Temperature Gradient with depth of mine

HIGH-GRADE NI-CU-PT-PD-ZN-CR-AU-V-TI DISCOVERIES IN THE "RING OF FIRE"

NI 43-101 Update (September 2012): 11.1 Mt @ 1.68% Ni, 0.87% Cu, 0.89 gpt Pt and 3.09 gpt Pd and 0.18 gpt Au (Proven & Probable Reserves) / 8.9 Mt @ 1.10% Ni, 1.14% Cu, 1.16 gpt Pt and 3.49 gpt Pd and 0.30 gpt Au (Inferred Resource)

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Temperature Gradient with depth of mine

posted on Dec 14, 2009 08:18PM

As you go deeper in a mine it gets hotter. How much varies tremendously depending on where you are and what is under you. The normal gradient ranges from 10-50 C/Km of depth with ambient being about 12 deg C near surface. So if your mine is in a nice old thick crustal zone its fairly cool. If you mine in an area of thin crust, volcanic activity, geothermal vents, etc its gets much hotter.

At the Creighton Mine in Sudbury the rock temperature at 2100M is 43C . The Red Lake Mine in Red Lake is around 30C at 2000M. So while the guys working in surface operations in January will have to contend with -30's the guys at depth will have Caribbean temperatures. Both are manageable.