For those unfamiliar with Boliden's Aitik mine, it is a large...

For those unfamiliar with Boliden's Aitik mine, it is a large open pit that also operates in ice cold conditions. Unlike Udokan or Storm it has pretty low grades and relies on vast tonnage. The latest report from Boliden gives insight into the conditions faced on the ground.

Aitik’s milled volume was higher than both the previous quarter and the first quarter of 2023,
despite some operational challenges. Extreme winter weather in January led to issues with diesel
operated machines and low productivity in one of the crushers. Despite this, production of copper
in concentrate was stable relative to previous quarter. Production of gold in concentrate decreased
relative to both comparison periods as a result of lower grade. The copper grade was at 0.15%
(0.19), and the gold grade was 0.06 g/tonne (0.09). The average copper grade in 2024 is expected
to reach 0.17% and gold grade 0.08 g/tonne, which is in line with what was previously
communicated. Successful implementation of autonomous haul trucks in production continued
during the quarter.

https://investors.boliden.com/sites/boliden-ir/files/pr/202404225233-1.pdf

We can see that despite a lower grade the mine has been running for quite some time at far lower copper prices historically and despite challenges with the weather, it remains worthwhile and profitable to the company. Now consider that storm's grade is about 7 times higher (I'm just going off copper, depends if you want to count the gold as CuEq, but our metallurgy should be easier as a result of easier processing. Either way, lower grade.)

Those arctic challenges people seem to keep spouting as a "problem" don't seem so big now when put in the proper context of our peers who actually operate in harsher environments than somerset island.

There are other interesting things to infer from how Aitik started.

- Mining at Aitik started on the basis of a 50t reserve, but by 1998 the mine had yielded 300t of ore. As of November 2009, ore reserves were 747t grading at 0.25% of copper, 0.14g per tonne of gold, 1.7g per tonne silver, and 29g per tonne molybdenum. Proven and probable ore reserves amount to 518t and 229t, respectively. Measured and indicated resources were estimated at 1.37t.

- The Aitik deposit consists of chalcopyrite- and pyrite-yielding copper, gold and silver.