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Abstract
P.T. Freeport Indonesia operates a mining complex located in the highlands of Papua, Indonesia. This complex consists
of both underground and surface operations. By approximately 2014 the existing Grasberg open pit will be exhausted,
and a new underground mine will have been brought into production to cave the deposit below the pit. This paper
describes pre-feasibility ventilation planning for the Grasberg Block Cave Mine. The mine is being designed based on a
nominal production rate of 115,000 tonnes/day with a panel caving footprint of approximately 1 km by 1 km. The
proposed ventilation design allows for the long production panels to be broken into five discrete ventilation zones, and
ensure the economic delivery of large volumes of air to the working regions. Discussion is provided on ventilation criteria,
network modeling, examination of shaft versus drifting options, proposed infrastructure requirements, and
recommendations for future study.
The Grasberg open pit is scheduled to cease production 2.1 GRS BC Design Overview
in 2014. Since the orebody continues at depth below the The mine design for the GRS BC utilized the VulcanTM
economic limits of surface mining, the reserve that is left mine planning package. Output from VulcanTM was
behind will be extracted using block-caving methods. imported to the VnetPCTM 2000 ventilation simulation
Development of the Grasberg Block Cave Mine (GRS BC) program to develop a three dimensional network
is scheduled to commence during 2008 and will be representation. Figure 1 shows a general isometric view of
accessed via the Ali Budiardjo (AB) Tunnel system. The the proposed GRS BC. This network includes all
mine will be a mechanized block caving operation with a components such as the tunnel access, ramp, Service
nominal production rate of 115,000 tpd. The option for an Winze and conveyors. Figure 2 shows a plan view of the
increased production rate of 160,000 tpd was also Extraction Level for the GRS BC. For 115,000 tpd there will
considered in the planning and design. be approximately 870 active drawpoints that will be brought
The GRS BC will be a high-tonnage mine utilizing electric online as the cave moves from the Northeast towards the
ore handling equipment on both the Extraction and Rail Southwest. The ventilation and track drifts comprise the
Haulage Levels. Caving, development, pre-production and underlying Service Level. The Undercut Level overlies the
Extraction with the same general footprint. A schematic advance Drill Drifts (DDs). Auxiliary ventilation will be used
layout of the proposed ventilation system for the Extraction, to supply air to the active DD headings from the perimeter.
Undercut and Service Levels is shown in Figure 3. The The air will be exhausted via the advance Undercut
airflow is delivered and exhausted via the ventilation service ventilation drifts as shown in the sketch. The Service Level
drifts on the 2790 m Service Level. There will be four groups track drifts will be ventilated in the opposite direction to the
of three service drifts, with each group comprising two Undercut, which will help balance the air velocity through
parallel ventilation drifts (intake or exhaust) and one-track the intake and exhaust service drifts.
drift. Each group of service drifts will be connected to every The GRS BC area will be supplied and exhausted with air
Extraction panel by two 4 m diameter smooth raises. One via primary intake and exhaust drifts. To facilitate the large
raise will serve as a chute, and the other for ventilation. The quantity of air required, there will be four main intake drifts
ventilation service drifts and connection raises allow the full and four exhaust drifts as shown in Figure 1.
width of the Extraction Level to be segmented into five 2.2 Ventilation Design Criteria
separately ventilated zones. PTFI adopt certain ventilation criteria to assist with
The Undercut Level will be discretely ventilated. To avoid underground mine planning. Tables 1 and 3 present some of
the requirement for many ventilation raises interconnecting the criteria that have been established based on Indonesian
the Undercut and Extraction Levels, two ventilation drifts will Mining Regulations (Decree of the Minister of Mines and
be driven across the Undercut Level ahead of caving. These Energy 1995), US Mine Safety and Health Administration
drifts will be connected down to the Service Level exhaust
at the West end. As caving progresses, intake air will be
brought around the cave using temporary fringe drifts and
Figure 2. Plan view of 115,000 tpd Extraction Level with Figure 3. Sketch showing the proposed GRS BC ventilation
underlying rail loops. system.
2.4 Ventilation Modeling and Infrastructure *TWA = Time Weighted Average for 8-hr working shift
Ventilation analyses were conducted which included STEL = Short Term Exposure Limit for 15 minutes
modeling the GRS BC during two different phases in the
proposed mine life. The analyses took into account all
anticipated air leakage paths (doors, bulkheads, old panels, The basic ventilation model was established as shown in
etc.) to provide a realistic representation of the mine. The Figure 1. The model was adapted to simulate two different
modeling incorporated the AB Tunnel system and made scenarios:
allowance for interconnection with the proposed Big Gossan • Production from the first 12 panels, with a further 4 panels
and Kucing Liar Mines. The analyses assume primary under development or construction.
underground exhaust fan installations close to the main portals. • Final (most Westerly) 4 panels are under development or
construction, with the 12 adjacent panels in production.
The center of mining has shifted to the West, and leakage
Table 1. Air velocity design criteria. in the system has increased (termed Mature Mine.)
The predicted fan requirements for these two scenarios
Airway Air Velocity (m/s) are given in Table 5. For the early mine the total airflow is
Min Opt Max predicted to be 1,813 m3/s. Based on a nominal daily
tonnage of 115,000 tpd this equates to 0.0158 m3/s/tpd. The
Conveyor Drifts total installed fan motor power requirement is about 7,200
- Homotropal 0.8 2.0 4.0 kW with a predicted annual power cost of US$2,836,000.
- Antitropal 0.8 1.0 2.0 These values assume 75% efficiency for the main fan and
Truck Haulage Drifts 0.8 4.1 6.1 motor installation. For the mature mine the total airflow
quantity increases to 1,888 m3/s, or about 0.0164 m3/s/tpd.
Primary Ventilation Drifts 0.8 8.1 10.2
This is higher than the value shown in Table 4 due to the
Rough Large Raises (+4 m) - 14.2 19.8 system leakage. As a result of the efficient layout for the
Typical ALIMAK Raise - 12.7 19.8 ventilation system, with few connections between intake
and exhaust, the predicted leakage is less than 10%.
Drop Ventilation Raise - 6.6 19.8 The installed fan motor requirement for the mature mine
increases to 8,660 kW, with a projected annual operating
- Optimum values are used for design purposes. cost of about US$3,414,000. Both of these operating
- Velocity criteria are based on an economic assessment characteristics (Early and Mature cases) will be achievable
factoring in power and development costs. with the same fan installations.
The following drift sizes have been determined for the from the development panel region to the service exhaust
115,000 tpd design (all ventilation drifts will be fully drifts. A linear profile is indicative of balanced air velocities
shotcreted): and frictional pressure losses, suggesting that drift and raise
• Primary Ventilation Drifts from Portals to Service Level = sizes and numbers are correct for the system.
6.8 ¥ 6.8 m
• Ventilation Service Drifts below Extraction = 5.5 ¥ 5.5 m 2.5 Adits Versus Shafts Design Comparison
• Ramp and Access Drifts = 4.5 ¥ 5.0 m A ventilation study was conducted comparing adits versus
• Conveyor Drifts = 4.5 ¥ 5.0 m shafts for the primary mine infrastructure. An initial shaft
• Extraction panels = 4.5 ¥ 4.5 m layout was developed in which the intake air is brought
• Undercut DDs = 3.6 ¥ 4.2 m down two concrete-lined 7.5 m diameter shafts into the
• Panel Raises = Raise-bored at 4 m diameter orebody area and back out two similar 7.5 m diameter
• Service Winze = Smooth 8.5 m diameter exhaust shafts to surface. Due to the mountainous
Figure 4 shows a graph of the relative pressure profile for topography, the shafts would be approximately 1.0 km long.
the mature mine case. In order to place the shafts far enough away from the cave
The relative pressure for this case is the difference influence, primary intake and exhaust drifts would still be
between ambient (surface) and locations underground. For required, with each drift about 1,500 m long. It was assumed
the profile a typical circuit has been chosen through the that two sets of four drifts will be developed at 6.8 ¥ 6.8 m
mine, and the trend line plotted against linear distance connecting the shafts to the production area.
covered, including ventilation raises. The circuit chosen The maximum velocities for the 7.5 m diameter shafts
was: intake portals Æ primary intake drifts Æ service intake would be 18 m/s, which is 25% higher than the economic
drifts Æ far Western panel region Æ service exhaust drifts optimum velocities used as the current basis of mine design
Æ primary exhaust drifts Æ underground primary exhaust (see Table 1). However, it is noted that the economic
fans Æ exhaust portal. The trend is considered excellent, velocity given in the table is for a rough shaft (2.1 m bored
remaining generally linear and averaging about 333 then slashed to size), not a fully concrete lined shaft, which
Pa/1,000 m. The one short steep section represents the will be considerably more costly to construct per meter, and
"open-split" in the ventilation circuit where the air exhausts have a higher optimum velocity.
3.7 AB Tunnels and Mine Fire • Calizaya, F., Karmawan, K. & Wallace, K.G. 2002.
Approximately 189 m3/s is predicted to intake the lower Utilization of Heater Fans to Control Mine Atmospheric
mine section from the AB Tunnels. This air then either enters Fogging. In Euler De Souza (ed), Proceedings of the 9th
the ramp, Service Winze, and shop facilities (dedicated NA/US Mine Ventilation Symposium. The Netherlands:
exhaust). This represents a significant volume of air, with a A.A. Balkema Publishers.
tunnel air velocity of about 5.7 m/s. During future study the • Decree of the Minister of Mines and Energy Indonesia,
airflow requirements for the tunnels will be more accurately 1995. Number 555.K/26/M.PE/1995, General Mining
determined, incorporating fire simulation to determine Occupational Safety and Health.
contaminant spread in the event of a tunnel vehicle fire. Fire • MSHA, Code of Federal Regulations 30, Part 75.