Page 94 Page 90 Innovation T echnology Key to Deep Mining By Frank Giorno As surface deposits of miner als and metals are depleting the future of mining in Cana da and globally will increas ingly turn to deeper under ground mining A conference orgnized by the Centre for Excellence in Mining In novation CEMI and IConnect in T oronto on September 19 and 20 The Future of Deep Minin g 2019 examined how innovatio n and technology will be central to mak ing the deepe r mines of the future safe more productive and proft able The opening panel discussed the barriers to innovation and how they can be overcome The panel considered how an eco nomic case has to be made for ultradeep hardrock mining for gold and base metals like copper nickel lead and zinc Reversing a decade long decline and increas ing mining productivity was con sidered the key This would be accomplished by bringing new orebodies into production faster safer and more efciently Through exploration at greater depths mining companies are fnd ing more deposits to mine But the deeper a mining company ven tures the more the costs increase The conference heard presenta tions on sustaining proftability by reducing energy costs in ven tilation and transportation and by making mucking and ore extrac tion more efcient For example additional costs are incurred because of the need for increased operational costs such as ventalition and cooling costs V ale Sudbur y s Creighton Mine has been operating for over 100 years and is 7800 feet deep Kidd Operation in T immins is the deep est base metal mine in the world and currently has reached 9600 feet and considerable cost is ex pended ventilating and cooling Energy costs are being reduced by companies like V ale and Glen core by introducing battery electric transportation vehicles that are less expensive to run than diesel In addition the also reduce energy costs due to ventilation and cool ing because they generate way less heat that diesel trucks and equipment V ale s Creighton Mine in Sudbury uses a natural heat exchan ge sys tem which stores winter air and releases to lower the temperature in mine Nega r Saeidi Mining En gineer at V ale said this approach saves the company 52 million in yearly electricity and natural gas costs Saeidi also haled the use of battery electric vechicles as es sential for the deep mining opera tion at Creighton Mine Without battery electric vehicles we could not mine at 25 km deep as we do at Creighton Mine she said Future mines will also need to re duce costs by implementing ven tilation and cooling on demand systems so energy will be directed Photo MiningLife Panel on Barriers to Innovation in Mining left to right Roger Emdin Chair CEMI Jan ice Zinck CanmetMINING Keiran Swanton Glencore Kidd Operations Fred Stanford T orex Gold Resources Alex Henderson Alex Henderson Consulting and Samantha Espley V ale Page 92