Ventilation and climate control of deep mines

Article By:

Danko, George L. Department of Mining Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada.

Last reviewed:2012

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.YB120336

As underground mines reach greater depths, higher temperatures, higher humidity, and more gas emissions are encountered. The topic is of interest to various audiences with very different viewpoints. Workers in the mines expect healthy and safe working conditions with an acceptable comfort level for a typically heavy workload. Mining operators wish to comply with regulations while minimizing the cost of investment and operation. Mining industry regulatory organizations demand compliance with standards for safety and health. Environmental and workers' advocates wish to see improvements in working conditions as well as lower emission standards. Mining engineers try to design a mine within the constraints of all of the above. Profitable exploitation must be secured amid the factors of ever-increasing energy costs, stricter conditions, and lower tolerance levels to health risks and accidents. In addition, ventilation engineers and technicians labor to meet the demands of all parties and to provide safe and healthy working conditions underground at a minimum cost. This balancing act requires intimate familiarity with the nature of geology and the ore deposit as well as their interaction with the engineered mining operation. It is helpful to review some aspects of the parameters that influence the task as well as the underlying physical processes that a mine ventilation engineer must encounter and consider. This article focuses on the issues in metal mines.

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