Productivity Enhancement and Risk Management (PERM)

Productivity Enhancement and Risk Management (PERM)
for Underground Construction and Mining

Lead institution: Laurentian University / MIRARCO

Please visit PERM Press Release.
Project duration: five years

In Brief:

Ontario is a major global mining centre and Canada's number one exporter of minerals to the world. Innovative new methods are required to sustain and enhance that primacy, as ore close to the surface becomes scarcer and mining operations are obliged to dig deeper. The collective challenge is to improve the design and construction of underground excavations; better integrate and optimize mine site planning and design; and develop efficient, safer water and waste management solutions.

PERM is a $24 million, 5-year program being delivered by MIRARCO. PERM funding is provided by the Ontario Research Fund and industry contributions with the goal of keeping Ontario competitive in the global mining industry through research, development and knowledge transfer under three themes.

The Value of PERM

In creating the PERM program, the Ontario Research Fund and supporting mining companies are strengthening the mining industry, one that is vital to the province, indeed the country. The program represents a healthy investment into an industry whose yearly mineral production is valued in the billions, whose operations provide 23,000 direct and 75,000 indirect jobs for Ontarians and pays over $1 billion dollars in wages annually. Through PERM, the Ontario Research Fund, the mining industry and MIRARCO are ensuring that Ontario remains a competitive global leader in mining, exploration and underground safety. Thanks to the program, MIRARCO has grown notably in size and capability with a three-fold increase in staff and student numbers and similar growth in the number of projects currently underway.

Project Highlights

PERM is being carried out through three research themes:

Theme 1 - Design and Construction of Underground Excavations

Site characterization and modeling for repository performance assessment, ore manufacturing and rock fragmentation, innovative geomechanics design and support technology, seismic hazard reduction for deep excavations.

• Rock Mass Characterization

  Prior to undergoing an operational expansion, geotechnical specialists visited Goldcorp’s Hoyle Pond Mine in Timmins to perform a rock mass characterization study. The report was used by Goldcorp staff to better understand the rock mass condition along the drift and was used during the planning and design stages.
  
  

• Hazard Map Manager

  This project is determining new dimensions in seismic data processing and interpretation and making the assessment of seismic risk more accurate and efficient by using visualization software and a virtual reality system to represent complex datasets. Vale Inco is currently using this technology at its Creighton Mine and MIRARCO is commercializing the tool for use in other mines.
  
  

• Strength at Depth

  Rock mechanics researchers are using borehole data to characterize rock masses in deep underground mines. There is significant demand for this type of methodology as currently, there are few reliable ways to characterize rock mass at great depth prior to excavation.

Theme 2 - Integrated Mine Design and Risk Mitigation

Exploration planning, planning and logistical optimization and auditing, rapid development, advanced data interpretation.

• Schedule Optimization Tool

  The Schedule Optimization Tool (SOT) is a software tool designed to automatically create near optimal schedules for a mine based on a user’s specific inputs. Using genetic algorithms, hundreds of feasible schedules are generated and refined until the results near optimality. The tool is now being commercially available.
  
  

• Virtual Reality Lab Installations

  MIRARCO’s use of Virtual Reality for exploration and planning purposes has gained acceptance as a valuable tool for the mining and exploration industries. MIRARCO has built several Virtual Reality Labs for mining companies: Rio Tinto (Salt Lake City), Vale Inco (Creighton Mine, Sudbury), the Xuzhou Mining Company (China) and Golder Associates (Toronto). The technology can be used for investor relations, risk management, exploration planning and environmental remediation.
  
  

• Natural Heat Exchange Ventilation

  Researchers have recently begun work on assessing and optimizing the refrigeration capacity of the fragmented rock mass in the old open pit of Vale Creighton Mine. The project involves building a ventilation model of the rock mass and determining how to best use its natural cooling capacity throughout the year.

Theme 3 - Environmental Risk Management

Stewardship and impact mitigation, remote monitoring technology, water resource management, and solid waste treatment.

• Reclamation of Mine Tailings

  Organic refuse from pulp and paper mills is being used as a cover for tailings in which energy crops such as canola, corn and switchgrass are grown. The goal is to use these crops as biofuel feedstock while making productive use of waste products from both the mining and forestry industries. Year one of the three-year project is complete and the results are very positive with all crops reaching maturity despite adverse growing conditions. In year two, alternate biosolid covers will be tested.
  
  

• Remote Environmental Monitoring

  More efficient and less complex ways of monitoring ecosystems are being employed with the use of a newly developed autonomic computing system. The method will be tested with a second generation Remote Underwater Sampling System (RUSS) that gathers data and samples while employing self-management procedures.
  
  

• Uranium Tailings Closure

  Tailings from Pele Mountain’s Elliot Lake Uranium Project are set to undergo tests to determine whether economically feasible quantities of uranium can be extracted through bioleaching. If successful, this part of the mine closure process will leave the impoundment area with significantly reduced levels of residual uranium in the tailings.

Each theme's subprojects address one or more knowledge gaps. Project teams comprise Master's, Ph.D. and undergraduate students, junior and senior academic researchers, and private sector professionals. Figure 1 PERM fits within the "functional silos" of the mining and civil excavation industries. Each silo represents activities along a timeline, from conception to closure. The productivity enhancement potential and risk profiles run along this same timeline, with higher productivity and lower risk with early investments of time and money. Due to environmental liabilities, risk increases following plant closure. Following production is a step function decrease in productivity enhancement potential. Three central bars represent the PERM research themes, where red highlights silo activities that are most greatly impacted by the themes.

Proposed Projects

Social and Economic Benefits:

Contact:

Dale McKinnon
Program Manager, MIRARCO
(705) 675-1151 x. 5074
dmckinnon@mirarco.org