Generation Mining engaged Ausenco to optimize and update an existing Feasibility Study (FS) for its Marathon Palladium-Copper Project in Northern Ontario, Canada. The objective was to enhance the project’s design and financial performance by streamlining plant layout and identifying opportunities for cost-efficiency. The teams focused on refining and tailoring the design to better suit site-specific conditions, construction logistics, and long-term operability. Each improvement was tracked to show its contribution to the updated project economics.
The Challenge
The Marathon Project is a palladium-copper deposit located about 10 km north of the town of Marathon, Ontario on the north shore of Lake Superior. A prior third-party Feasibility Study provided a foundation for the project, but Generation Mining saw an opportunity to further optimize the design and execution strategy. Ausenco was brought in to revisit the process plant layout to identify and implement cost-savings measures that would enhance the project’s financially viability. Ausenco engineers worked closely with the client to improve upon the previous benchmarks.
The Better Way
A major driver of the cost savings in the revised FS was a redesigned and simplified process plant layout. Our design approach replaced a complicated ore flow path with a streamlined, linear process circuit. One key enabler was the rotation of the SAG mill to allow for a perpendicular feed conveyor, which helped reduce the plant’s footprint by 22%, significantly cutting material and construction costs.
Cast-in-place concrete volumes were reduced by 54%, and steel use dropped by 29%. The reduction in cast-in-place concrete was facilitated by taking advantage of competent ground conditions. In addition, the use of pre-cast concrete foundations is expected to shorten on-site construction durations and minimize logistical complexities associated with concrete pours and formwork.
The plant’s new long, rectangular design aligns all major support columns in rows, simplifying the layout for piping and cabling. It also improved operational efficiency by enabling more substantial overhead crane coverage.
Ausenco engineers also reimagined the main electrical infrastructure. The large, multi-story electrical room from the previous design was replaced with two smaller, single storey pre-fabricated folding buildings, strategically located closer to the equipment they serve. This greatly reduced cable routing distances and associated installation costs.
Among the dozens of other improvements, engineers reduced unnecessary platework thickness in several locations, optimized satellite buildings and relocated the tailings thickener closer to the plant to minimize pumping distances and infrastructure costs.
The Outcome
Despite an inflationary environment, Ausenco’s revised FS, completed in March 2025, delivered a CAPEX savings of CAD $58 million while slightly reducing process OPEX cost as compared to the previous study. The project has a net present value of CAD $1.07 billion with a payback of 1.9 years and an internal rate of return of 28%. The Marathon project is projected to produce 4.1 million ounces of Palladium Equivalent (PdEq) over its current 13-year mine life.