Hard Rock Miner's Handbook - Stantec

1 hard Rock miner s Handbook hard ROCK miner S Handbook 2008 Stantec Consulting Ltd. Stantec CONSULTING hard Rock miner s Handbook by Jack de la Vergne TITLE hard Rock miner s Handbook , Edition 5 Copyright 2008 Stantec Consulting Ltd. 10160 112 Street Edmonton, Alberta Canada Phone (780) 917-7000 Fax (780) 7330 hard Rock miner s Handbook , Edition 3 Copyright 2003 McIntosh Engineering Limited 147 McIntyre St. West, Suite 200 North Bay, Ontario Canada Phone (705) 494-8255 Fax (705) 474-2652 Copyright 2003 McIntosh Engineering Inc 1438 West Broadway Road, Suite 101 Tempe, Arizona USA Phone (480) 831-0310 Fax (480) 831-0317 AUTHOR de la Vergne SPONSOR Scott L. McIntosh EDITOR Susan L. Andersen PUBLISHER* Stantec Consulting *Also published in CD format and available for download from PRINTER AND BOOKBINDER O Neil Printing (Phoenix, Arizona), Roswell Bookbinding (Phoenix, Arizona) ISBN ISBN 0-9687006-1-6 RIGHTS All rights reserved.

2 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author. EDITIONS Edition 1 June 2000 hard Copy Edition 2 July 2000 CD and Web Edition 3 (CD/Web) May 2003 CD and Web Edition 3 ( hard Copy) August 2003 hard Copy Edition 4 (CD/Web) September 2012 CD and Web Edition 4 ( hard Copy) September 2012 hard Copy Edition 5 (CD/Web) - January 2014 - CD/Web TABLE OF CONTENTS i 2008 Stantec Consulting Ltd. Foreword Edition 5, January 2014 by Scott McIntosh, Stantec John (Jack) de la Vergne's hard Rock miner s Handbook is a work of the heart. Jack whose 40+ year career spanned engineering, construction, and operation of mining projects worldwide conceived of and wrote the first edition of the Handbook , published in June 2000, to assist miners and engineers in the difficult world of hard rock mining.

3 It was his gift to an industry that provided him with employment, challenges, and fascination. The Handbook is a not-for-profit publication intended to help the mining companies we serve, as well as the mining community at large students, teachers, consultants, contractors, manufacturers, salespeople, media representatives, financial institutions, mining associations, and government officials. Although it emphasizes metal mining, much of the information is also valuable to our friends mining soft and other not-so-soft industrial mineral and energy resources. I personally know the lifetime of effort that Jack put into Edition 1. Although I helped him with sponsorship and encouragement, Jack did all of the real work and I never believed we would consider publishing an update, let alone a fourth edition twelve years down the road.

4 A lot has changed since Edition 1 Jack retired and McIntosh Engineering was acquired by Stantec in 2008 but Jack s legacy lives on in Edition 4 of a book that continues to serve the mining community. RULES OF THUMB: THE ART (EXPERIENCE) OF THE MINING INDUSTRY One attraction of the mining industry is the fact that, although our business is based on sound scientific principles, there is still significant art to the work we do. This art is the exciting part of our business. We don t truly know what the ground will be like until it is mined, and by then, if the art has not been prudently applied, it is too late for the application of scientific principles. Because of the unknowns, we often rely on the experience of others and good rules of thumb to guide us. Rules of thumb and comparable data are often sufficient to provide immediate, approximate answers to kick-start the problem solving process.

5 Consequently, mining industry experts initially compiled and published many rules of thumb, which we delivered at mining conventions across North America. The mining community s strong response provided many new rules and encouraged us to pursue this Handbook as a separate project. Although certain contents in the Handbook may be controversial, its Rules of Thumb and Tricks of the Trade sections capture the art (experience) of the mining industry. I encourage you to use the Handbook , and use it wisely. RESPONSE Mining industry response to the book continues to be incredible. Thanks in large part to the efforts by John Chadwick of the Mining Journal, , and many other members of the mining community, the hard Rock miner s Handbook has been distributed to over 113 countries worldwide. Web hits and downloads continue as students and professors, miners, engineers, and mining executives embrace the Handbook as an invaluable source of practical mining information.

6 After the first edition was published as a hard copy, we received significant encouragement from the many readers of the book, who provided new additions to the Rules of Thumb section. Therefore, Jack decided that a complete update was warranted, and I was on board. The original publication was published as a hard copy. The CD and web version, with minor changes, were published as Edition 2. Two hundred hard copies were distributed to customers and close friends of Stantec (then McIntosh Engineering) and thousands of electronic copies were freely distributed via CD and our website. Edition 3 consisted of two versions, a CD (May 2003) and hard copy (August 2003). And now we have completed Edition 4, which provides a visual refresh to acknowledge Stantec s acquisition of McIntosh Engineering. As it has been for 12 years, the Handbook is available as a free download from our website ( ) and the CD version is free by request We are also printing copies of this new edition, available for a nominal charge to cover printing costs.

7 hard ROCK miner S Handbook 2008 Stantec Consulting Ltd. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Stantec gratefully acknowledges everyone who contributed to the development of the hard Rock miner s Handbook . Many people are listed as contributors of specific Rules of Thumb or Tricks of the Trade. In addition, we are grateful to everyone who advised Jack on a personal basis through his years of writing the text. I am also personally grateful to the many employees of Stantec and others outside of our company who contributed time to the section-by-section internal review process and updates. Thank you! In closing, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to John (Jack) de la Vergne for his dedication to this project. I have known and worked with Jack for nearly 30 years and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to participate with him in publishing this Handbook .

8 To all of our mining industry friends, please feel free to use this Handbook wisely and share it with others. I hope that by publishing this Handbook , we have somehow made your jobs easier or helped you in some way to be competitive in a tough but fun and interesting industry. We look forward to any comments you have. Scott McIntosh, September 2012 Stantec Consulting DISCLAIMER The Handbook is intended as an educational resource that provides information to its readers. Use of the Handbook is not intended as a substitute for the standard of care, skill and diligence that would normally have to be provided by an experienced and prudent engineer supplying services in any mining project. The author and the publisher were not engaged to render any type of professional opinion or advice. The content of each rule or tip is the expression and opinion of its author and not necessarily that of the publisher.

9 No warranties or guarantees are expressed or implied by the publisher s choice to include any of the content in this volume. Neither the publisher nor the authors shall be liable to any person or entity for any damage to property, losses, physical, emotional, financial or commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential or other damages. The author and publisher are providing you with information so that you can chose, at your own risk, how to apply and use that information. Every mine or mining project is different and the information contained herein may not be suitable for all particular circumstances. Where practical, direct quotes of the individuals referenced are provided; however, some were translated from a foreign language, others are recalled from memory, received by word of mouth or do not represent word for word quotes.

10 Every effort was made to ensure that the quotes are accurate. However, the author and publisher are not liable for any errors, omissions, misinterpretations or incorrectly referenced quotes. Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at the time of first publication, the author and publisher are not liable to any person or entity for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. References are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute endorsement of any websites or other sources. Certain links within the book lead to resources maintained by third parties over whom the author and publisher have no control, and the author and publisher make no representations or warranties as to the accuracy of those resources.