Cementation Canada has been recognized by the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) and awarded funding for the further development of a patented system to transport ore and waste rock from underground mines to the surface.
This technology, known as Injection Hoisting, was co-winner of Disrupt Mining, a mining industry-wide innovation competition. The group says it aims to "encourage new ideas, spawn new technologies, and generate new opportunities to tackle the mining industry’s most vexing challenges."
The technology is an alternative to trucking or hoisting ore and waste rock to the surface, reducing a mine’s operating and ventilation costs as well as greenhouse gases associated with trucking.
The innovator, Alun Price Jones, Technical Advisor to Cementation Americas, who oversaw the R&D and protection of intellectual property says, “The next phase will be to construct and install a fully operational system in an underground mine.”
Roy Slack, Director of Cementation Americas added, “Injection hoisting offers a unique opportunity for mine operators to consider an alternative to traditional mine hoisting and trucking. There is still further work to do to develop this innovative and exciting technology and we greatly appreciate the support of NOHFC.”
Cementation Americas is a mining and minerals focused group of companies, delivering both underground and surface solutions for mines and downstream minerals processing facilities worldwide.