Ventilation and cooling in Mexico’s mines South African mine ventilation specialist BBE, with 20 years of designing, commissioning, and troubleshooting critical ventilation systems in South Africa’s deep and hot gold, platinum and copper mines, is putting its experience to beneficial use across the globe, currently in Mexico, where mines are getting deeper. Director and Senior Engineer at BBE, Ross Wilson, explains.
M exico is a country with a long and rich mining history, and a mining industry currently experiencing a period of rapid growth. Exploration projects are discovering new and exciting ore bodies with the potential of sustaining future mining operations. Exist- ing underground mines have been shallow relative to the deep and hot gold and platinum mines of South Africa, but this is changing as the shallower orebodies become mined out and mines start to exploit deeper areas. What does it take to properly ventilate and cool a mine as exploration and maturation modify the variables? In Mexico, a land rich in silver, gold, zinc, and other valuable metals and minerals, mining rights owners are begin- ning to wrestle with these issues. According to Ross Wilson, director and senior engineer at BBE, the landscape and environmental conditions in Mexico are different from those found in South Africa.
With many of the deepest mines in the world, cooling and ventilation has, for decades, been indispensable to safe operations in South African mines. “It’s a non-negotiable consid- eration in every stage of the mine’s growth and lifecycle. However, in Mexico, mines are only just starting to grapple with the issue,” says Wilson. Two recent projects by BBE in Mexico – one for a new mine and another for a mine reaching the end of its planned life – illustrate how different timelines, budgets, mine legacy issues and factors such as terrain impact suc- cessful design.
at temperatures of up to 55 °C is a challenge. BBE was asked to assist with the original mine design, and it was clear from the start that mine cooling would be required to provide acceptable underground temperatures. However, the mountainous geography, remote site and short design life called for an innovative cooling system design. The 13-year design lifespan was far shorter than a typical South African cooling system and was the result of the rapid mechanised mining method used on the mine. The outcome was a modular design that is also one of the most compact in the mining industry. “The BBE ventilation system design for the mine included two surface air cooling systems and three surface main fan stations,” notes Wilson. “We did the process design as well as the mechanical, civil, electrical and control engineering design. We aided with procure- ment and construction from a network of local Mexican suppliers, and we were on-site
Feline agility? Super-compact, modular design
In the Mexican state of Chihuahua, a new underground silver, gold and zinc mine is being established. While the deepest ore can be found at the shallow depth of 500 m below surface, unusually hot ground water
The main fan stations are dual axial fan systems with a total air flow of 240 m 3 /s at a total pressure of 1.8 kPa.
28 ¦ MechChem Africa • May-June 2022
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