2020
Garpenberg Mine, Sweden
The Boliden Garpenberg operation is widely seen as one of the most automized and efficient underground mining operations on the globe. The Sika Sweden mining team started to collaborate with the Garpenberg operation almost 20 years ago and got strongly involved at the very beginning of the most recent expansion project, assisting upgrading the in-cycle shotcrete support in order to facilitate rapid mine development, providing early re-entry times to the freshly blasted and secured production and development headings.
Project Requirements
In order to elaborate on the best cost performing shotcrete mix design, the Sika MiniShot tool was playing a critical role to screen through different mix designs and customize the shotcrete admixtures to the local requirements. Based on these results, Boliden performed a detailed selection process of the concrete and shotcrete admixtures with a view towards the optimal cost performance for the Garpenberg operation and for its other Swedish mining operations.
Sprayed concrete requirements:
Rapid early strength development 4Mpa in 4 hours
High final strength
Easy bulk handling of shotcrete admixtures
Open time >4h
High energy absorption of the shotcrete liner
High abrasion resistance of ore pass liners
Fast response and high level of technical support
Sika Solutions
Special concrete designs and application methods were used to line the newly sunken shafts, ore passes and raises and to install the large, new ore concentration facility at the Garpenberg Norra location. For the underground support of the development headings, drifts and stopes, Sika Sigunit®, in combination with Sika® ViscoCrete® EVO 36S are used to provide high early strength for fast re-entry times and required workability times.
Products Used
Sika® ViscoCrete® EVO 36S customized superplasticizer
SikaTard®-932 Hydration stabilizer
Sigunit® L2712 AF Alkali-free, high-performance shotcrete accelerator
"Sika is very proud to be part of this mining master class as a partner in one of the world's most efficient mining operations."
Project Participants
Owner
Boliden
Sika Organization
Sika Sweden SE
