Gravity Caving and Production Hoisting at the San Manuel Mine

INTRODUCTION The San Manuel mine of Magmacopper Company is located approximately 72 km northeast of Tucson, Arizona. The mine, concentrator, smelter, electrolytic refinery and continuous rod casting are located on the west side of the San Pedro River valley. Ore Production: 58 1W mtpd Production To Date: Over 340 000 000 mt since 1956. Ore Grade: 0.70% net sulfide cu. As conceived at the present time, the San Manuel ore body is the lower half of what was originally an elliptical (In cross sect ion) cylinder same 2400 m long with major and minor cross sectional axes of 1500 m and 760 m. After emplacement, the cylinder was diagonally sliced along its long dimension by the San Manuel fault, which separated it into halves, moving the upper half same 2500 m down dip and bringing a wedge-shaped blanket of tertiary conglomerate into position over the lower segment of the cylinder. The lower segment is the San Manuel ore body. The upper part, moved down dip, is the Kalamazoo ore body. Originally, these were one ore body. The San Manuel ore body is a structurally weak and highly fractured quartz monzonite, the principal ore minerals being chalcopyrite, with small amounts of molybdenite. The present mining method is full gravity diagonal retreat panel caving by block. This is shown on Figure 2 , (Block Sequence 56, 57, 58, 59 --on the following page.) The ore mined is hoisted to the surface for transportation to the concentrator. BLOCK CAVING MINING SEQUENCE HISTORY The San Manuel mine was planned and developed as a full gravity block caving mine. It continues as a full gravity block caving mine. Since its initial start, the major changes in mining have been in the areas of ground support, rate of draw and undercut sequence. Ground weight resulting from block caving plays a dual role. It can cause extensive damage to ex- traction openings, yet it is necessary to break the ore into easily handled size. The ground- weight problem resolves itself into finding ways to make it manageable. The initial early ground support in the production areas consisted of timber sets and various combinations of steel and timber sets. This sup- port system proved unsatisfactory and a new support system utilizing concrete was developed. Concrete support, 30 cm to 45 cm thick, proved satisfactory. Rates of draw were experimented with. A draw rate of 45 cm to 61 cm (32 to 45 mt) per draw point per day was determined as optimum in con- trolling ground weight. Undercut sequence or mining sequence was recognized as a major contributing factor to ground weight. This is the most difficult factor to change. The lead time from primary development to undercut can be as much as two years. Initial Checkerboard Pattern The initial undercut sequence was in a checker- board pattern (Figure 2). Blocks Sequence 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6--next page.