Karowe Diamond Mine
Following a 2018 review of Lucara's Underground Preliminary Feasibility Study, JDS was retained to lead the 2019 Underground Feasibility Study. JDS delivered the FS in 10 months, under budget, with significantly improved economics through de-risking and optimizing the mining method, production profile, and diamond release. Based on this success, Lucara sole-sourced JDS for EPCM services on the US$500M underground mine construction, including permitting, new power infrastructure, two 750m+ deep shafts, 15km of lateral development, and underground infrastructure over a 5-year development period.
$500M Botswana
Silvertip Mine
JDS Silver purchased Silvertip from Silvercorp in 2013, completed a PEA for a 1,000 tpd Pb-Zn-Ag operation (1.4M tonnes at 365 g/t Ag, 7.2% Pb, 8.7% Zn), and constructed the mine in 10 months from December 2015. JDS purchased and refurbished the Sa Dena Hes processing plant augmented with Diavik's paste plant, transporting 190 equipment loads to site. Infrastructure included 120' bridge, 26km access road, 150-bed camp, 2,000 m² mill building, 7.5MW LNG powerplant (plus 5MW diesel backup), 150 m³/hr water treatment, dry stack tailings, and event pond. JDS provided underground startup support including shotcreting, CRF, services, and dewatering. Completed safely with 256,043 hours and zero LTIs, on budget and on schedule.
$50M Northern British Columbia
Chidliak
JDS led Peregrine Diamonds' PEA for the Chidliak diamond project in Nunavut, developing a conventional open pit mine plan with rationalized capital and operating costs. JDS responsibilities included pit and infrastructure design, mine planning, cost estimation, and overall study management. The PEA demonstrated strong economics: after-tax NPV7.5% of C$471M, 29.8% IRR, 2-year payback, 10-year mine life producing 1.2M carats annually (peaking at 1.8M), 1.67 carats per tonne head grade, C$1.3B pre-tax cash flow, and 72% operating margin. Pre-production capital included construction of a 160km all-weather road to Iqaluit.
$484M Baffin Island, Nunavut
Cerro Blanco
JDS completed NI 43-101 compliant Preliminary Economic Assessment (2017) and Feasibility Study (2019) for Bluestone Resources' Cerro Blanco Project in Guatemala. The studies demonstrated a rapid payback, high-margin underground gold-silver mining project with robust economics and $196M pre-production capex. JDS managed four engineering sub-consultants and three lab test programs, completed mine/process design, project economics, and delivered the FS report within 7 months of receiving the final resource block model. Both projects were delivered on schedule and on budget.
Guatemala
Cosmo Mine
JDS assessed Crocodile Gold's Australian operations in 2013, focusing on Northern Territory resources. Work included Cosmo Deeps underground resource assessment, cost and operational improvements at Cosmo Mine and Union Reefs process plant with cost-saving initiatives, Cosmo crown pillar assessment covering resources, tailings removal, mine planning and economics, and high-level review of Stawell and Fosterville operations in Victoria including Big Hill open pit PEA assessment. JDS operational improvements reduced Cosmo all-in sustaining costs from $1,600 to $1,300 per ounce.
Australia
Mothae Diamond Mine
JDS conducted a pre-feasibility study for Lucara Diamond Corp. to upgrade and repair the Mothae bulk sample plant in Lesotho starting June 2008. The nine-month project scope included engineering, procurement and logistics, construction management, civil construction, camp setup, and bulk sample supervision.
$100M Lesotho, Africa
Cariboo Gold
JDS mobilized a shotcrete crew and equipment on 5 days' notice to Osisko Development's QR Mine in Wells, BC to rehabilitate the main ramp and priority headings where sloughing had occurred in faulted siltstone. JDS provided a robotic Aliva 302 sprayboom with Aliva 252 and pre-dampener, deployed 24/7 miners integrated with Owner's staff and contractors, completed two ventilation door sprays, and assisted with services and blasting. The contract duration was three months.
Wells, BC
El Creston
JDS was retained by Mercator Minerals in July 2009 for multiple phases of the El Creston molybdenum mine project in Mexico. Initial work included environmental and hydrological studies and economic assessments. JDS delivered a NI 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment in December 2010, followed by a NI 43-101 compliant Feasibility Study in 2011 for the $600M capital project. JDS managed geotechnical fieldwork, environmental studies, water and well field studies, metallurgical works, drilling, assaying, and coordinated detailed engineering through Jacobs Engineering to complete the Feasibility Study.
Sonora, Mexico
Red Mountain
JDS provided procurement, engineering, and labor to reopen IDM Mining's Red Mountain exploration decline, located between Cambria Ice Fields and Bromley Glacier in BC. The mine had been flooded for 20 years. JDS utilized refurbished equipment and infrastructure to dewater and rehabilitate 2,000m of 4.5m x 4.5m decline, established all underground infrastructure, removed mine debris, and serviced two underground diamond drill rigs during the dewatering program.
Stewart, British Columbia
Mt Polley Restart
Since November 2021, JDS has provided full-service contract mining for Imperial Metals' Mt. Polley Mine in BC. Technical services (average 5 staff) include short and medium-range mine planning, drill and blast design, mine survey, production tracking, waste rock design, and geotechnical support. JDS provides all front-line supervisors and workers (currently 70 employees) for in-pit operations using Mt. Polley equipment, including all management, pit shifters, health and safety oversight, and training programs. JDS is supplementing the Owner's fleet with equipment including two mobilized DTH drills.
British Columbia
Wellgreen
JDS completed a PEA for Wellgreen Platinum's multi-metal project in Yukon. The study outlined a conventional open pit operation (383Mt) with selective underground mining (9Mt), featuring a low 0.75:1 strip ratio. Processing would start at 25,000 tpd for five years, then expand to 50,000 tpd for 20 additional years, producing bulk Ni-Cu-Co-PGM-Au concentrate via conventional sulphide flotation for export through Alaska ports. The 25-year mine life would process 392Mt of mineralized material, averaging 200,000+ oz annually of platinum, palladium and gold, plus 73M lbs nickel and 55M lbs copper in the first 16 years. Economic highlights: after-tax NPV7.5% of C$1.2B, 25.3% IRR, and 3.1-year payback.
$500K Yukon
Ana Paula
JDS provided client representatives for construction management and underground mining services for approximately 2.3km of exploration drift development at Maya Gold & Silver's Zgounder Mine in Morocco. The 4.5m x 4.5m access tunnel enables lower-level drilling to expand proven resources. JDS deployed a combination of expatriate and local miners using mechanized mining and conventional jackleg bolting methods, engaged the local community for mining support and equipment supply where feasible, and provided required underground equipment for project completion.
Guerrero State, Mexico
Bul River
JDS developed a comprehensive restart plan for Bul River Mine to achieve safe, sustainable commercial production within budget. Work focused on developing mine and waste management plans for permitting and operations, auditing existing facilities, managing necessary test work, and creating a project execution plan and budget for commercial production. JDS led the permit application submission to restart mine, mill, and tailings facility operations.
$1M Cranbrook, BC
Magino
JDS completed a Feasibility Study for Argonaut Gold's Magino property, building on the 2016 Revised PFS. Key improvements included increasing processing capacity from 12,500 tpd to 30,000 tpd, significantly expanding reserves through a land swap with Richmont Mines and additional drilling, optimizing pit slopes to reduce strip ratio, and front-loading higher-grade material processing while stockpiling lower-grade ore. Economic highlights: after-tax NPV5% of US$321M, 19.5% IRR, 3.8-year payback, US$292M pre-production capex, and US$84M sustaining and closure costs.
$2.7M Wawa, Ontario
Macmillan Pass
JDS managed the Preliminary Economic Assessment and NI 43-101 report for Fireweed's Macmillan Pass Project. The scope included geotechnical analysis, open pit and underground mine design and planning, metallurgical test program management, process plant and infrastructure design, and complete CAPEX/OPEX estimation. The PEA outlined combined open pit and underground mining of 32.7Mt at 4,900 tpd over an 18-year mine life. Economic highlights: after-tax NPV8% of $448M, 23.5% IRR, and 4.0-year payback.
$700K Yukon Territory
Akie
JDS managed the Preliminary Economic Assessment and NI 43-101 report for ZincX's Akie Project. The scope included underground geotechnical analysis, mine design and planning, metallurgical test program management, process plant and infrastructure design, and complete CAPEX/OPEX estimation. The PEA outlined a 4,000 tpd underground mine with 3,000 tpd dense media separation (DMS) concentrator, producing 25.8 million tonnes over an 18-year mine life. Economic highlights: after-tax NPV7% of $401M, 27% IRR, and 3.2-year payback.
$350K British Columbia
Curraghinalt
JDS led the Feasibility Study for Dalradian Resources' Curraghinalt gold project in Northern Ireland, starting in 2015. The multi-million ounce, narrow-vein underground project benefits from a safe jurisdiction with abundant infrastructure and skilled labor. JDS aligned the study with high operating margins and low capital development costs to deliver a safe, attractive project. JDS managed all study aspects including third-party consultants to ensure efficient, fit-for-purpose outcomes meeting permitting requirements, and provided technical support for the Environmental Assessment process.
$2M Northern Ireland
Buriticá Mine
JDS completed a Feasibility Study and NI 43-101 technical report for Continental Gold's (CGI) Buriticá Project in Colombia, published February 2016 on budget and on schedule. Highlights include: 31% after-tax IRR at $1,200/oz gold (38% at $1,400/oz), 2.3-year payback ($1,200/oz gold), $389M capex, average annual production of 282,000 oz gold and 494,000 oz silver in first 5 years at $387/oz cash cost (with silver credits), 14-year mine life producing 3.5M oz gold and 6.4M oz silver from 13.7M tonnes at 8.4 g/t gold and 24.3 g/t silver. JDS continues supporting financing, Colombian permitting, and critical engineering advancement.
$5M Colombia
Gahcho Kué Diamond Mine
JDS transformed a sub-economic diamond project into a viable $750M development through re-scoping studies that optimized waste management, processing rates, and execution strategy. JDS produced the Definitive Feasibility Study and partnered with Hatch to deliver EPCM services for the remote fly-in mine, accessible by 420km ice road only 2 months annually. Construction included complete processing facilities, 14MW power plant, 450-person camp, jet-capable aerodrome, 3M m³ earthworks, 25M BCM dewatering, and 8M BCM pre-stripping. The 3.5M workforce-hour project was completed safely, on budget, on schedule, with first ore delivered June 14, 2016.
Northwest Territories
Sierra Mojada
JDS confirmed the large silver-rich "super pit" zone for Metallic Ventures (later acquired by Alexco), managed a 30,000-meter, $4M drilling program, oversaw assaying, and completed a revised NI 43-101 technical report for resource estimation. Metallurgical advances enabling sulfuric acid leaching of oxide zinc with electrolytic reduction shifted exploration focus to oxide zinc mineralization. JDS completed and published the PEA in October 2013 demonstrating strong economics: pre-tax NPV5% of $463M, 26.9% IRR, and $297M pre-production capex.