Shaft Sinking At Nose Rock

INTRODUCTION The Harrison Western Corporation, a leading Denver based mine contracting and engineering concern, is presently engaged in sinking two 1,006 m (3,300 ft) shafts for the Phillips Uranium Corporation at their Nose Rock Project, approximately 13 miles northeast of the small community of Crownpoint in McKinley County, New Mexico. The Nose Rock Project is the first attempt by the Phillips Uranium Corporation to tap the deep uranium reserves in what has become known as the Grants Mineral Belt. (See Figure 1) Project Description Phillips Uranium Corporation's plan for the large 2700 metric ton per day (2950 tons/day) mining facility calls for a series of deep access and ventilation shafts ranging from 4.27 m (14 ft) to 5.49 m (18 ft) in diameter to approximate depths of 1,006 m (3,300 ft). The initial pair of shafts consists of one production shaft and one ventilation shaft separated by a distance of 91 m (300 ft). The interbedded layers of sedimentary sandstones and shales to be penetrated by the shafts contain several major water producing aquifers, the deepest being the mineralized zone called the Westwater Canyon Member of the Morrison Formation. A series of temporary and permanent water pumping stations is planned. Generally, the temporary stations are located above major aquifers to facilitate water removal while sinking through the aquifer and the permanent stations constitute what, in the final mode, will be the mine dewatering system. In addition, Phillips Uranium Corporation has In- stalled and is maintaining a system of depressurization wells that temporarily pump the major aquifers and considerably reduce the water inflows during shaft construction. The major aquifers are also chemically grouted prior to sinking. Site work for the project was initiated in the fall of 1976. Full scale shaft sinking commenced in November of 1977 on the 4.88 m (16 ft) diameter ventilation shaft and on the 5.49 m (18 ft) production shaft by another contractor. Harrison Western Corporation began work on the project on November 4, 1979 wlth the production shaft at a depth of 633 m (2,076 ft) and the ventilation shaft at a depth of 474 m (1,554 ft). This paper will address only the portion of shaft sinking completed by Harrison Western. Geology and Hydrology The Nose Rock Project is located on the Chaco Slope in the southern extreme of the San Juan Basin in northwest New Mexico. The southern San Juan Basin is generally bound by the Defiance Uplift to the west, the Zuni Uplift to the south and the Nacimiento Uplift to the east. The Grants Mineral Belt occupies most of the southern portion of the San Juan Basin and this project is located on the northern extreme of the Grants Mineral Belt. The San Juan Basin is comprised of sedimentary rock of continental, marginal-marine and marine origin, that dip northward from the Zuni Uplift and Chaco Slope into the interior of the San Juan Basin. (See Figure 2) Major Formations The major geologic formations to be penetrated range from mudstone and shales to siltstones and sandstones. The sandstones are highly productive aquifers which, under static conditions, would flow artesian. Water temperatures in the aquifers are high and therefore are a force to be dealt with. Temperatures range from 18ºC (65OF) in the upper aquifers to 48ºC (118º'F) in the lower. The mudstones are generally bentonitlc. (See Figure 2) GALLUP SANDSTONE: The Gallup Sandstone is the first major regressive wedge in the San Juan Basin of the Cretaceous era and at this project is about 35 m (115 ft) thick. It is medium grained and prior to depressurization carried a hydrostatic water pressure of over 72.5 kg per cm2 (1,031 psi) which 1s artesian. Compressive strength ranges from 334.7 kg per cm2 (4,760 psi) to 421.8 kg per cm2 (6,000 psi). Water temperature is approximately 30°C (86°F).