Stope Filling at the Sullivan and Other Canadian Mines

THIS essay deals with the materials and methods used in the waste filling of scopes in Canadian mines, with especial reference co the methods used at the Sullivan mine, Kimberley, B.C. The author would like to thank members of the staff of the Sullivan mine for information obtained, and acknowledges material from the following publications: Waste Filling of Stopes: Information Circular 6816, U.S. Bureau of Mines. Mining Methods and Practices at Lake Shore, by Leslie S. Weldon; Trans., C.I.M. & M., Vol. XXXIX, 1936, pp. 142-202. Development and Mining (at the Mcintyre Mine), by D. E. Keeley; Eng. & Min. Journal, November, 1933. INTRODUCTION Although mining in Canada is a relatively youthful industry, many of our mines have reached a stage of extraction which requires waste filling, both as a means of support and co make possible the winning of ore that would otherwise have co be left in the mine. Fill may be used at regular intervals as one of the cycle of operations, as in cur-and-fill and square-set scoping; or it may be introduced into a completed stope co provide permanent support for overlying rock formations, and co permit mining of pillars of valuable ore. Waste fill is sorted in resuing, which is a form of cut-and-fill scoping employed in narrow veins.