With declining surface grades, mining is moving underground, where risks are high and costs are huge. Application of deep cave mining knowledge is essential to the future of resource extraction; knowledge we have developed is highly exportable via this proposed collaborative project to develop advanced mine design, engineering and analysis tools for cave mining. The critical goals are improved safety and productivity. We expect to extend mine life and enhance yield with an integrated solution of novel technologies and specialized orebody expertise delivered through a unique framework, the CIMRE Healthy Mine, that builds on years of applied research and industry-academic collaboration.
CIMRE’s Healthy Mine initiative relies on industry insight to drive a reference architecture for a real-time communications and analytics framework with a web-based dashboard to remotely monitor on-going conditions at an operating mine (or to simulate pre-operational mine design) and throw alerts on abnormal or dangerously emergent situations.
The Minimum viable product (MVP) that implements this Framework will include:
1) Devices in the Sensors and Actuators layer
2) Pre-processing features to aggregate data at the mine-site for local alerting and other uses
3) Storage and transmission facilities
4) Sensor fusion and analytical capabilities for making sense of the high volume of data.
5) Human-Machine Interface (HMI) will take the form of a web-based interface for both at-a-glance situational awareness of both efficiency and safety conditions, as well as providing control over various systems.
The MVP will be further focused on underground cave mining copper-gold operations.
We will develop/integrate sensors for ore body assessment and mineral identification, as well as detection of dangerous mud-rush, strain/rock-burst and other safety related conditions. We will also pursue relationships with commercial partners to provide best-practices in non-core parts of the Healthy Mine framework.
References:
- Klein, B., 2019, Mining Methods and Sorting Systems to Upgrade BC Porphyry Mines, Mineral Exploration Roundup, Vancouver, B.C.
- Nadolski, S., B. Klein, D. Elmo, and M. Scoble, 2015, “Cave-to-Mill: a Mine-to-Mill approach for block cave mines.” Mining Technology 124, no. 1: 47-55.
- Nadolski, S., M. Samuels, B. Klein, and C.J.R. Hart. 2018, Evaluation of bulk and particle sensor-based sorting systems for the New Afton block caving operation. Minerals Engineering 121: 169-179.
- Nadolski, S., M. Munkhchuluun, B. Klein, D. Elmo, and C.J.R. Hart. ,2018, “Cave fragmentation in a cave-to-mill context at the New Afton Mine part I: fragmentation and hang-up frequency prediction.” Mining Technology 127, no. 2 (2018): 75-83.
- Nadolski, S., C.OHara, B. Klein, D. Elmo, and C.J.R Hart. 2018, Cave fragmentation in a cave-to-mill context at the New Afton mine Part II: implications to mill performance. Mining Technology: 1-12.