Syncrude has announced plans to create two new mining areas at its Mildred Lake project, north of Fort McMurray.
It says that will extend the life of the project by another decade.
The Mildred Lake extension, or MLX project, will use existing equipment and infrastructure at the site, according to spokesperson Cheryl Robb.
It expects to file a regulatory application in 2014, with construction starting in the next ten years.
Robb says the new mines won’t open until the North mine closes.
“What these two new mining areas will do, they will replace the bitumen that we’re getting out of the North mine,” she said. “The north mine will deplete that deposit, and when that’s depleted, then we’ll move into these new areas.”
The two new areas are immediately adjacent to the North mine.
Mildred Lake produced 359,500 barrels of bitumen per day in August.
October 1, 2012
