The need for innovation

It is marvelous to witness the growth and spread of technology, though we must be wary of the tendency to over-invest in some sectors while neglecting others.

Consider mining. The industry has invested a great deal of time and money in the exploitation of large-tonnage, low-grade open pits. These pits are simple in structure and content, and the technology is in place to mine them effectively.

But what of the narrow, high-grade structures deep below the earth’s surface? After all, deep-seated, small-tonnage vein deposits can also be mined profitably. In this case, however, it tends to be human beings rather than machines that are key to getting the job done.

Initially, in the development phase, a vertical shaft may be required for access. The installation of shaft, in turn, requires the employment of skilled miners to drill and blast the benches and install shaft timbers.

There follows the work schedules in narrow veins, where all the skills of a miner are required in order to create openings and thereby develop the deposit for extraction. Later on, in the production stopes, miners must demonstrate their skills in drilling, blasting and removing the shattered rock, as well as the provision of ground support in order to minimize dilution. . . . All of which serves to illustrate that the technology required to mine narrow structures has progressed little over the past 50 years. Perhaps this is one reason why so few, if any, small narrow-vein producers are coming on-stream.

Canada, with its vast land mass and favourable geology, has a great deal of potential for the discovery of and exploitation of small, narrow-vein deposits. It behooves the present generation to address this situation so that our mining industry continues to grow in a diverse manner. New ideas and methods are required to ensure that mining is made more and more efficient. Perhaps some form of mechanical mole can be fashioned that would function in this limited space, or perhaps some form of “solution mining” is an option.

The old tramp miner remains key to the mining of small, narrow-ven deposits, and it may be that the old tried-and-proven methods are still desirable. Yet mining in tight vein formations could well be made more attractive and economical, provided improved methods are introduced.

— The author, a retired mining engineer, resides in Vancouver, B.C.