Sudbury MP Viviane Lapointe and Nickel Belt MP Marc Serré attended Thursday's tour of Crean Hill Mine. (Amanda Hicks/CTV News)

He added that there's a lot of untapped potential at the site.

"As society transitions into more green energy, there's going to be huge demand for nickel and copper," he said.

"Sudbury is one of those regions that can supply a lot of these metals, especially in North America. So we're really, really fortunate to have great timing to be bringing all this project together and to be looking forward to starting up a new mine here in Sudbury."

Using new technology, the mine will produce gold, platinum, copper, nickel and cobalt.

Magna site's contractor is ADLP, a joint venture between Atikameksheng Anishnawbek, Wahnapitae First Nation and Technica Mining.

Jessup said while blasting began last week, the company has been busy over the last 18 months.

"We needed the engineering studies, a tremendous amount of exploration and we believe (we) will be coming out with a new resource that will grow those resources that we currently have even larger, which has potential to further extend the mine life," he said.

"So it's been really busy and we're only getting started."

The lifespan of the project is estimated at 15 years.

Currently, the work is in Phase 1, an eight-week project above ground. Sometime in the fall, the project will move into Phase 2, which will take place underground.