Improving the climatic conditions in development and production workings of hot underground mines by re-designing the auxiliary ventilation system: A case study

The aim of this paper is to examine the current auxiliary ventilation system in a dead-end development at one of our partner mines in Nevada and investigate various auxiliary ventilation designs to control the heat load at the face and along the development heading. Different auxiliary ventilation setups were modelled, and the climatic conditions were determined by means of simulation techniques to identify the optimum auxiliary ventilation arrangement which would be able to deliver the required air volumes and provide adequate climatic conditions for the mine workers at various levels of wok intensity (e.g., metabolic rates). For different work intensities, the maximum skin temperatures of a mine worker at the face and the main return airway are compared vs. the maximum allowable skin temperature. An airflow velocity of 1.5 m/s or higher is required to obtain an acceptable climatic condition with or without activity at the face.