Science and Technology for Canadians

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Summary

Gold used to be mined here... but what's mined now is technology. Natural Resources Canada's Experimental Mine in Val-d'Or Quebec is a one-of-a-kind facility -- a former working mine that is now dedicated to research for developing and testing safe, cost-effective mining equipment and systems. In 1994 scientists and staff at the CANMET Experimental Mine, in partnership with an equipment manufacturer and the mining industry, took on the challenge of developing a new kind of rockdrill, an energy-efficient water rockdrill that improves health and safety conditions and meets the needs of mines in the Americas.

Transcript of Video

Jay Ingram
Gold used to be mined here.... but what's mined now... is technology. The CANMET Experimental Mine in Val D'Or, Quebec is a one-of-a-kind facility - a former working mine that's dedicated to testing and developing mining equipment.

In 1994 scientists and staff at the experimental mine took on the challenge of developing a new kind of drill, one that met the needs of mines in the Americas and was energy efficient.

Dr. Marcel Laflamme
The first prototype that was brought from South Africa about six years ago, we had to have two miners to operate those drills. So we've worked since that time to adapt that machine. We've looked at the ergonomy of that machine, the controls, the attachments, the centre of gravity of the machine, so that these are major developments that were done here and make that machine adapted to have only one miner use it instead of two.

Jay Ingram
Not only did the scientists have to improve on the prototype, but they also had come up with something better than what's currently used in Canadian mines.

Dr. Marcel Laflamme
Presently in our mines what they use is air drill. We use compressed air to operate the rock drills. And this way to bring power to the drill is not very efficient.

Jay Ingram
Instead of using compressed air, the new design, named the Candrill, is hydraulic - it uses pressurized water instead of air, and that improves on the air drill in several different ways.

Dr. Marcel Laflamme
The hydraulic drill is better in a different way. If we look at the performance for example - it can double the penetration rate that we can get with the air drill. Also we have very good improvements on the environment side. If we think about noise reduction - it reduces the noise by at least 10 - 15 decibels which is quite important when you talk about noise. Vibrations are also reduced. The environment itself is better as the fume is eliminated. All the mist is eliminated and dust is reduced by a lot, so the environment is overall very well improved. Also the energy efficiency is increased by 30 to 40 percent using hydraulic instead of compressed air.

Jay Ingram
When compressed air is pumped through the system to the air drill, it can leak out at any point along the way and waste energy, without being obvious. But with the Candrill, which uses pressurized water, a leak in the system would be quite noticeable, and would have to be repaired.

There are other advantages too. The water flushes out the cuttings made by the drill bit more efficiently than the air drill. It's also lighter, which makes it ideal for use in small mines.

Dr. Marcel Laflamme
This drill should be used in small mines... in small openings where we operate narrow vein mines. Reducing the weight of the drill by 11 kilograms, comparing the air drill with the water rock drill, is of great importance for the miners, as they have to work in very small areas. And they have to bring all their materials from the... to the work place, so that's a great improvement for them – having reduced the weight of the machine.

Jay Ingram
After seven years in research and development, in the fall of 2000, the Candrill was ready to prove its stuff in an operating mine. It's the first hydraulic drill to be used commercially in Canada, but with its superior performance and energy efficiency, it's not likely to be the last.

Earth Tones is produced in co-operation with Natural Resources Canada.