SHORT COURSES

Level: Introductory

Facilitators: David Stone, Chris Lee, Paul Carmichael, Russel Evans & Maureen McGuinness

Backfill is a critical part of the mining cycle which is often unrecognized until it is too late. Poor design, inadequate comprehension of the materials, unclear geotechnical requirements, or under-sizing of the entire system can lead to unreliable fill delivery or quality, or worse – no backfill placement at all. This one-day course will touch on backfill methods, focusing on the important relationships between geomechanics, system design, operation and management.

The course objective is to provide participants with an overview of the fundamentals to be considered when effectively sizing, designing, and operating mine backfill systems. Particular attention is paid to the implementation and management of a ‘best practice’ operation.

Short Course Objectives:

On completion, participants will have an appreciation of the requirements for the design and operation of a safe and reliable backfill system.

Target Audience:

People who have limited exposure to the design of backfill systems or may be operating a system now and wish to obtain further understanding of the basic design and operation principles.

About the instructors:

Dr. David Stone is the President of MineFill Services and is a mining engineer with almost 40 years of global experience consulting to metal mines. Dr. Stone is an internationally recognized expert in mine backfilling and is a frequent author and workshop presenter at backfill conferences worldwide. His expertise spans the full spectrum from cemented rockfills, to hydraulic fills and paste fills. Dave routinely provides advice on the design and costing of backfill preparation plants and is a technical advisor to several operating mines. Dr. Stone is the past Chairman of the 7th and 12th International Symposia on Minefill (Minefill 2001 and Minefill 2017), as well as co-Chair of Minefill 2021 in Poland.

Chris Lee is a consulting engineer in the field of mining. He is a mechanical and mining engineer from Queen’s University. His 30 years’ experience includes design, construction and commissioning of mining infrastructure including paste backfill, cemented rockfill, crushing, grinding, mine dewatering, shaft sinking and materials handling systems. He specializes in backfill including mechanical, materials handling, pumps and piping, equipment specifications, process design and has been project manager for numerous engineering projects. He is currently a Fellow at WSP in Sudbury, Ontario.

Paul Carmichael is Paterson & Cooke’s North American Backfill Manager, based out of the Sudbury, Ontario practice. He has a bachelor’s in mining engineering from UNSW, Australia. He has worked in mining and backfill for 10 years including operational roles in Australia and the Middle East and backfill consulting in the Americas including projects in Canada, U.S.A, Mexico and Brazil for P&C. His expertise includes mining and backfill operations, hydraulic modelling of distribution systems, surface and underground commissioning, backfill system management and backfill incident investigation. Russell Evans Agnico Eagle Canada Mr. Evans has spent over 35 years in the mining industry and has supervised surface and underground mine projects on most continents. He has been part of the design, construction, commissioning, and operational support of over 30 paste plants and 8 cemented rock fill plants globally, including construction & commissioning of the first Paste Plant in Australia and the first gold mine paste tailings system. He is currently the Director of Backfill Operations for Agnico Eagle Mines.

Russel Evans has spent over 35 years in the mining industry and has supervised surface and underground mine projects on most continents. He has been part of the design, construction, commissioning, and operational support of over 30 paste plants and 8 cemented rock fill plants globally, including construction & commissioning of the first Paste Plant in Australia and the first gold mine paste tailings system. He is currently the Director of Backfill Operations for Agnico Eagle Mines.

Maureen McGuinness is a Director in Paterson & Cooke’s Sudbury, Ontario practice and of P&C Canada Inc. A metallurgical engineer from McGill University (MEng), she has worked in mining and milling for 30 years and specifically in paste backfill design and operations since 2000. Her expertise includes backfill management planning, dry tailings plant-feed operations, hydraulic modelling of distribution systems, start-up of backfill operations and training. Maureen is a senior member of P&C’s Global Backfill Group.