Grant: Alliance Grants

Surgical Mining is an emerging sustainable mining method that reduces the overall mining environmental footprint for mining by selectively extracting ore using large diameter borehole (1 m to 3 m) drilling systems that are guided in the subsurface by precision geophysical imaging methods. For this method, the ore is recovered as drilling cuttings with much less waste rock being excavated which results in ore being mining with approximately half of the energy consumption and greenhouse gas emission per tonne of ore as compared with conventional surface or underground mining methods. Massive Sulfide Mineral Deposits are a major source of metals, including many recently classified as Critical Minerals since they are key for the emerging worldwide low-carbon economy and Canada's economic growth and strength. To date, Surgical Mining technology has been developed with applications for low or non-sulfide bearing ore bodies such as precious metals and many types of metallic oxide ores. The application of Surgical Mining to massive sulfide mineral deposits has two key environmental challenges. The first challenge deals with mitigation of Acid Rock Generation (ARD) which can occur when processed mill tailings stored in surface impoundments or sulfide-bearing waste rock are inadvertently exposed to air or otherwise oxidized. The second major challenge is reducing the energy consumption for comminution of massive sulfide ores which for many massive-sulfide deposits can consume 80% of the total energy required for mineral processing. Ore from Surgical Mining is generated as drill cuttings with typically much smaller particle size distribution and analysis to date suggests that overall energy consumption for ore comminution before mineral separation can be reduced by 20% through the application of Surgical Mining compared. Research activities in the collaborative project will address these two major challenges and enable the application of Surgical Mining to extract massive sulfide mineral deposits. This will benefit the collaborative partner, the mineral industry, and enable Canada to be at the forefront of developing sustainable mining technologies.