Sudbury’s Magna Mining looks to reopen Crean Hill Mine

Magna Mining, an exploration development company in Sudbury, recently purchased a local property with a view of starting production again.

Magna Mining acquired Lonmin Canada Inc., the company that owns the former Crean Hill Mine, which was once the property of Inco.

This mine operated under Inco for roughly 80 years, producing approximately 20 million tonnes of ore before closing in 2002.

Jason Jessup, CEO of Magna Mining, said that between 2005 and 2017, about 90,000 metres of drilling was completed.

“After that, Lonmin Canada was acquired by Sibanye-Stillwater and we purchased the company from Sibanye,” Jessup said.

Magna Mining said the next step is to complete drilling on the property, which will support a technical study to demonstrate it makes economic sense to reopen the mine.

The hope is to begin development in late 2023.

Jessup said the project, along with Magna’s plan for the Shakespeare project at an old Falconbridge property, could have a significant positive impact on the community.

“We think it has a lot of synergies potential for a hub-and-spoke production model, where we have a centralized mill and feed coming in from multiple sources,” he said.

“Our hope and our ambition is to be a significant employer in the region.”

Stan Sudol, a Toronto-based consultant and editor of the website 'The Republic of Mining,' told CTV News this is a great move for the community.

“There’s an old mining saying that says ‘the best place to find a new mine, is in the shadow of a head frame,” Sudol said.

“With a 130 years of mining in the Sudbury basin, there’s a lot of potential for new mines to be found. Traditionally we’ve not had a lot of junior activity in the Sudbury basin and I think that’s a bit of a shame. Having new juniors come in and, of course, being innovative and somewhat nimble, and Magna Mining -- who knows? It could be the future Inco of the next generation.”

Magna Mining said a feasibility study done on the Shakespeare project shows that once it’s in production, it would take around 159 employees to operate that mine, with Crean Hill possibly employing around the same number.