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Deep Underground Hard-Rock Mining - Issues, Strategies, and Alternatives by Luc

Deep Underground Hard-Rock Mining - Issues, Strategies, and Alternatives by Lucio David Pareja A thesis submitted to the Department of Mining Engineering in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Queen's University Kingston, Ontario, Canada April, 2000 Copyright O Lucio David Pareja, 2000 National Library I*B of Canada Bibliothèque nationale du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellington Ottawa ON K I A ON4 OttawaON K1AON4 Cana& Canada Your lile Votre reknm#, Our JW Notre reterence The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Lbrary of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sel1 reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis i n microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/fiLm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fkom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or othenvise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Abstract Underground hard-rock mining is an important segment of the Canadian mining industry. Its survival, however, is being threatened by both extemal and interna1 forces. In the external front, low cost producers such as local open-pit mines and foreign operators keep raising their production rates and lowering the price of hard-rock rnining cornmodities. InternaIly. ever- increasing depth of mining of rxisting underground operations and the depth of the new discoveries mean higher capital and operating costs. This research has identified five ractors that most cntically affect the profitability of deep underground hard-rock mining: vertical ore and waste transport: horizontal ore and waste transport; ventilation; mine development: and personnel and materials distribution. Each of such factors has been analyzed, theoretically and through nvo case studies, in order to determine their relative strategic significance. Solutions to the problems currently being faced by deep mine operators have been discussed as well. Stntegic analyses indicate that deep mines cm be designed and planned so that their profitability is not seriousiy atTected by such factors. S~lutions to ventilation and vertical and horizontal transport problems are strongly iniluenced by technological innovation (air conditioning, automation, slurry pumping, etc.), reducing the ability of the operator to strategically address thern. On the other hand, hard-rock mine development is a critical phase of the ore production process that cannot be carried out by automated or continuous equipment. It requires careful design and planning and. thus. has a very high strategic cornponent. Decisions made at the development stage have protound efftxt on the economics of an opention over its entire productive life. The case studies included in this thesis emphasize the importance of properly evaluating mine development alternatives. particulariy in the areas of equipment selection and opening design (e.g.. cross-sectional area and inter-level spacing). Given the sizeable resources and long periods devoted to mine developrnent. it also has a significant economic impact by itseIf, and usually constitutes the Iirniting factor in production rate detmnination. The economic evaluation of the mining scenarios constnicted as part of the second case smdy clearly indicates that production cost by itself is not a sound parameter for the evaluation of the economic performance of a rnining operation. It also showed the benefits of using discounted cash flow methods techniques and demonstrated the existence of a mine development configuration which resuIts in a production plan that rna..imizes the return on the investment. Finally, the need for and main characteristics of a computer-aided underground mine design and planning tool were critically discussed in this thesis. The development of the second case study. which required the use of AutoCAD, spreadsheets. and project management pro-gams to manipulate large quantities of data and involved caIcuIation-intensive tasks, highlighted the complettities and interdisciplinary nature of underground mine evaluation. This type of analysis would be very beneficial to the industry, but the time and resources demanded due to the Iack of proper cornputer tools make it impracticai to carry it out routinely. I would like to express my sincere thanks to Dr. C.W. Pelley . my thesis supervisor, for providing me with advice and assistance throughout the course of this research pmject. Special thanks are extended to the Staff and Faculty of the Department of Mining Engineering of Queen's University. who were extremeiy helptùl at various stages during my graduate studies. 1 would like to acknowledge the financial support of the Mining Research Directorate now CAMIRO) for the initial development of this project. Many of the ideas presented in this thesis were i n h a l l y (but intensely) discussed with MRD. tèllow =gaduate students at Queen's University. Although we devoted most of our time and energy to issues other than Our own research projects. such discussions had a profound effect on my understanding of the difficulties tàcing the tüture developmerrt of the mining industry. Thus. at the nsk of missing an important'controversial contribution. [ would like to thank Aaron Mak. Baqun Ding. Darren Koningen. David DeGagné. Henry Heidnch. Juan Camus. Mike Lewis. Mohamed Kolahdoozan. Paulo Franca. Rob Lee. S teve Williams. Todd Harvey. William Xrroc ha. and Yaohong Jiang. Last but not least. 1 thank my wife Carola for her support. encouragement. and patience. It is evident that she realized better than I did how important this project was to me. Dedicated to Carola Adnana and Amanda Lucia Table of Contents Page Abstract ......................................................................................................... i . . Acknowledgements ...................... ................................................................ 11 List of Tables ........................t...a............a..*..~....~............................................. x 1. Introduction .................. . ....... .................................................................. 1 1.1 Underground Mining in Canada 2 1.2 Objectives and Scope of the Thesis 5 1.3 Methodology 6 1.4 Main Factors Considered in the Study 6 1.5 Structure of the Thesis 8 2. A Strategic Approach to Underground Mining ..................... ............. 10 2.1 Underground Hard-Rock Mining in Canada 2.2 Strategy: Definition and Levels 2.3 The Concept of Mining Strategy 2.4 Interactions with Other Functionai Areas 2.4.1 Finance 2.3.2 Technology 2-43 Human Resources 3.3.4 Markets 2.4.5 Discussion 2.5 Strategy Development Issues 2.5.1 Objective of the EiIining Strategy 2.5.2 Decision-Mdûng at the Operations Level Table of Contents (continued) Page 2.5.3 Strategic Mine Design and Planning 2.5.4 Providing Support for Operating Decisions 2.5.5 Measurements of Strategic Performance 2.6 Special Features of Deep Underground Mining 27 2.6.1 Complexity of the Mine Design and Production Plan 27 2.6.2 Reduced Flexibility 28 2.6.3 Sensitivity to Specitic Factors 29 2.7 Summary 30 3. Underground Hard-Rock iMine Design and Planning .............. e . . . . e . . . e 3 1 3.1 Introduction 3 1 3.2 The Underground Mine Design and Planning Process 3 2 . 1 Objectives O ! ' Underground Mine Design and Planning 3.2.2.1 Technological Innovation in Mining 3.2.2.2 Technological Innovation and Risk 3.3 Technology and Underground Mining Sequences 3.3-1 Definition of Mining Sequence 3.3.2 Evolution of Mining Sequences 3 -3.3 Mine Sequencing at Depth 3.4 Discussion 3.5 Summary 44 4. Constraints on Deep Underground Hard-Rock Mining .................. . . . 47 4.1 Vertical OreiWaste Transport 4.1.1 SkipHoistingSystems 3.1.1.1 Hoists 4.1.1.2 Shah 4.1.1.3 Objectives of Hoisting System Design 4.1.1.1 Summary and Discussion 4.1.2 Vertical Conveyors 4.1 2.1 The ~ ~ e x o i v e l ~ S ystem 4.1 2.2 The HA System 3.1.2.3 Vertical Conveyon vs. Conventional Hoisting Systerns Table of Contents (continued) 4.1.2.3 Summary and Discussion 4.1.3 Hydraalic Transport 4.1.4 Ramps 4.1.5 Conveyor Belts Horizontal Ore/Waste Transport 4.2.1 LHD-Based Systems 4.2.2 General Discussion - Continuous S ystems Ventilation 4.3.1 Ainvay Design 4.3.2 Heat 4.3.3 Air Conditioning 43.4 Discussion Mine Development 4.4.1 Mine Development and Design 4.4.2 S ize of Developmen t Openings A . . 1 Oprning Size Determination 4.3.2.2 Excavation Size and Cost 4.4.2.3 Discussion 4-42 Production Rate 4.4.3.1 Production Rate Determination - Rules of Thumb 4 . 4 . . Mine Developrnent and Production Rate 4.4.4 Inter-Level Spacing 4 . 5 Development Technology Delivering Persormel and Supplies 4.5.1 Personnel 4-52 Critical Matenals and Supplies 3.5.3 Alternatives Summary and General Discussion 4.6.1 Surnmary - The Factors 4.6.2 Practical Assessment of the Constraints 46.3 Case Studies Page 58 59 6 1 6 1 62 62 63 66 67 67 68 70 76 78 79 SO S 1 52 83 84 86 57 89 93 94 95 98 99 99 1 O3 105 5 . Case Study 1 : Lynx Brook Deep Mine .................... . . ~ . . o . . . m . . . . . . m o o . . o o . ~ . . 1 O 6 5.1 Introduction 1 06 Table of Contents (continued) Page 5.2 The Existing Operation 5.2.1 Geological and Geotechnical Features 5 . 1 1 Summary Regional and Local Geology 5.2.1.2 Geomechanical Issues 5.2.1.3 Summary Econornic Geology 5.2.2 Mining l Mine Design and Mining Method 5 2 - 2 2 Mine Access and uploads/Industriel/casos-reales-pdf.pdf