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3rd International Conference on Shaft Design and Construction

London, April 2012

New Opportunities for Mine Planners Large Diameter Borehole Hoisting Systems
Dennis G. Martin Manager, Raise Boring, Cementation Canada Inc. Roland Hunt, B Sc. Discipline Specialist - Mining, Cementation Canada Inc. Alun Price Jones, M Eng., CEng Technical Director, Cementation Canada Inc. Abstract The use of low to medium capacity hoisting systems installed within raised shafts in deep mines is not new, but now two significant technical obstacles have been overcome to enable the concept of a higher capacity borehole hoisting system for both mine service and primary production (300 to 600 tonnes/hr) to become a reality. One essential requirement for a higher capacity borehole hoisting system is that it be truly vertical; within tight tolerances. Massive payloads travelling at high speeds within a hoisting shaft would generate significant lateral accelerations due to excessive deviations, resulting in undesirable swaying and lateral dynamic forces. Apart from causing undue wear to guides and shoes, such dynamic forces and swaying could soon damage conveyances, supports and shaft furnishings. The second requirement is to provide sufficient space for larger, high capacity conveyances to pass by one another safely while travelling in the shaft, while at the same time allowing the conveyance to be dimensioned appropriately for efficient handling of rock materials. The necessary cross sectional area requirements point to borehole diameters of the order of 5m to 6m. The two enablers of a higher capacity, deep borehole hoisting system are: (i) the technology to drill vertical pilot holes with high accuracy; (ii) the realization of large diameter raise boring capabilities. Other important factors are also described in the paper, but they alone could not deliver the required hoisting systems without these two key technologies.

Key Words: - mining; raise boring; borehole hoisting; mine production hoisting; drilling accuracy; vertical drilling; ventilation; large diameter.

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3rd International Conference on Shaft Design and Construction

London, April 2012

What is Raise Boring? Raise boring is a method where a drilling machine working from above will drill a pilot hole (typ. up to 380mm dia.) down through rock to intersect a mine opening at depth, say 1000m; whereupon the pilot drill bit is removed and replaced with a large diameter reaming head (typ. up to 5m dia.). The drilling machine now applies rotation and upwards thrust to the reamer through torque and tension in the drill rods, and commences excavation from the bottom up: rock cuttings fall by gravity to the bottom, from where the muck is continually removed. A pre-requisite for this method is for there to be pre-existing access to both top and bottom locations.

Figure No.1: Raise Bore Reamer Head a) commencing at bottom; b) on completion from above

Raises like these are most commonly used for mine ventilation systems; ore passes between levels; or for secondary egress purposes. In such cases, fine control of verticality is unwarranted; as such precision is not required in these applications. What is Borehole Hoisting? Borehole hoisting is the use of hoisting plant to hoist rock, men and materials or both, vertically through a borehole, between a mine level and surface or between two levels of an underground mine. The borehole is part of an overall hoisting system that comprises: The hoisting plant (including the hoist, power supply, ropes, and sheaves); The headworks at the top of the raise (including the dumping and/or offloading arrangements); The borehole including the conveyance guide system: The conveyances for service hoisting or for carrying the hoisted material; The loading system at the bottom of the raise. A borehole hoisting system can be configured as required; both for mine service, or primary production (rock and ore) hoisting, while still providing a ventilation function. For operating efficiency hoisting systems should be vertical, and consequently, these systems traditionally have had to be installed in blind sink shafts because of:
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3rd International Conference on Shaft Design and Construction

London, April 2012

The ability to ensure vertical alignment in excavation; The ability to excavate large diameters required to accommodate the hoisting conveyances and conveyance guide system(s).

A variant on the traditional blind sink method, where mine access is available also at the bottom, has been to provide a near-central small diameter (typ. 2m to 3m) raise bored hole (or other raise excavation method), and then to sink at the larger diameter by slashing from the top-down using traditional sinking methods, except mucking out is achieved down the central raise. This has advantages being faster than blind sinking, but requires mobilizing for two phases of work the initial raise bore and then the sinking set-up. There is now a single-pass raise bore alternative. The evolution of larger diameter raise bore excavations together with increased pilot-hole drilling accuracy means that these boreholes can now be considered for hoisting applications. Borehole hoisting is not a new concept: however, because of borehole size and drilling accuracy limitations, in the past it has typically been confined to small diameter boreholes for low capacity rock hoisting applications. Up to now there have been few, if any, primary mine production high capacity borehole hoisting applications installed. Raise Bore Drill Developments Early raise bore drills were primarily employed for the excavation of open raises such as ventilation and ore or waste pass raises. These raises were limited in diameter (typical 1.8 m) and length due to raise drill equipment limitations. As raise drill equipment evolved for hard rock (>150 MPa), large diameter raise boring was typically considered to be 3 to 4m in diameter and 300+ m in length. Mine and ventilation engineers were challenged to design raise systems within these limitations or slashing and modifying to suit. The raise boring of vertical raises/shafts to be equipped for service or muck hoisting was not generally considered because of the limitations in diameter, length and pilot hole verticality. As the demand for longer, larger diameter raises developed, so too did the evolution of more powerful raise drills, and in-hole hardware. These technical developments are today delivering boreholes up to 6m diameter and 1000m length.
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Figure No.2: Strata 950 Raise Drill

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3rd International Conference on Shaft Design and Construction

London, April 2012

Borehole Ground Support and Stability Assessment The borehole reaming process generally results in a smooth, circular hole which receives no ground support during excavation, and, with limited perimeter disturbance to the rock usually requires minimal permanent ground support as compared to a drill blast blind-sink methodology. The latter requires temporary support at the face to protect men on the shaft bottom during the excavation followed closely by the permanent support which is usually in the form of a concrete lining. Borehole permanent ground support systems can only be installed after completion of the excavation (reaming) process. The ground support would generally be installed from the top down from a temporary equipping stage suspended from and lowered with winch ropes from winches located at the borehole collar. When required the complete range of ground support system alternatives are available: - full concrete lining; concrete rings; shotcrete or fibre-crete; rockbolts and screen. An advantage of a borehole over a blind sink excavation is that the installation of temporary support is not required i.e. only the permanent support system is installed on completion of reaming, and then within a period measurable in weeks. Postconstruction videos of raise walls are also possible to compare predicted and actual conditions. Selected wall support can be tailored to suit actual conditions and installed from the work stage, or can be provided by remotely spraying fibercrete. Ground conditions need to be appropriate to allow the use of the raise bore method. The rock mass can be assessed using the widely accepted rock mass ratings, for example, (RMR) by Bieniawski (1989) and the Q method of Barton (1974) together with stability analyses such as the method by McCracken and Stacey (1989). The RSR (raise bore stability ratio) used in this approach is a function of the raise bore diameter and the excavation service life; which in the case of borehole hoisting would be either the intended service life, or the short period prior to installing ground support. Where there may be specific concerns about wedge type block failures from the excavation walls, assessments of joint patterns using wedge analysis can be done, using the program Unwedge by RocScience (2011). Figure No.3 shows the required rock quality for stability increases with increasing raise diameter. While a 2m raise is likely to be stable in poor quality rock, a 5m raise requires fairquality rock and a 6m raise requires fair to good quality rock.
Figure No.3: Raise Diameter and Stability [after McCracken and Stacey (1989)]

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3rd International Conference on Shaft Design and Construction

London, April 2012

Borehole Accuracy Requirements The vertical alignment accuracy of pilot holes for bored raises has vastly improved with the development and use of equipment such as MICONs Rotary Vertical Drilling System (RVDS) used for drilling the pilot holes. The verticality of the borehole is governed by the pilot hole drilling accuracy and there are two deviation components in the accuracy of the pilot hole drill process: Corkscrew deviation The spiraling travel of the pilot hole bit within an imaginary circle plotted around the pilot hole centre at the collar; and Directional deviation This is related to rock structure; is generally in one direction and usually begins at some distance down the hole. The corkscrew deviation results in side to side undulations in the circumference of the final borehole wall during the reaming process. These wall undulations will impact conveyance clearances when the hoisting system(s) is installed in the borehole. They typically range in dimension from 190-380mm (a half to a full diameter of a 15 pilot hole bit) and the required conveyance clearances can be achieved by reaming the borehole with a hole diameter which includes an allowance to accommodate these undulations. The directional deviation component impacts overall borehole alignment and is influenced by the length of the borehole. Pilot Hole Verticality Pilot hole accuracy can be controlled with the use of drilling tools which have been developed in the oil drilling industry. The RVDS - Rotary Vertical Drilling System is such a tool which is attached at the end of the drill string to the bottom-holeassembly behind the pilot-hole bit. The tool consists of two parts: A pulser sub; and A steerable stabilizer sub.

Figure No.4: The RVDS Directional Drilling Tool

The pulser sub includes a hydraulic tank and turbine - generator unit. The mud flow required to remove drill cuttings is used to generate the electrical and hydraulic energy required to operate the tool. Electrical power is used to drive internal data storage and sensor units which measure the actual position of the tool against the borehole axis and activates the steerable stabilizer sub. An internal encoding unit converts the data into pressure signals which are pulsed from the tool to surface via the mud column. On surface a decoding unit converts the pressure pulses into digital
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3rd International Conference on Shaft Design and Construction

London, April 2012

signals which can be read and displayed by a PC. This permits the operator to continuously read the steering signals and surveyed data coming from the RVDS. The steerable stabilizer sub is positioned directly behind the drill bit and is nonrotating against the borehole and steers the pilot bit against none vertical drilling tendencies with the aid of four independent hydraulically driven stabilizer ribs. The average period for continuous use of the tool is between 150 to 200 hrs as it is usually tripped out of the hole with the worn pilot bit. It is important that the tool operates continuously if hole alignment is to be maintained. Impact of Deviation on Plant Design Borehole deviation requires that the following accommodations are made in plant design: The final diameter of the reamed borehole must be sufficient to provide the conveyance clearances required to accommodate wall undulations due to borehole corkscrew deviation. For fixed guide systems with steel sets, wall attachments, set steel and furnishings must accommodate this deviation in such a way as to ensure location of the guides in a continuous vertical run as much as is possible. Plant design in all other aspects will be the same as for conventional shaft hoisting. Borehole Equipping The borehole equipping requirements are determined by the hoisting plant, the conveyances and the intended service to be provided by the hoisting system. 1 Skips hoisted with a drum hoist can run on both: Fixed guides requiring steel sets and furnishings; and/or Rope guides. Cage conveyances hoisted with a drum hoist require safety dogs and must run on: Fixed wooden guides requiring steel sets and furnishings. Cage conveyances hoisted with a multi-rope hoist such as a Blair or friction hoist can run on: Fixed steel guides with steel sets and furnishings; and/or Rope guides.

These observations are relevant to regulations applicable in Canada; it is noted that other jurisdictions may have differing requirements.

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3rd International Conference on Shaft Design and Construction

London, April 2012

Fixed Guide Systems Fixed guide systems are generally supported on steel sets equally spaced vertically (6m typ.) throughout the borehole length and anchored to the borehole wall. The steel sets typically comprise of buntons, dividers and/or guide brackets attaching the guides directly to the borehole wall. Any borehole deviation requires that the set furnishings i.e. wall attachments, set steel and guide brackets accommodate this deviation in such a way as to ensure that the location of the guides is in a continuous vertical run as much as is possible. This requires that: Guide bracket wall attachments vary in dimension (distance from wall) in accordance with wall deviation. Guide bracket attachments to buntons and dividers will be located to suit wall deviation. Divider wall attachments will vary in dimension in accordance with wall deviation. On completion of the pilot hole, finally a separate deviation survey is run and this data quantifies the magnitude and direction of any hole deviation; and by extension final borehole wall deviation can be used in pre-planning and engineering of shaft set furnishings to accommodate the deviation. Rope Guide Systems The ropes in a rope guided system are anchored in the headframe at the top of the borehole and to an anchor arrangement supported in a steel set arrangement at the bottom of the borehole. They hang freely throughout the borehole length and do not require support throughout the borehole length as fixed guided systems. They do, however, require greater conveyance clearances to allow for guide rope movement. Fixed spear guides supported by steel sets are required to guide skip conveyance(s) into the skip dump in the head works and into the skip conveyance loading pocket. Where rope guides are used the finished effective diameter of the borehole must accommodate wall undulations caused by pilot hole deviation (190-380mm) plus the additional clearance requirements for conveyances with rope guides (300mm) as compared to fixed guides (75mm). Equipping of the borehole with rope guides is feasible where the accuracy of vertical alignment allows, and generally requires less capital than fixed guide systems. Borehole Hoisting Configurations The borehole hoisting configuration is determined by the selection of hoisting plant(s), conveyance(s) and guide system(s). A borehole hoisting configuration will
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3rd International Conference on Shaft Design and Construction

London, April 2012

normally be limited by the available space to a two-compartment configuration and accommodate a single hoisting system. The configuration in Figure No.5 is only for rock hoisting using a friction hoist with inbalance skips on rope guides and includes an egress pod for a second means of egress. Although the hoisting system is only for rock hoisting, with some modification it could be adapted for hoisting men and materials by using skip over cage or cage over skip conveyances. In this case, if a double drum hoist were to be used, the conveyances would have to run on fixed wooden guides requiring steel sets.

Figure No.5: Configuration for Borehole Rock Hoisting

Independent parallel hoisting systems for rock hoisting and service hoisting for men and materials would require more than two compartments and would generally not be considered in a borehole because of size limitations and required conveyance clearances.

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3rd International Conference on Shaft Design and Construction

London, April 2012

Conveyances The operating services to be provided by the hoisting system will determine the conveyances to be used. Rock hoisting only options: Single skip; Two skips (in balance); or Skip and counterweight (in balance). Rock hoisting plus man & material access options: Skip over cage or cage over skip (in balance); Skip in balance with cage In each case a second means of egress shall be provided as local regulations require. Crushed versus Uncrushed Muck Some sizing of run of mine (ROM) ore or waste rock is generally required before loading of skips and as a general design parameter requires a ratio of 3:1 for the smallest skip dimension to the maximum rock feed size. Smaller rock sizing improves skip loading and fill efficiency and will generally result in reduced conveyance wear and tear. The question as to whether the rock in the hoisting system should be crushed or uncrushed material depends on the following factors: The size of ROM ore or waste rock; The conveyance cross-sectional dimensions; The rock hoisting tonnage rate required; The capital and operating costs for crushing vs other sizing options. The rock may be sized through a grizzly (typ. 355mm) but throughput is normally limited to 2,000 tpd through a single grizzly. For larger hoisting tonnages and sizing below 355mm crushing would allow optimization of crushed rock sizing and conveyance cross-sectional dimensions and result in improved loading and fill efficiency and reduced wear and tear through the hoisting system. Conditions suited to a Borehole Hoisting Shaft and Practical Limitations Access must be available at the bottom of the borehole to install the reaming head and remove the reamed cuttings. In the case of underground winze or sub-vertical shaft applications (where the top of the shaft is located at some depth) access is required to both the top and bottom of the borehole; Rock strength and structure must be amenable to boring and requires a detailed geotechnical evaluation before a decision is made to proceed; The diameter of the borehole may be limited by rock strength and structure;
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3rd International Conference on Shaft Design and Construction

London, April 2012

Ground conditions in the excavation must be stable and sufficiently competent to remain self-supporting for duration of excavation process. Support systems can only be installed after completion of reaming process. Single pass borehole length limitations and verticality requirements may require multi-stage development. Excessive ground water must not be an issue; Mine must have sufficient waste haulage capacity to handle the additional borehole excavation rock.

Benefits of Borehole Hoisting There are several benefits derived from the borehole excavation of hoisting shafts or winzes compared to the more conventional blind-sink shaft excavation: Safer excavation methodology as operating personnel are not exposed at shaft bottom to unsupported freshly blasted rock faces; Excavation methodology causes less disturbance to the surrounding rock; The installation of temporary support is not performed during excavation of the borehole i.e. only the permanent support is installed on completion of reaming; Overall borehole excavation rate is faster than sinking rate; Overall project time schedule can be significantly reduced because of ability to carry out concurrent work activities; Reduced excavation costs; Reduction in overall capital costs; Reduced engineering requirements for excavation as compared to a blind-sink shaft; Long term delivery/procurement items such as a permanent hoist can be removed from the critical path. Opportunities A raise such as this ought to be integrated in the mine plans to provide ventilation services also. Rope guides and conveyances provide minimum flow resistance; however ventilation quantities do need to be considered at certain areas of the shaft where air is introduced laterally (a plenum for example) or where the conveyances pass, as this creates lateral forces as well. Without addressing this in detail, suffice to say these boreholes can act as ventilation raises as well. In a raise where people are hoisted a downcast flow is much preferred so providing fresh air for safety reasons (with some companies this is a standard). In a pure muck hoisting shaft the airflow can be either fresh or return air. Consideration is required for the corrosiveness aspects of the return air, but this is more of a consideration in a fixed guided shaft. Borehole hoisting offers a great solution for operating mines that want to undertake major development programs but are at the full capacity of their production muck
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3rd International Conference on Shaft Design and Construction

London, April 2012

handling systems. Too often we have seen mines that have decided to develop the lower part of the ore body and somehow handle the waste either by hoisting in their present system or by placing waste into worked-out areas as fill. Invariably waste handling is second to production and quickly the development program becomes muck bound and falls behind schedule, which in turn delays development of future production. Such borehole hoisting systems could be temporary in nature, with the permanent service of the raise being ventilation. This approach is not new, but should be noted. In a mine plan that has a vent raise already planned, constructing and equipping that raise to handle waste and to accelerate a development program could be important for a mine moving deeper. Conclusions Large diameter borehole hoisting systems for rock hoisting are a viable, practical alternative to conventional shaft hoisting systems which can offer benefits in both development and installation time and overall capital costs. The deviations experienced in boreholes bored with todays raise boring equipment are relatively small and vertical hoisting systems can be readily designed to accommodate this deviation. Borehole deviation is not an impediment to the installation and operating efficiency of vertical hoisting systems. Raises for borehole hoisting systems such as these should be integrated into the mine planning process to exploit the opportunities for efficient ventilation services. Where underground access is available and ground conditions are amenable, raise boring development for the installation of mine hoisting systems should be considered and evaluated against conventional shaft or winze options for individual projects based upon project specific criteria and parameters.

References: Barton, N., Lien, R. and Lunde, J. (1974) Engineering classification of rock masses for the design of tunnel support. Rock Mechanics,Vol.6 pp.189-236. Bienawski, Z.T. (1989) Engineering rock mass classifications. New York, Wiley. McCracken, A. and Stacey, T.R. (1989) Geotechnical risk assessment for largediameter raise bored shafts. Conference on Shaft Engineering, Harrogate, England. Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, pp 309-316. RocScience - Unwedge Underground Wedge Stability Analysis /www.rocscience.com/

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3rd International Conference on Shaft Design and Construction

London, April 2012

Borehole Hoisting - Recent Case Study

The following high capacity primary mine production hoisting project is currently in progress at Auricos Young Davidson Project, located at Matachewan, west of Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Canada. The Northgate Shaft is for rock hoisting: Borehole 5.5 m diameter x 1550 m deep; Borehole development in 3 legs; To include intermediate loading pocket at bottom of first two legs; Friction hoist; In-balance skip hoisting; Rope guides Hoisting 7000 tonnes per day; Raise boring was carried out by Cementation Canada to build a second shaft (a borehole hoisting shaft) adjacent to the historic mines existing shaft, as part of a $1.5-billion programme to bring the mine back into production. AuRicos mine is a major undertaking that is expected to annually produce 180,000 ounces of gold over a 15-year mine life and the new shaft is one of the key structures to be built at the mine to help achieve this goal, requiring a hoisting capacity up to7000 tonne/day. The new shaft is adjacent to an existing shaft; about 10m of overburden was removed down to bedrock, and a concrete slab poured. A 381mm diameter pilot hole was drilled to a depth of 446 m. Crucially, the verticality was maintained using a Rotary Vertical Drilling System (RVDS). The maximum acceptable deviation for the design of the shaft is 305mm.

Figure No.6 shows a maximum deviation of 180mm to the east for a 460m deep pilot hole with total deviation at the bottom of the hole at 40mm NE.

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3rd International Conference on Shaft Design and Construction

London, April 2012

From that point at depth, a 5.52m diameter cutting head was attached, and over the next 133 days the new shaft was reamed upward, at a rate of 3.4 m/day. The construction of the complete borehole hoisting shaft involves raiseboring in three successive vertical legs each of approximately 500m length, installing ground support, and finally to complete the shaft, the installation of a loading pocket, shaft services and skips travelling on rope guides. Access to the underground workings for the installation of the reaming head for Leg One and Two is via the existing mine ramp while access to the Third Leg will be accomplished when the existing shaft is deepened to appropriately 1500m depth. This approach presents a significant opportunity for the mine. Rather than waiting until the entire shaft is constructed, AuRico is taking advantage of earlier infrastructure work to gain access and to hoist rock product through Legs One and Two, while the third and final leg is still under construction. Ground support is installed after each leg is raisebored. The surface mounted mechanical set-up to accomplish this consists of two winches supporting a threedeck Galloway stage. A hoist will allow bucket travel for men and materials, and a second hoist for emergency egress. The Galloway stage consists of a bottom deck for drilling ground support, a middle deck for the installation of rockbolts and screen, and the top deck for installation of service brackets, installation of temporary services, and storage of electric feeder cable. More specifically, drilling is with two pneumatic turret drills. No. 9 gauge galvanized chain-link screen is installed from a rotating cassette mounted on a monorail running the perimeter of the stage. 1.8m long, 20mm resin rebar on a 1.2 by 1.2-m pattern is installed. Once the first leg is supported, the Galloway itself will be anchored at the bottom of Leg One to act as a head-cover for the Second Leg raisebore pilot hole and reaming. Once excavated, ground support for the Second Leg will be installed likewise. For each successive Leg, survey control is critical to ensure the raiseborer is on the correct coordinates. At the bottom of the Second Leg, a loading pocket will be excavated and equipment installed utilizing the Galloway stage as a work platform. Also at the bottom at this interim location, temporary mechanical equipment required for control of rope guides will be installed. Once reaming of the Third Leg is completed, the entire set-up for ground support will be relocated from surface, and re-installed beneath a rock pentice below the Second Leg. Upon completion of ground support for Leg 3, at full depth, a second loading pocket will be excavated and installed along with the permanent shaft bottom mechanical equipment. A changeover from the mid shaft loading pocket to that at the shaft bottom will then take place. This will involve excavating to remove the temporary rock pentice below Leg 2, installing ground support in this area and finally, installing hoist ropes on the permanent friction hoist for the full planned shaft depth.
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3rd International Conference on Shaft Design and Construction

London, April 2012

This project was originally envisioned as two legs (see Figure 7) and it would have been feasible for it to be carried out as two 750m holes: However, to match reaming horizons with mine development plans and time schedules, and to achieve earlier access to borehole hoisting, the system is being developed in three legs.
RAISEBORE SINKING HOIST HOUSE

Figure No.7: a) Borehole in Two Legs, and b) Blind-Sinking Option.

Although in this case a rope guided borehole hoisting system was selected, the concept of a fixed guided borehole system was also an option for this shaft, and is a good option for any borehole. The fixed guides provide - more room for the conveyance due to less clearance requirements; give more latitude for drilling accuracy/deviation; and can help in dealing with larger muck size or larger cage requirements in a service hoisting option. Also fixed guides allow for multilevel hoisting. This is an important point because the setup as described here allows for hoisting from one level initially, and then moving down in the future, but does not lend itself to multilevel hoisting. A fixed guide system would allow this, as well as man access to various intermediate levels. The rope guide solution used here is specific and best suited to the mines requirements but would not necessarily be the best option for every project.

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