AN OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH-AND-DEVELOPMENT IN NARROW-VEIN MINING AT UNIVERSITE-LAVAL

The limited development and application of new technologies to narrow- vein mining is currently impeding progress in the industry to a point where productivity, working conditions and operating costs have reache d a critical stage in many Canadian mines. In an effort to foster the emergence and application of new technologies, Universite Laval, toget her with other organizations, has carried out a R&D project focussed o n the need of identifying new development possibilities and of facilit ating the transfer of technology in matters related to underground min ing methods and machinery. The first phase of the study consisted of a n in-depth assessment of current practices and problems in narrow-vein mining. The second phase was a state-of-the-art survey of mining meth ods and equipment, together with proposed modifications and innovation s. The third phase of the project concerns the experimental developmen t as well as the principal application of various proposed technologie s. This paper presents an overview of the organizational, technical an d strategic considerations which guided the University group and it se rves as well to introduce a newly-published brochure, entitled ''Under ground Mining Techniques of Vein Deposits'', which summarizes such wor k to date. More specifically, a perspective of technological developme nts applicable to narrow-vein mining is presented.