14th United States/North American Mine Ventilation Symposium

University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, June 17, 2012

Ventilation design for the Boleo project

S.B. Patton
Agapito Associates, Grand Junction, Colorado, USA

G.L. Skaggs
Agapito Associates, Grand Junction, Colorado, USA

S. Britton
Baja Mining Corp., Vancouver, BC, Canada

ABSTRACT: Boleo is an underground copper-cobalt-zinc-manganese project currently under construction near

the town of Santa Rosala in the state of Baja California Sur, Mexico. The deposit consists of seven soft-rock ore
beds, or mantos, faulted into irregular-sized blocks of mineable ore. Over 94 percent of ore will be derived
from underground mining. Current plans show over thirty underground mines will be developed during the
anticipated project life in Mantos 1, 2, 3 and 4. Underground mining operations will consist of room-and-pillar
mining with pillar recovery using standard drum-style continuous mining machines, shuttle cars, and continuous
haulage typically found in coal, potash and salt mines. Upon achieving steady-state full production, the Boleo
underground mines will have up to six continuous mining units set up at one time, either mining on advance or
retreat, with no more than three units in any one mine at the same time. The challenge to the ventilation design is
to size and design the controls for a main mine fan that would be interchangeable between mines operating at
various production rates and operating lives. To manage risks to workers associated with heat stress and strain
during the hotter months of operation, mine ventilation air cooling is also necessary. This paper presents the
ventilation design, fan and cooling system selection for the Boleo mines.
1

Introduction

The Boleo property is held by the Mexican company,

Minera y Metalrgica del Boleo S.A. de C.V. (MMB).
MMB is owned 70% by Baja Mining Corp. and 30% by a
consortium of Korean companies. Underground mining
operations at the El Boleo project (Boleo) at Santa Rosala,
Baja California Sur, Mexico, will consist of room-andpillar mining with pillar extraction in Mantos 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Refer to Figure 1 for a location map. Over thirty
underground mines are projected to be developed during
the anticipated project life. Mineralization is not uniform
throughout the manto thickness nor is it consistent
horizontally, making mine planning difficult. The area is
highly faulted, requiring numerous underground mines to
minimize fault crossings. Upon achieving full steady-state
production, the Boleo underground mines will have up to
six continuous mining units (sections) set up at one time,
either mining on advance or retreat, with no more than
three units in any one mine at the same time. Detailed
information on the project is available in the 43-101
Technical Report (Baja Mining Corp. 2010).
The room-and-pillar mining method with pillar
recovery on retreat is typical for bedded deposits. Four of
the six production units will be equipped with shuttle car
face haulage, and two will be equipped with continuous
haulage systems. When pillaring, units will be equipped
with mobile roof supports. To accommodate equipment

Figure 1. Location map (Baja Mining Corp. 2010).

clearances, development entries and crosscut widths vary
between 5.25 meters (m) and 6.00 m. Mines are developed
with either three- or four-entry mains and submains, with
single-entry pillaring crosscuts driven off entries on 25-m
centers.
Panels are three entries wide and are otherwise similar
in configuration to the mains and sub-mains. Pillaring
crosscuts are driven 5.25 m wide, 90 off the sides of the

14th United States/North American Mine Ventilation Symposium

University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, June 17, 2012
outside panel entries to a maximum depth of 125 m from
the conveyor belt centerline. Due to the time dependency
of pillar stability during retreat mining, the pillaring
crosscuts are developed as the mains advance except when
there is significant lag between advance and retreat. A
typical layout showing the rooms and panels for the M301
and M303 mines is included in Figure 2.

Mains

Mains

M301

SubMains

Panel

Test Mine
Panel

mining activities is not anticipated to be a major concern

because the ore is damp and easy to cut, however,
respirable dust from roof drilling is likely.
The
composition of the roof material is not expected to cause
severe problems with silica dust. A dust monitoring
program will be implemented as soon as mining begins.
Worker health and efficiency (productivity) can be
severely impacted by heat stress and strain, which can be
brought on by high workplace temperatures and humidity.
In addition, workplace safety can be negatively impacted
by the physiological disorders that heat stress victims
suffer. The hot and humid summer climate creates a hot
work site for most of the year. A hot work site has been
defined as one where any combination of air temperature,
humidity, radiation, and air speed exceeds a wet bulb globe
temperature of 26.1 degrees Celsius (C (MSHA 2001).
The Santa Rosala summer ambient air temperatures
(dry bulb) for a recent 6-year period have averaged 38.9C
for the months of June, July, and August.
Peak
temperatures during these months have reached 45C at
least once during each of those months. Relative humidity
averages 30 to 40%. Research has shown that the lowest
accident rates have been related to miners working below
21.1C and the highest rates to temperatures of 26.7C and
above (MSHA 2001). A target face quantity of 16.5 cubic
meters per second (cms) was selected based on air quality
concerns.

Ventilation Air Quality

Figure 2. Typical mine layout.

Regulatory compliance is typically the primary driver in

establishing the air quality and quantity. A brief search for
local, state, or national regulatory requirements in Mexico
for ventilating mines of the type envisioned for the Boleo
project did not reveal any specific regulations. Therefore,
the United States (US) Mine Safety and Health
Administrations (MSHA) metal and non-metal mine
safety and health regulations (Code of Federal Regulations
[CFR] Title 30 Parts 56 and 57) were utilized for the Boleo
project basis of design. Heat is a key safety and
productivity concern.
Diesel Particulate Matter (DPM) is expected to be the
most significant ventilation air quality contaminant to
which the underground mine work force will be exposed.
Based on historical information, it is anticipated that
neither methane nor hydrogen sulfide gases will be
encountered during mining. Oxygen may be deficient in
the old mine workings. There may be hydrogen sulfide
may in the old workings at or below the water table. A
potential, but not yet determined, mine environmental
contaminate is radon. Although the deposit is not
classified as a uranium deposit, uranium is frequently
present in clay or similar deposits. Suspended dust from

Design Basis

The mine ventilation system being planned is a blowing

system. This system is recommended due to the many old
workings that will be intersected as the new mines are
developed. Because the mines pressure is higher than
atmospheric, any poor quality air present in the old
workings will not be drawn into the mine. Any openings
from the old workings to the surface will allow air leakage
through the old works to the outside. Leakage into the old
workings will have to be controlled to the extent that
adequate air is provided in the mines return-air courses.
The basic assumptions used for the ventilation planning are
included in Table 1.
The belt entry carries fresh air which is isolated from the
return air by a single line of Kennedy stoppings. The main
travelway is placed in the return air to minimize the
contribution from diesel equipment of dust and heat at the
face. Travel by the work crews at shift change will occur
when mining is not taking place, thereby minimizing
exposure to the crews. Box checks isolate the belt drives.
Air lock doors are planned at the conveyor belt drives to
facilitate access to equipment for installation and repair.

Ventilation System Analysis

Detailed analysis of the mine ventilation systems was

completed using VnetPC2007 and Ventsim modeling
software.

14th United States/North American Mine Ventilation Symposium

University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, June 17, 2012

Table 1. Ventilation system design assumptions

Main Entries and Sub-mains
Pressure Across Ventilation Controls

Air Velocity without Dust Control

Air Velocity with Dust Control
Entry Layout
Belt Conveyor
Primary Travelway
Oxygen Deficiency
Main Mine Fan Arrangement
Pressure Drop across Air Cooling
Coils
Cooling Coils Velocity Limit
Stopping s
Development Heading Dead-end
Entries and Crosscuts
Entry Size
Main Mine Fan Portal Opening
Friction Factors

Resistance/1,000 m
Quantity Assumptions
Leakage
Average Air Density
Fan Efficiency
Engineering Controls

Refrigeration
Main Fans

Auxiliary Fans

Maximum of four entries, primarily due to spacing between faults, ground control,
and to minimize development expense.
Mine ventilation control devices (stoppings, overcasts, airlock doors, regulators, and
similar devices) will be subjected to a maximum of 1.7 to 2 kPa pressure
differential.
Maximum of 2.5 meters per second (m/s)
Maximum 5 m/s
Center entries of a four-entry main or sub-main are intake air and the two outside
entries are return air.
Intake air entry.
Return air entries.
May exist in worked out areas.
Blowingfan located outby the mine portal entrance.
0.5 kPa at 100 cms
5 m/s
Kennedy stoppings specified for ease of installation and removal for re-use upon
retreat
Blowing or exhausting fan arrangements with lay-flat tubing or spiral-wrap tubing,
with spiral-wrap tubing to turn corners.
1.8 m high minimum
5.25 m wide (belt entry 6.0 m)
3.0 m high
5 m wide
Belt: 0.01855 kg/m3
Intake and return: 0.0090895 kg/m3
Chiller branch P/Q: 570 Pa @300 cms
Lay-flat tubing: 0.0033 kg/m3
Intake and return: 0.0090895 kg/m3
Belt: 0.31077 Ns2/m6
Intake/return: 0.15204 Ns2/m6
16.5 cms at the working face
DPM control requires at least 0.075 cms per brake kW
60% leakage due to old works and temporary stopping construction
1.201 kg/m3
65%
Belt conveyor on intake
Travel way in return
Box checks on belt to isolate belt drives from intake air
Curtain control of openings into old works
Three times the fan quantity rating at the intake to the auxiliary fan
Individual sections on a separate split of air, split ventilation on four-entry
mains/sub-mains
Design ambient conditions 40.6C at 40% relative humidity. Mine fan heats air to
43.3C. Intake air is cooled to 25C.
Spendrup Model 213-109-1180 direct drive, axial flow, mine duty,
213.4-cm-diameter, 1180 rpm.
Quantity: 47 to 118 cms
Total pressure: 0.75 to 1.7 kPa
Skid-mounted motor size: 186, 298, or 447 kW
VFD control
Blowing or exhausting face ventilation, depending on location
Spendrup model 063-035-3550 direct drive, axial flow fan.
Quantity: 8.5 to 9.5 cms
Total Pressure: 2.24 kPa
Skid-mounted motor size: 29.8 kW
Tubing: 76.2cm lay flat and spiral wrap

14th United States/North American Mine Ventilation Symposium

University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, June 17, 2012
4.1 Main Ventilation System
A series of representative branch schematics were created
for large and small mines with three and four entry mains.
Two representative schematics are shown in Figures 3 and
4 for mines M301 and M303, respectively.
Fixed
quantities and/or fixed pressure heads were applied to the
modeled system to determine the pressure/quantity
relationship required to deliver the target of 16.5 cms fresh
air per working section in the mine. Fans were selected
and the fan curve was entered into the models.

The auxiliary system at the active face on the pillaring

crosscuts was simulated using Ventsim. The pillaring
crosscuts maximum depth is 125 m. This length is the
limit of the continuous haulage system. For the pillaring
crosscuts, a 125-m length of 76.2-cm-diameter lay-flat
tubing was attached to the fan to blow air up to the face.
Exhaust air returns through the mine entry.
4.3 Cooling System
To counter the high heat and humidity of the ambient air,
refrigeration chillers will be used to cool the mine air at the
intake portal, inby the main mine fan. Due to the scarcity
of fresh water, the chillers will use cooling coils located
just inby the fan portal instead of evaporative sprays. To
minimize power requirements, the chillers will selfmodulate based on predetermined set points.
The
conceptual design of the refrigeration plant and air cooler
systems was provided by Bluhm Burton Engineering
(BBE). Ambient conditions of 40.6C and 40% relative
humidity will be cooled to 25C at an airflow of 104 cms.
The 2,240-kilowatt (kW) design duty of the air cooler was
provided by BBE (2006).

Figure 3. M301 mine branch layout.

Ventilation Equipment Selection

Fan sizes were based on the large mines and, thus, could
deliver too much air for the smaller mines. For the fans to
operate efficiently in the mines at other stages of the mine
life, the fans need to be portable and capable of operating
at variable horsepower, speed and blade settings
5.1 Main Fans
The main fans selected to provide the pressure and quantity
signature required is the Spendrup Fan Co. 213-109-1180,
or equivalent. To facilitate the changing fan duties over
the variable mine sizes, the direct drive hub-mounted
motors are interchangeable from 186, 298, or 447 kW.
The fans will be skid-mounted. Motors will be equipped
with variable frequency drives (VFD), allowing the fan
speed to be modified as the mine demand varies. In
addition, the fan blades are individually adjustable. The
fan curve is included here as Figure 5. Figure 6 shows a
diagram of the main mine fan.
5.2 Auxiliary Fans

Figure 4. M303 mine branch layout.

4.2 Face Ventilation System
The face ventilation layout, utilizing fans with tubing,
during development of the mains, submains and panels, is
typical for the mining industry. The face ventilation for
these areas is a combination of blowing and exhausting.

The fan selected for auxiliary ventilation is the Spendrup

Fan Co. Series 63-35-3600 with a 29.8 kW motor, or
equivalent. The auxiliary fan will be skid-mounted and
will be installed in a cutout of the crosscut or entry,
depending on the requirements. Figure 7 show the
auxiliary fan curve. Figure 8 is a photo of the auxiliary
fan.

14th United States/North American Mine Ventilation Symposium

University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, June 17, 2012

Figure 5. Spendrup 213-109-1180 main mine fan curve.

Figure 8. Spendrup 063-035-3550 face fan showing skid

and guards.
5.3 Air Conditioning
Trane (2011) cooling systems were selected for the air
conditioning application at the mines. The cooling system
includes the air-cooled helical rotary water chillers
(500 ton), coil bank and pump skid with control systems.
The equipment is designed to accommodate either one or
two chillers per mine, depending on the mine size.
Figure 9 shows the original plan and section view of the
proposed installation of the chiller and fan.
Field
experience with the portal entry resulted in the decision to
enclose the cooling coils in external ductwork to reduce the
portal width to 5.25 m.

Figure 6. Spendrup 213-109-1180 main mine fan diagram.

Summary and Conclusion

Underground mining commenced in September 2011. At

full production, the room-and-pillar mining method is
expected to generate ore at a rate of approximately 10,000
wet tonnes per day at the Boleo project. Ventilation and
air conditioning will be provided to multiple mines using
the same fan model with three motor-size options paired
with either one or two chiller units. The ventilation fan
motors will be equipped with VFDs to allow the speed of
the fan to change. The fan blades are adjustable so that
they can provide airflows appropriate to individual mines.
All ventilation equipment will be skid-mounted to facilitate
relocation to other mines.

7
Figure 7. Spendrup 063-035-3550 auxiliary fan curve.

References

Baja Mining Corp., (2010), El Boleo (Boleo) Project

Technical Report Update Baja California South
Mexico, March 2, 206 p. <http://www.bajamining.com
/static/technical_reports/2010%20MAR%20-%20Techn
ical%20Report.pdf> accessed by S Patton 2/15/2012.

Figure 9. Fan and chiller.

14th United States/North American Mine Ventilation Symposium

University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, June 17, 2012

14th United States/North American Mine Ventilation Symposium

University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, June 17, 2012
Bluhm Burton Engineering (PTY) Ltd. (2006),
Specification and Cost Estimate for Surface Air Cooler
Santa Rosalia, Mexico, November 3, 4 p.
Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) (2001),
Heat Stress in Mining, SM6, National Mine Health
and Safety Academy, Beaver, WV, 14 p.
Trane (2011), Baja MiningMinera Boleo Cooling
System Submittal to ICA Fluor Daniel, April 14, 47 p.

Figure 9. Fan and chiller.

14th United States/North American Mine Ventilation Symposium

University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, June 17, 2012