Mining giant Rio Tinto will be investing $10 million over five years to undertake research at the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI).
The Rio Tinto for Underground Mine Construction program focuses on mechanized excavation, including a shaft boring system and tunnel boring systems.
CEMI was selected as the agent for collaborative research leadership in support of high speed construction associated with underground mine construction.
For Rio Tinto, this investment reflects the company’s long term commitment to science, engineering and innovation, and is central to its approach to research partnerships, according to a press release put out by CEMI.
The Rio Tinto Centre for Underground Mine Construction at CEMI will undertake research with respect to ground and machine performance. For this purpose, prototype test sites will be instrumented to improve ground characterization techniques and to develop innovative support systems to facilitate high speed, mechanized tunnel and shaft development technologies for underground mines in highly stressed ground and at depth.
Furthermore, research will be undertaken to improve construction logistics and to optimize machine performance to properly select and implement these innovative construction technologies from an equipment and ground management perspective.
Smart engineering approaches will be developed to observe and control both equipment and ground to minimize risks and uncertainties and to facilitate flexibility in matching construction to conditions encountered in complex ore bodies.
As new mechanized excavation techniques open innovative mine layouts, the work at the Centre will also include projects related to pillar design and underground excavation stability, including projects on rock fracture modelling and engineering design for economic mine layouts at depth.
“In order to satisfy the increasing global demand for minerals Rio Tinto is seeking a step change improvement in the construction of the next generation of large underground mines,” John McGagh, head of innovation at Rio Tinto, said.
“In announcing the formation of the Rio Tinto Centre for Underground Mine Construction we confirm our commitment to supporting the development of advanced technologies to help Rio Tinto turn the mine of the future into reality.”
Dr. Peter K. Kaiser, president and CEO of CEMI remarked, “I’m excited about this development as it demonstrates that CEMI has established the means to tackle industry’s most challenging problems. It also shows that the vision of CEMI’s founding partners was correct and that the early investment by the Ontario provincial government and the founding industrial partners, Xstrata Nickel and Vale with the support of Laurentian University, was strategic for the development of excellence in mining innovation.”
