Amid trends towards greater sustainability and stricter safety standards, underground mining is growing in importance.
Today, technological advances, automation, remote control, optimized ventilation systems and rock strengthening can allow copper mines such as Chuquicamata and the future development of Ministro Jares, owned by Chilean state company Codelco, Anglo American’s Los Bronces and possibly BHP’s Escondida to reduce their environmental impact and increase production.
BNamericas spoke to Carlos Leigh, Latin America CEO of mining and tunnelling specialist DSI Underground, about innovation in the industry.
DSI is a subsidiary of Sweden’s Sandvik and has factories in countries including Chile, Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Colombia.
B America: Is underground mining becoming popular in Latin America?
Lee: Projects for metals such as gold, silver and copper are accelerating in the region, and at a global level, those for zinc and nickel, driven by market prices. In Chile, as in other earthquake countries, reaching great depths entails risks in addition to the concentration of energy at such depths. For this reason, we deal with earthquakes that cause rock explosions, with anchoring systems capable of absorbing the energy released with each explosion.
B America: What types of explosions occur underground?
Lee: It is not necessary to dig deep: explosions can occur at low depths due to pressure and the energy can be released suddenly and without warning. These explosions are the most complex, as they can occur not only from the ceiling to the floor, but also from the sides towards the center of the tunnel. Defining the system to be used is very important in this respect.
B America: What types of systems are there?
Lee: These vary depending on the amount of energy, the type of rock and other factors. There has been a considerable evolution in innovation in the field of rock blasting. Today, there are devices that measure convergence, rock movement, energy release, as well as how the bolt behaves if there are dynamic requirements. All of these provide invaluable information.
Mining companies and contractors are typically consulted on an ongoing basis regarding where explosions occur and the support required. Not all products and systems work the same for every job, so we provide products and systems that inform and solve each specific objective.
B America: What additional risks do earthquake-prone countries like Chile face?
Lee: Addressing these issues presents a challenge to innovate. Peru is also subject to earthquakes, which necessitates the development of solutions that allow safe operation. Also, developing products that can withstand the changes in energy capacity caused by seismic factors, allowing mining projects to continue to proceed.
B America: How do you ensure safety when working underground?
Lee: Keeping people safe is synonymous with business continuity, protection of assets and efficiency. We have mining clients in difficult areas like Mexico and Peru, operating at altitudes of 4,000 or 5,000 meters above sea level, where they may have connectivity issues or suppliers may not deliver materials on time. That’s why we focus on being close by to ensure operations don’t stop and people are kept safe with efficient products throughout the production cycle.
We have a joint venture with ABC Ventilation Systems to provide ventilation and land restoration systems so people can work in better temperatures and better air quality. Because safety isn’t just about avoiding accidents.
B America: What does the DSI project portfolio look like in Latin America?
Lee: We have projects in Chile, including one for Codelco, we have some financial confidence in Argentina and operations continue to move forward, we are expanding in Brazil, Colombia and Mexico, and in Latin America, we have re-entered the US market after a hiatus of about five years, thanks to support in Canada, Mexico and Chile.
We actively leverage our back-up of production plants in the region, which allows us to offer security of supply and competitive prices for our products, because they are all standardized. A product purchased in Canada is the same as one in Chile, Peru or Colombia. This allows us to move inventory and supply new markets in a better way.
B America: What role does Sandvik play in DSI’s supply chain?
Lee: DSI is a division of Sandvik, a global leader in mining and construction equipment, with a presence in over 120 countries. This combination will enable DSI (Ground Support) to bring to market innovative products and machinery that are already tested, run and designed to complement its own offerings and advance operations and safety through autonomous, electric and remote systems.
B America: What proportion of the DSI portfolio does mining represent?
Lee: Mining has always been a 60:40 relationship, but the pandemic has caused some private projects in Latin America to start to delay, and mining has started to fill that space. Currently, the mining market accounts for 80% to 85% and the private tunnel market for 15%, as the latter sector is highly dependent on countries’ financing capacity and investment.
After the pandemic, we have seen a change in the direction of civil infrastructure, targeting areas such as subways, roads, tunnels, bridges and other projects that require anchors, as opposed to the construction of buildings that require underground anchors. This depends heavily on the level of investment in the country, which is not as constant as mining.
B America: Is obtaining permits and approvals to work underground as complicated as developing work above ground?
Lee: Logically, tunneling should have less of an environmental impact, since movements and other aspects are invisible and do not have the same impact as above-ground construction, but at least in Chile, there is no difference between permits for open-cut and underground mining.
Mexico is considering the future of open-cut mining and is analysing what will happen with permit renewals and years of processing, which could impact investment. [Editor’s note: President Andrés López Obrador proposed prohibiting open pit mining to benefit the environment and guarantee the human right to water].
B America: Investors and studies into the Latin American mining industry are warning of an economic slowdown. Do you agree?
Lee: Yes, we see significant projections of investment in mining, but ultimately they do not materialize on time due to global circumstances, issues with permits, royalties and other taxes, and other legal and social issues in each country.
Recently, there have been social issues in Peru that have hindered mining development, and security issues in Mexico that have affected projects. These issues are not typically considered in investment analyses, but they do affect the day-to-day running of mining operations. In either case, I think there will be a trend to mine more miles underground than above ground.
B America: Is underground mining more sustainable?
Lee: As a productivity issue, maybe, because off-mine mineral extraction and processing involves tailings management, but it depends on the depth of the deposit: the deeper the deposit, the more inefficient the operations, and the shallower the deposit, the more important environmental factors become.
Underground mining is more expensive at first, but it becomes cheaper over time, especially in terms of circularity. For example, we use green steel, which not only uses recyclable materials, but also allows for traceability. We found that the majority of the recycled steel that comes to our supplier in Chile goes to the same mining companies that source the materials.
This creates a circularity where materials and scrap from the mining operation are converted into bolts and sent back into the mine, thus creating autonomous electric machines with a very strong sustainability profile.
B America: What is the maximum depth a team can reach?
Lee: The equipment is developed to suit rock conditions at depths of up to 3km and even deeper, and also to support geological analysis to determine at what depths the highest grade ore is found and where the most production per tonne can be achieved.
Our efforts are not limited: especially in Latin America, as mines become deeper, we are permanently working in the field of innovation to achieve better performing and safer products.
