Sponsors of the 2nd amira blasting and reinforcement technology project expressed concern about the applicability of empirical stability charts to narrow vein stope design and dilution prediction. Practical longterm planning in narrow vein mines a case study mm khani mandalay resources costerfield operations, australia abstract a reliable longterm plan is essential in achieving economic success in a narrow vein mining operation. Strategies for minimising and predicting dilution in. Narrowvein modelling and mineral resource estimation amc. Nov 02, 2011 underground mining, underground mining methods. Jul, 2019 alimak production mining, mine engineering, alimak raising, lateral development, narrow vein mining.
Oct 12, 2016 narrow vein mining engineering and mining journal, oct 12, 2016. In the case of a typical 500,000 tonne per annum narrowvein mine, over mining a 0. Narrow vein underground mining klondex mines customised the maptek vulcan toolbox, using lava scripting to create a short term modelling process for narrow vein mining, freeing up time for other work. Strategies for minimising and predicting dilution in narrow.
The mining method must be varied for different specific deposits. Apr 10, 2017 mechanising narrow vein mining april 10, 2017 development mining, exploration drilling, production drilling rig proves itself in mechanising narrow vein mining. The geological model is often defined only after development is completed. Department of mining and metallurgical engineering dalhousie university daltech. Costerfield a narrowvein case study mandalay resources. Together with hazemag, mine master and mts perforator, ghh fahrzeuge is part of the schmidt, kranz groups mining alliance. A probabilistic benchmarking method is used to estimate benchmark stability stoping widths and benchmark average stoping width for three commonly used narrow vein longhole blast patterns. Thermal fragmentation as a possible, viable, alternative. Like most of the narrow vein operations, a precise geological evaluation is very hard to achieve with diamond drill holes. Beyond airleg mining narrow vein mining in the 21st. Joy globals hard rock mining portfolio now contains a robust lineup of narrow vein equipment. Furthermore, understanding the underlying causes of dilution in narrowvein mining is an essential element in dilution minimisation.
The costerfield mine is an underground operation utilising narrow mining techniques to extract vertical veins. Narrowvein mining presents operators with a number of problems. Underground mining methods and applications production headframe hans hamrin 1. With the new information, the mining method originally selected is sometimes not suitable anymore. In summary, there are three dominant techniques worldwide for mining gentlydipping narrow vein. Underground mining methods are usually employed when the depth of the deposit andor the waste to ore ratio stripping ratio are. Metalliferous narrowvein deposits are generally exploited underground and represent worldwide a valuable resource of metalsin particular, gold. Narrowvein modelling and mineral resource estimation. Beyond airleg mining narrow vein mining in the 21st century. In addition to dilution prediction, the nvd method also includes recommendation and strategies for narrow. Most vein modelling and mineral resource estimation methods for narrow vein deposits uses three dimensional 3d block grade estimation, based on kriging and inverse distance weighting. It is defined as a concentration of minerals that can be exploited and turned into a saleable product to generate a financially acceptable profit under existing economic conditions.
Mechanising narrow vein mining april 10, 2017 development mining, exploration drilling, production drilling rig proves itself in mechanising narrow vein mining. The mining rate is greater than 20,000 tonnes per day tpd but is usually much greater. Strategies for minimising and predicting dilution in narrow vein mines the narrow vein dilution method p c stewart1 and r trueman2 abstract an improved ability to predict dilution for narrow vein deposits enables more accurate economic comparisons between mechanised longhole stoping and other narrow vein mining methods, as well as reducing. Longhole stoping is the dominant narrow vein mining method in both australia and canada. While longhole stoping has lower mining costs per tonne and higher production rates than conventional mining methods, longhole stoping has been associated with increased.
Using geostatistics to estimate the resources of a narrow vein gold deposit. In currently used mining methods, blasting techniques often causes dilution of valuable ore and results in costly processing requirements. Costerfield sells a goldantimony concentrate comprising 54. Conventional narrow vein mining, utilising hand held methods, is expensive and requires specialised miners who are becoming a rarity. This web site presents the results of a research project on narrowvein mining lead by natural resources canada from 1999 to 2005. Klondex mines ltd specialises in narrow vein gold and silver deposits. Beyond airleg mining narrow vein mining in the 21st century p l mccarthy 1 abstract higher commodity prices and environmental considerations will make selective narrow vein mining more attractive in future. A probabilistic benchmarking method is used to estimate benchmark stability stoping widths and benchmark average stoping width for three commonly used narrow vein. The future of narrow vein mining depends upon skilled professionals and on developing practical and innovative methods for orebody definition, mining and. Narrow vein mining conference 2008 the ausimm publications. The wider section, that may be either the vein or the waste, is resued. Room and pillar mining is a style of mining where tunnels are driven in a chess board pattern with massive square pillars between them which are gradually cut away as the work proceeds. Unfortunately, handheld airleg jackleg mining is a mature technology that has safety and productivity limitations.
Here you will find, for each mine visited, the information collected on mining methods, challenges and innovative solutions, complete with documents, photos, plans and sketches. It is an open stoping method and is very similar to sublevel open stoping, longitudinal longhole retreat, and blast hole stoping. Abstractin narrow vein mining it is often not possible to limit stope width to the vein width when utilising blasting for rock breakage. Even so, mining costs are the significant factor as most orebodies currently being mined are of sufficient quality to require little or no beneficiation and resultant costs are competitive. An investigation of mechanisms t involved in backfillrock. Classification of underground mining methods mineral production in which all extracting operations are conducted beneath the ground surface is termed underground mining. Four further gold properties are at various stages of evaluation calliachar, cononish, curraghinalt and maestryfer. The mining industry needs to be shaken and stirred a s bamber 3 geotechnical challenges in narrow vein mining j hadjigeorgiou 15 narrow vein education back to the future. Anaconda mining targets narrowvein mining with new research project innovation 26 june 2017. Asd quickly generates detailed stope shapes that are traditionally designed manually. Dangerous cut down the 300 year old tree in 10 minutes fastest skill cutting big tree chainsaw duration.
Two geologically similar samples from an underground narrowvein hard rock gold mine were collected to obtain a measure of the technologys ability to recover ore by the creation of large thermal openings to assess the applicability. Some pits operate at a rate of more than 100,000 tpd. Jul 23, 2017 beyond airleg mining narrow vein mining in the 21st century p l mccarthy 1 abstract higher commodity prices and environmental considerations will make selective narrowvein mining more attractive in future. During the past decade, substantial research has been. Narrow vein and reef 2008 steve konieczki hollister project. In 2016 pybar acquired a number of unique rigs providing a strong competitive edge in the market. Application of thermal fragmentation in australian hard rock. Using geostatistics to estimate the resources of a narrow. Narrow vein mining presents operators with a number of problems. S hall 23 case studies lovisagruvan small mine with a long future p bray 29 nicolsons find gold project, east kimberley, western australia m csar 31. The narrowvein dilution methodology nvd method proposed in this thesis is a tool for predicting narrowvein dilution based on the benchmark average stoping widths. Transverse longhole stoping is a bulk mining method in which the long axis of the. Specialised equipment and mining techniques for narrow vein.
Furthermore, understanding the underlying causes of dilution in narrow vein mining is an essential element in dilution minimisation. This research project explored the viability of a new mining technology. Feb 17, 2016 dangerous cut down the 300 year old tree in 10 minutes fastest skill cutting big tree chainsaw duration. This web site presents the results of a research project on narrow vein mining lead by natural resources canada from 1999 to 2005. Development of benchmark stoping widths for longhole. Narrow vein and reef 2008 steve konieczki hollister. Shabani synopsis today, mine backfilling has become an integral part of mining operations, both from a local and overall ground control point of view, and as regards mining techniques and environmental considerations. Exploitation of narrow vein barite orebodies by underground mining methods are common and practical in countries with lower cost labor. Narrow veins are major sources of many commodities, including gold, silver, tin, tungsten, coal, uranium and sometimes copper, lead and zinc. The underground mining methods we use include room and pillar, narrow vein stoping and largescale mechanised mining. Sponsors of the 2nd amira blasting and reinforcement technology project expressed concern about the applicability of empirical stability charts to narrowvein stope design and dilution prediction. This paper presents the results from the investigation of the application of thermal fragmentation in australian hard rock underground narrowvein mining. The a1 gold mine decline has been developed to mine this bulk tonnage style of gold deposit in addition to high grade quartz veins. In any discussion of methods of underground mining comparison, one is repeatedly confronted with the difficulty of dealing with so many variable conditions.
Alimak production mining, mine engineering, alimak raising, lateral development, narrow vein mining. Transverse longhole stoping is a popular large scale underground mining method known for its ability to simplify stope sequencing. In addition, most modelling packages require the assumption of a constant dip and dip direction for the whole vein. Open pit mining mining methods 5 open pit mines are used to exploit low grade, shallow ore bodies. The south crofty tin mine closed earlier in the year. Beyond airleg mining narrow vein mining in the 21st century p l mccarthy 1 abstract higher commodity prices and environmental considerations will make selective narrowvein mining more attractive in future. Breccia hosted gold lodes generally have more consistent gold grades than narrow vein deposits. Working from a geological block model, the tool automates the process of generating sectional slices through the ore body. For narrowvein mining, the company offers lhds with 3, 4. Practical longterm planning in narrow vein mines a case study. Mining this narrow style of mineralization can be considered as relatively high risk, not only due to the high cost of exploration and mining per unit of metal, but also to the frequently limited size of the resource.
Narrow vein mining techniques in the united kingdom ausimm. Paus is going to launch an electricpowered lhd for narrowvein mining at the bauma 20 trade fair in aprilthe pfl 12e. Choice of method welcome to the narrowvein mining project. In the united kingdom a single gold operation remains in wales, but the cornish tinmining industry has left behind it a wealth of practical expertise.
Development of benchmark stoping widths for longhole narrow. The disadvantage to this position is the increase in length of crosscuts as the shaft gets deeper. Costerfield a narrowvein case study ausimm bulletin. Hand held mining techniques shrinkage stoping, leading stoping and cut and fill have the advantage that they can be selective. Underground hard rock mining refers to various underground mining techniques used to excavate hard minerals, usually those containing metals such as ore containing gold, silver, iron, copper, zinc, nickel, tin and lead, but also involves using the same techniques for. Costerfield sells a goldantimony concentrate comprising 54 per cent antimony sb and approximately 60 gt gold. It produces up to 80 000 equivalent ounces of gold per annum in both gold and antimony value. Position 1 is favoured because in a dipping vein, the hanging wall is more apt to move into any mining operations than the footwall. Two geologically similar samples from an underground narrowvein hard rock gold mine were collected to obtain a measure of the technologys ability to recover ore by the creation of large thermal openings to assess the applicability of the. In narrow vein mining it is often not possible to limit stope width to the vein width when utilising blasting for rock breakage. Specialised equipment and mining techniques for narrow vein mining, in proceedings ninth. Even so, mining costs are the significant factor as most orebodies currently being mined are of sufficient quality to require little. With the inevitable fall in metal prices, it is necessary for australian mine owners and mining contractors to apply these specialised methods and equipment to make narrow vein mining profitable.
Narrow veins represent an important resource of metals throughout the world, however they are generally technically challenging to exploit because oftheir geologically complex nature. Narrow vein mining engineering and mining journal, oct 12, 2016. The costerfield mine is an underground operation utilising narrowmining techniques to extract vertical veins. System analysis and simulation of narrow vein mining method. In the context of narrow vein mining of thin and highly concentrated orebodies there is a need of a mining method that can reduce dilution in order to remain economically viable. Narrow vein mining has always representeda challenge to the canadian mining industry in terms of productivity and economics. The two industries ranked together as the primary or basic industries of early civilization. The wider section, that may be either the vein or the waste, is resued and mucked before slashing the narrow section. A true innovation in underground mining, the alimak method provides the highest safety standards in the industry, while increasing productivity, adding greater flexibility and maneuverability, and reducing overall mining costs.