ABSTRACT

The Golden Sunlight Underground Mine located near Whitehall,

Montana was portalled from the bottom of the existing Golden
Sunlight Pit in July 2002. Gold was mined by sublevel stoping in the
larger ore zones and longhole back stoping in the narrower ore
zones. The stopes varied from 30 feet to 100 feet in width, extend-
ed up to 200 feet in height, and were completely unsupported.
Underground production averaged 1,500 tons per day with a staff of
35 people. The mine operated with a break-even cut-off grade of
0.080 ounces per ton.
INTRODUCTION
The Golden Sunlight Mine is located in western Montana near
the town of Whitehall. The mine is owned and operated by Golden
Sunlight Mines, Inc., a subsidiary of Placer Dome. Gold was discov-
ered in the Golden Sunlight District in 1890. Between 1890 and 1956
154,000 tons of ore were produced at an average grade of 0.370
ounces per ton. Golden Sunlight Mines, Inc. began open pit produc-
tion 1983 and has produced over 2.5 million ounces in twenty years
of production.
In 2002 a 1,500 ton per day underground mine was established
to recover the resource that remained adjacent to and below the final
pit limits. The underground mine has since produced 140,000
ounces from 520,000 tons at an average grade of 0.269 ounces per
ton between July 2002 and December 2003.
GEOLOGIC SETTING
Gold mineralization at the Golden Sunlight Mine is hosted in a
breccia pipe set within the sediments of the Proterozoic Belt
Supergroup. The pipe is approximately 700 feet in diameter and dips
steeply to the west. Clasts within the breccia pipe range in size from
a fraction of an inch up to greater than 30 feet across. The clasts are
cemented together by a gold-bearing pyrite-silica matrix.
Underground ore grade mineralization is encountered along the
east and west edges of the breccia pipe. Core drilling has delineat-
ed the breccia pipe to a depth of several hundred feet below the
deepest stope; however, the pipe is virtually barren of gold at depth.
GEOTECHNICAL PROPERTIES
The rock mass quality at Golden Sunlight is very good.
Measurements from core as well as conditions encountered during
development and production bear this out. Exploration drilling was
done with HQ and NTW core. All core was logged in accordance with
the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute Q system. Typical physical
properties of the rock mass are summarized in Table I.
RQD Q UCS
(psi)
Breccia 50 to 100 1 to 1000 5,000
Sediments 50 to 100 0.5 to 400 9,000
Average ~80 ~100
Table I: Geotechnical Properties
MINE DEVELOPMENT
The Golden Sunlight Underground Mine was portalled in the
bottom of the pit at the northeast corner of the pit. The portal was
located under a switchback in the haulroad, away from the highwall,
thus affording a high degree of safety from falling rock. The site was
also chosen because of its close proximity to the first stope.
The main decline was 14 feet wide by 14 feet high, 2880 feet
long at a minus 15 percent grade, and extended from the 4850 ele-
vation down to the 4435 elevation. Ground support in all develop-
ment headings included a minimum of 5 foot friction bolts on a 4 foot
by 4 foot pattern. Mats, wire panels, 8 foot bolts, and rib bolting were
added as ground conditions required. Intersections in stopes were
supported with 12 foot grouted rebar.
A series of four 10 foot by 10 foot raises, each approximately
100 feet long, were driven to provide a secondary escapeway and
ventilation loop. Five ore zones were developed with access from the
central decline. The decline passed within 30 to 150 feet of each
stope.
MINING METHOD
The mining method selection was driven by the competence of
the rock mass, the width of the ore zones, and the grade distribution
along the edges of the ore zones.
Initial geotechnical calculations indicated that an average
unsupported span width in excess of 100 feet could be expected in
the ore zones.
Ore zone widths varied from 30 to 110 feet, heights varied from
90 feet to 200 feet, and lengths extended from 100 feet to 300 feet.
The ore zones were located in the breccia along the east and
west edges of the pipe. Typically one wall of each ore zone was
defined by the contact between the breccia and the barren sedi-
ments. The grade was highest near the contact and decreased with
distance from the contact. Therefore the ore zone boundaries that
were not along the contact were defined by the break-even cut-off
grade. A halo of breccia slightly below the cut-off grade surrounded
the orezones on all sides except the contact.
Thus the Golden Sunlight Underground Mine was ideally suited
for bulk mining methods using longhole open stoping. Stope access
and ore zone geometry required that some stopes were developed
as back stopes, while others were variations of sublevel stoping. Due
to the competent rock mass, backfill was not necessary.
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Feb. 23-25, Denver, Colorado
Preprint 04-11
LONGHOLE STOPING AT THE GOLDEN SUNLIGHT MINE
H. Bogart
Golden Sunlight Mines, Inc.
Whitehall, MT
1 Copyright 2004 by SME
DEFINITION DRILLING
During stope development, the ore zone boundary was defined
by reverse circulation drilling using a Cubex drill equipped with a
3 1/2 inch down-hole hammer and 3 7/8 inch bit. Nearly all definition
holes were collared from sublevels within the ore zones. Thus the
definition holes began in ore and extended out into waste. Holes
were sampled in five foot increments and drilled to penetrate the ore
zone boundary on approximately 25 foot centers. On the average,
one foot of reverse circulation definition drilling was done for every
ten tons of ore produced.
BACK STOPING
Back stopes were typically 30 to 40 feet wide, 45 to 75 feet tall,
and up to 250 feet in length. The sill cut was 15 feet wide and 13 feet
tall.
The slot cut was initiated by driving a 3 foot diameter bean-hole
at the end of the sill cut in one corner of the planned stope. The slot
was then widened to 6 feet and slabbed to full stope width. The
dump angle of the slot followed the ore zone shape. Early in the proj-
ect, production rings were laid over at a 70 dump angle to protect the
brow and provide better protection while loading holes. However,
practice proved that the brow was very competent, and the dump
angle was changed to 90 to allow faster, more accurate ring drilling.
The stopes tapered at a 45 angle down to the sill cut so that muck
would draw to the muckers. (See Figure 1.) This also helped protect
the integrity of the brow by limiting it to 15 feet wide.
Production holes were 2 1/2 inches in diameter and a maximum
of 80 feet long with approximately 5 feet of toe spacing and 6 feet of
burden on each ring. Holes were double primed, pneumatically
loaded with Ammonium Nitrate and Fuel Oil (ANFO), and shot in
groups of one to four rings. The powder factor was approximately 1.0
pound of ANFO per ton of ore broken. Secondary blasting was rarely
required. All back stopes were remote-mucked beyond the brow.
The production rate in a back stope including drilling, loading, shoot-
ing, mucking, and hauling was 500 tons on a good day.
Figure 1: TYPICAL BACK STOPE
SUBLEVEL STOPING
Ore zones in excess of 40 feet wide or 90 feet tall were mined
in multiple blocks. The stopes were initiated with a series of back
stopes stacked to create a vertical center slot running the full length
of the stope. (See Figure 2.) Development and production in the
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Feb. 23-25, Denver, Colorado
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Figure 2: SUBLEVEL STOPING SEQUENCE
center slot was sequenced from the top block downward. The bot-
tom block was tapered at a 45 angle down to the sill cut.
Sublevels were driven at the edge of the ore zone. Stope blocks
adjacent to the vertical slot were then drilled from the sublevels,
loaded, and slabbed into the slot. Sublevel spacing was typically 40
feet horizontally and 60 to 100 feet vertically. Sublevel location and
drill rings were designed to fit the shape of the ore zone boundary.
Up-holes and down holes were drilled from the same sublevel, thus
increasing the spacing between sublevels.
At the top of the stopes, ore grade was marginal; therefore, the
shape and location of the back could be driven by geotechnical
requirements rather than grade control requirements. Stopes wider
than 40 feet were designed with arched cross-sections that were
completely self-supporting.
In large stopes, drawpoints were excavated into the bottom
block. Drawpoints were spaced on 50 foot centers along the sill cut
of the stope. (See Figure 3.) Optimum drawpoint size was 15 feet
wide by 15 feet high. Occasionally oversized boulders occurred due
to missed holes or overbreak during blasting. In these cases the
drawpoint below the boulder was mucked until the boulder reached
the drawpoint. The boulder was then drilled with a jumbo from under
the protection of the drawpoint, loaded with ANFO, and shot.
Most sublevel stoping blocks were drilled with 2 1/2 inch produc-
tion holes. However, some were ring drilled with a Cubex drill
equipped with a 3 1/2 inch down-hole hammer and 3 1/2 inch bit. Toe
spacing with the larger holes was about 8 feet with 8.33 feet of bur-
den on each ring. The powder factor was approximately 1.0 pound
of ANFO per ton of ore broken.
Less than 10 percent of the muck from sublevel stopes was
remote-mucked. The production rate in a sublevel stope including
drilling, loading, shooting, mucking, and hauling averaged 1200 tons
per day. On a good day, 3000 tons could be mucked by a single
mucker.
PRODUCTION SAMPLING TECHNIQUES
Breccia clasts within the orezones varied in size from fine grav-
el to blocks many feet across. The clasts carried no grade, while the
pyrite matrix was high grade. Thus the grade of a chip sample was
highly influenced by the location of individual clasts. Furthermore,
grab samples taken from the muckpile tended to be clast material.
This made accurate production sampling by standard grade control
methods very difficult.
A very good sample of each drifting round was obtained by sam-
pling the drill cuttings that collected at the face during production
drilling. Each drifting round 14 feet wide by 14 feet high by 12 feet
long contained 200 tons of rock, and was drilled with approximately
fifty 1 7/8 inch diameter holes. Thus the pile of cuttings that collect-
ed at the face represented 600 linear feet of drilling, or approximate-
ly three feet of drilling per ton of rock. Immediately after drilling, as
part of the production cycle, the miners sampled the cuttings at the
face in three places; one quarter of the way in from the left rib, at the
center, and one quarter of the way in from the right rib. The assays
from the three samples were averaged to determine the grade of the
round.
Likewise, in the stopes the cuttings that collected under the
longhole drills while drilling production rings were sampled by the
technical staff after each ring was completed. Each foot of longhole
drilling liberated approximately two tons of ore; therefore, the grade
of each 1,000 ton ring was based on the cuttings of 500 feet of pro-
duction drilling.
Production reconciliations between the mine and the mill veri-
fied the accuracy of these sampling methods. For the duration of the
project, the gold production reported by the mill routinely exceeded
gold production reported by the mine by three percent. The success
of this sampling method is attributed to the conscientious efforts of
the miners and technical staff and their thorough understanding that
the success of this mine hinged on accurate sampling.
Figure 3: DRAWPOINT LAYOUT
EQUIPMENT
Major equipment in the underground fleet is summarized in
Table II.
1 twin-boom jumbo
1 bolting machine
1 Cubex down-hole hammer drill
2 hydraulic top-hammer long-hole drills
2 6 cubic yard muckers (remote capable)
1 7 cubic yard mucker
3 26 ton trucks
2 22 ton trucks
Table II: Major Equipment
Typical stope production utilized two drills, two muckers, and
four trucks.
STAFFING
Development work and stope production at the Golden Sunlight
Underground Mine were contracted to Small Mine Development of
Boise, Idaho. Mine management, technical services, surface
haulage, and ore processing were done by Golden Sunlight Mines,
Inc. Staffing is listed in Table III.
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Golden Sunlight Mines, Inc.:
1 Mine Superintendent/Engineer
1 Longhole Engineer/Surveyor
1 Geologist
Small Mine Development:
1 Project Superintendent
1 Safety Superintendent
1 Assistant Superintendent
3 lead miners
1 master mechanic
1 lead driller
20 miners/longhole drillers/truck drivers/nippers
4 mechanics/electricians
Table III: Underground Mine Personnel
ECONOMICS
The Golden Sunlight Underground Mine was an efficient, com-
pletely mechanized mine. From the day the mine was portalled until
the day the mine closed, all SMD and Golden Sunlight underground
personnel worked 96,000 manhours to produce 520,000 tons of ore
at a rate of 5.4 tons per manhour worked. Development and produc-
tion costs combined averaged $25.93 per ton of ore produced.
Stoping productivity, after completion of all primary development and
stope development, was 9.2 tons per manhour worked. Stoping
costs during this time were $17.25 per ton of ore produced. These
productivities and costs include supervisors, technical staff, and
mechanics/electricians. Exploration and definition drilling, surface
haulage to the mill, milling costs, and taxes are not included in these
costs.
Definition drilling costs, including fire assays, averaged $1.17
per ton of ore produced.
The break-even cut-off grade, including surface transportation
to the mill, milling costs, and taxes, was 0.080 ounces per ton at $350
gold and 83 percent recovery.
SAFETY
As with all Placer Dome mines, safety is Golden Sunlights high-
est priority. The philosophy at the Golden Sunlight Underground
Mine was, If we cannot produce safely, we will not produce.
The longhole stoping methods used at Golden Sunlight were an
integral part of the safe working environment. As of the writing of this
paper, the project had no lost time accidents and one reportable
medical incident requiring four stitches.
CONCLUSIONS
The production cost at the Golden Sunlight Underground Mine
was one of the lowest among underground precious metal mines in
the United States. The efficiency of the mine resulted from a dedicat-
ed workforce, very good ground conditions, and a mechanized bulk
mining method to match the ore zone geology and geometry. The
stope design was highly successful because of the following:
1. Arched backs with no ground support in the stopes
2. Slabbing from multiple sublevels to increase stope
productivity
3. Tapered bottoms in the stopes for more efficient
remote-mucking
4. Utilization of drawpoints wherever possible.
The result was a safe, productive, profitable mine.
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Feb. 23-25, Denver, Colorado
4 Copyright 2004 by SME