International miner Rio Tinto is setting up its own research centre at Laurentian University in Sudbury.
The company will be investing $10 million over five years to establish the Rio Tinto Centre for Underground Mine Construction. It will be located at the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI).
Rio is collaborating with CEMI on high-speed construction associated with deep mine construction, specifically focused on mechanized excavation involving shaft and tunnel boring systems.
It is the fifth international research centre set up by Rio Tinto.
The new techniques to be worked on will involve mine layouts at depth, related to pillar design and underground excavation stability.
In a Nov. 25 press release, John McGagh, Rio Tinto's head of innovation, said the company is seeking improvement in the construction of the “next generation” of underground mining with advanced technologies.
Fred Delabbio, the company's general manager of underground innovation, said working with CEMI provides an “opportunity to combine experts from both the civil and mining industries” in developing new mechanized tunnelling systems.
CEMI's president/CEO Peter Kaiser remarked his research has established the credibility to tackle the industry's most challenging problems.
“It shows that the vision of CEMI's founding partners was correct” and the early investments by the province, Xstrata Nickel and Vale “was strategic for the development of excellence in mining innovation.
