A fleet of MacLean battery electric mining vehicles (BEVs) will support the Odyssey mine as it undergoes construction. According to a press release, “the MacLean BEV fleet at Odyssey mine will be used for ground support installation, explosives charging, materials transport, and construction and maintenance.”

The Odyssey mine, owned by Canadian Malartic and located near the town of Malartic in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of northern Quebec, is one of the largest underground gold mining projects in Canada.

The mine sits underneath the East Malartic Gold Mines, where the MacLean Engineering’s founder, Don MacLean, spent much of his childhood, marking the new fleet as a full-circle moment for the family. Don has since retired from active day-to-day management of business but remains the chairman of the company. His son, Kevin MacLean, is currently leading the company.

Don grew up in Malartic, where his father, “Ducky” MacLean, was the mining manager in the late 1930s to 1940s. Eventually, Don’s family moved to Chibougamau, Quebec, where his father ran the Campbell Chibougamau mine in the early 1950s and Don attended Acadia University in Nova Scotia. Don opened MacLean Engineering in 1973.

Don described his childhood in Malartic as growing up on the mining site rather than in a mining town. He and the other children would have to make their own fun. They spent the day in the bush, fishing and hunting and used the sound of the industrial compressor to guide them home. The regular and distinctive noise would help them navigate back to the mine.

Related: Using short-term underground mine scheduling for autonomous fleets can bring efficiency benefits

“My years growing up in Malartic instilled a deep respect for mining and miners. It taught me the value of a hard day’s work and the importance of a tight-knit, self-reliant northern community; plus it gave me the freedom to explore a natural environment almost without bounds, something that built in me a lifelong love for fishing and hunting,” said Don MacLean.

At lunch, his father would come home and the family would sit around the table. The mill would give “Ducky” a report of the grades it was getting from the ore. Don explained that if the reports said 0.15 grams, it meant you could make enough money, but if they said 0.07 grams, his father “would have an ulcer.”

The house he grew up in has since been taken up by an open-pit mine. Now, the company is going underground with electric gear, beneath the old ore body where Don’s dad built the shaft and managed the mine for ten years.

“I’m thrilled to see underground mining coming back to Malartic and grateful that the partnership has put their faith in MacLean BEVs to get the job done safely and productively,” said Don.