Skanska strikes gold with £22m Canadian contract

Cementation Skanska has won a £22m contract to construct a 2200m deep shaft for Goldcorp at the Red Lake Mine in Canada.

The project, at the world's highest-grade gold producing mine in Ontario, is one of the largest shaft construction projects in North America.

Work starts in the next two months to excavate the shaft collar and build the surface support infrastructure, including the headframe and hoist building, with construction of the shaft starting before the end of the year. 

When completed in late 2006, it will become Red Lake Mine's main production shaft, raising capacity to 4000t a day and enabling a 45% increase in gold production to 740,000 ounces a year. 

The award positions Cementation Skanska as Canada's leading shaft-sinking contractor following the contract awarded last year to construct a 1,906m deep access shaft at Kidd Mine, also in Ontario.