The Kensington Operations use conventional underground equipment and mining methods.
Mine Access
The primary access for all equipment and personnel to the Kensington, Raven, and Elmira underground mine areas is via the Kensington Portal at 964 ft. elevation, located on an upper bench adjacent to the main mill site at the base of Lion’s Head Mt.
There is a secondary portal at 792 ft. elevation on the east side of Lynn Canal (Comet Beach) side of the mountain, south of Haines.
The Jualin deposit is accessed by a -15% grade, nominal 15 x 17 ft decline collared from surface at 926 ft. elevation on an intermediate bench behind the main mill site.
Mining Method Selection
Stoping and paste backfill mining methods were selected and implemented based on the orebody location, ground conditions, and geological settings.
Kensington
The Kensington deposit is mined using longitudinal longhole stoping or transverse longhole stoping. Key metrics include:
• Longitudinal stopes: 25 ft maximum width, strike length of <100 ft, with 80 ft as the optimum length open;
• Transverse stopes: 40 ft width, nominal height of 75 ft, and variable lengths, from 25–150 ft along strike.
Both stope types are backfilled with paste.
When developing a level for longitudinal stoping, the drift is placed within the orebody, and follows the primary structures as much as possible to minimize waste developme ........
