Page 20 C ompan y ofcials ar e still w aiting f or a clear indica tion fr om S witz er land on whether ther e will be a sig nifcan t e x t ension of the K idd C r eek mine Near ly t w o y ears ago deep dr illing a t the c ompan y s hist or ic base metals mine in T immins tur ned out enc our ag ing r esults I t cr ea t ed a hopeful buzz in the cit y tha t has last ed ev er sinc e M ining Lif e Explor a tion New s asked f or an upda t e fr om c ompan y ofcials all they c ould sa y is tha t ther e is nothing t o r epor t a t this time A f ew y ears ago the lif e of mine sun set had been set a t 2022 but the dy namic dr ill r esults belo w the 10000 f oot lev el ga v e the o wners of the op er a tion S witz er landbased Glenc or e pause f or though t T he mine has been pr oducing c op per and zinc sinc e 1966 D o z ens of junior mining c ompanies ha v e been sc our ing the r eg ional landscape ne x t t o K idd f or decades tr ying t o pin poin t another or ebody tha t migh t r iv al K idd s multibillion bonanza T hey v e all c ome up empt y I t tur ns out the other mine is likely belo w deep belo w the frst one K idd Oper a tions G ener al M anager M ar k F ur lott e speak ing a t the 2019 Big E v en t in T immins c onfr med tha t the c ompan y is indeed e xplor ing a t depth T he C it y of T immins is keen f or Glen c or e decisionmakers t o announc e their in t en tions A t pr esen t the c om pan y emplo y s mor e than 800 people with an annual pa yr oll in e x c ess of 100 million I n addition the annual spend on c on tr ac t ors a v er ages 50 million a y ear Based on a number of inf or mal c on v ersa tions which ar e being r epea t ed thr oughout the c ommunit y the de cision is pur ely based on numbers I f the tar get ed z one is mo v ed in t o a pr o v en or pr obable or ebody ca t egor y ther e ar e multiple c ost fac t ors tha t c ome in t o pla y not the least of which is eng ineer ing and getting the or e t o sur fac e T he c ompan y alr eady utiliz es au t onomous r ec o v er y v ehicles and they ha v e also in v est ed hea vily in an under g r ound fbr e optic sy st em f ea tur ed in a pr evious issue of M in ing Lif e which has had a dr ama tic and positiv e impac t on w or kfo w c onditions Not withstanding the aut onomous t echnology oper a t ed fr om a c ommand c en tr e on sur fac e the challenge of getting the or e t o sur fac e is still one of ec onomics A t pr esen t the or e is hoist ed fr om the 4 shaf t up t o the 4900 lev el about half w a y t o sur fac e F r om ther e it is hauled b y c on v ey or belts t o the 2 shaf t wher e it is then hoist ed an additional 5000 f eet appr o x t o sur fac e and ev en tual tr anspor ta tion b y r ail t o the K idd smelt er c omple x T he 2019 deep dr illing pr og r am t o talled 17000 metr es T hose r esults ha v e not been made public W hile the announc emen t of the lif e of mine decision r emains a m y st er y ther e c on tinues t o be small indica tions tha t inno v a tiv e appr oaches t o pr oduc tion ar e under ser ious c on sider a tion A t the annual I n t er na tional S ymposium on Gr ound Sup por t in M ining and Under g r ound C onstruc tion held in Sudbur y in the fall of 2019 K idd s senior g r ound c on tr ol eng ineer Da vid C oun t er out lined the c ompan y s upda t ed use of laser t echnology f or mapping dr if ts K idd has been using the t echnol ogy f or a f ew y ears af t er it w as in tr oduc ed as par t of an independen t r esear ch pr ojec t S our c es t ell M ining Lif e Explor a tion New s tha t stabilit y is of par a moun t impor tanc e as both hea t and pr essur e incr ease e xponen tially the deeper a mine gets T he e x tr eme t emper a tur e in the ear th s c or e is the r esult of dif er en t fac t ors I t is par tially due t o the tr e mendous hea t pr esen t a t the f or ma tion of our planet A nother sour c e is fr om fr ic tional hea ting as dense ma t er ial fr om the out er c or e sinks deep in t o the inner c or e Hea t is also gener a t ed b y the deca y of r adioac tiv e isot opes mainly potassium ur a nium and thor ium but scien tists ar e unc er tain about the sig nifcanc e of this fac t or sinc e the amoun t of these r adioac tiv e elemen ts is unk no wn ac c or ding t o a 1997 ar ticle in S cien tifc A mer ican Kidd C r eek Lif e of M ine Page 21