Elder is an underground gold mine which is serviced to a depth of 794 meters (2,606 feet) by two shafts and several drifts on 16 levels.
Shaft #1 is used for the ventilation of the mine and as an escape way. Shaft #2 is used for production. The distance between levels varies between 41 and 61 meters. Drifts (2.7 m x 2.8 m) give access to the mineralized zone. Then, drifts follow the zone to give access to stopping sites. On levels 3, 4 and 6, drifts will follow the mineralization over a distance of 240 meters.
Veins generally have a dip angle of 22o and a 2-meter thickness.
Mining is done with the room and pillar method. The roof and part of the walls are secured with rock bolts and screen. With this method of mining, about 15% of the resources are left in pillars. Part of these pillars will be recovered at the end of the mine.
The width of rooms and the size of pillars were determined by a geotechnical study done by Golder Associates in 1986 and by an inspection in 2014.
A stope team is made up of two drillers, 2 scrapping operators and one mucker.
The monthly rate of production of Elder is about 8 000 to 11,000 tonnes. Our objective is to get 12,500 tonnes per month. The life of the mine, based on the existing measured and indicated resources, is 4.25 years. The eventual conversion of inferred resources into measured and indicated resources would add about 3.5 years for a total of 7.75 years. Several explor ........
