Mining Automation Program

Minerals and Metals Sector / Secteur des minéraux et des métaux

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Mining Automation Program

In 1996 Dyno, Inco and Tamrock agreed to a five-year joint research and development program, Mining Automation Program (MAP), that cost an estimated total of $22.7 million. The objectives of MAP were:

To develop and demonstrate a comprehensive, scientific, technical and economic system for automated mining;
To allow Canadian mines to recover ores from deep and difficult areas, thereby providing Canada with a greater mineral resource and economic growth;
To establish, implement and commercialize technology that will enable a total automation solution for mining operations, thereby dramatically increasing the productivity of mining crews, reducing operating costs, reducing the time required to bring stopes into production (thereby increasing the cash flow of operations), and maximizing the safety of workers.

CANMET Mining and Mineral Sciences Laboratories (MMSL) committed some $3.5 million in an agreement with MAP to provide the Secretariat for the partnership and to contribute in-kind research and development.

MAP Activities

CANMET-MMSL undertook four projects for MAP:

Diesel Performance Monitoring was a study on diesel engine performance and pollutants generated when operating in foul oxygen-depleted air.

The $38 000 study determined how diesel engine performance is affected by low oxygen levels and dirty air. The study also provided a basis for the manless mine atmosphere modelling (see the project outlined below).
Manless Mine Atmosphere was a study of the effects of explosive, corrosive and reactive gases resulting from the use of explosives and diesel, on manless mining operations.

The $650 000 study identified the source and effect of gases generated in the manless mine, and their physical and chemical behaviour in the expected oxygen-deficient, warm, humid and dusty conditions of the manless mine.
Infra-Red Tele-operation was a study of the impact on tele-operating productivity using various light sources.

The $37 000 study, conducted at the CANMET Experimental Mine in Val-d'Or, Quebec, simulated the atmospheric conditions expected in a manless mine. The simulation required definition and evaluation of opacity measurements and provided a preliminary evaluation of infra-red camera data transmitted over a leaky feeder.
Rock Mass Response to Mining was a study to develop a basis for improved mining strategy and for integrating geomechanical data into a mine information system.

The $535 000 study modelled key stages identified in the mining evolution of a Sudbury mine in an attempt to improve the understanding of the response of the rock mass to mining.
For further information, please contact:

Bill Howell
CANMET Mining and Mineral Science Laboratories
Minerals and Metals Sector
Natural Resources Canada
555 Booth Street, Room 342A
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0G1

Tel.: (613) 992-1589

MAP Partners

Dyno Industrier A.S., incorporated under the laws of Norway, manufactures and sells explosives and related products and services for the mining industry.

Inco Limited, incorporated under the laws of Canada, owns and operates mines in Ontario and Manitoba.

Mining Technology, incorporated under the laws of Finland, manufactures and sells mining equipment.

Last Updated: 2006-04-20

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