:>TER 48
dersonMine
D. Rech*
INTRODUCTION
General Description
sire is located 80.5 krn west of Denver, Colorado, and lies
above sea level, on the eastern side of the Continental
- The ore body is over 1,000 m below the surface, and the
excavation is at a depth of 1,600 m, making Henderson one
deepest caving operations in the world. The ore is
"::!::::!;;~~ by conveyor from a crusher complex at the 7065 level
~ site 25 krn away on the western side of the Continental
(Figure 48.1). The overall transfer of ore is achieved
:::::=r:::~_h the use of only three conveyor flights, one 1.2 krn long in
- - , a second 16 krn long through a former railroad tunnel,
~ mird 7 krn long that travels overland to the mill. Until 1999,
- rran.sportation system consisted of a semiautomated train
~t ran without operators for most of the 25-km trip
l=r::».:~ the mine and mill.
Mining History
-=ne began operation in 1976, after a 10-year
:;:r:~m~pment program and $500 million investment. From
~-:uugb 1991, approximately 90 million tonnes of ore were
r;::::::C.~c:ed from the 8100 level. In 1992, the 7700 level was
=:!:,1~. into production, and over 45 million tonnes have been
e:::::21aerl so far from this level. The next production level will be
- ~ level, located 145 m below the 7700 level. It is
..._,...............~•• to note that the east region of the ore body has not
exploited through either the 8100 or 7700 level. As shown
~. 1 , very tall ore columns are available on the east side
body at the 7225 level.
- - roughout the past two decades, the molybdenum market
~enced varying states of over- and under-supply, and
ce~~;on's production rates have varied accordingly. This includes
'=::t~m shutdown of the operation in 1983 for 15 months. As a
oi these factors, the mining operation has had to be extremely
a.'ld allow for the movement of e mployees from mining to
:;x:::Cn'ion funcLions as thP. business has cyc:led. In addition to the
c::pi~~''s need to be flexible, it has also been necessary for the
acti".iry to be flexible. Cave development has been stopped
rimes and restarted as markets have dictated. Many of the
practices at Henderson have been developed to
.-:::z:::::::nc:xlate this contingency.
=;>rovement capital for the operation has been scarce for
of rhe past 20 years. Cha nges, therefore, have generall y
- ~ form of continuous process improvement and not
X::~sa:!e redesigns. A strong demand for molybdenum in 1995
.,....."""._,.- - e first opportunity since 197~o make a significant
to the operation. The area needing the most a ttention was
rransportation system. This modification to the operation
397
became a capital improvement project titled Henderson 2000.
Henderson 2000 was engineered to address both improvement of
ore transportation to the mill and development of the bottom and
final production level for the mine. The conveying system
associated with Henderson 2000 was completed in 1999. The
development of the final productio n level will follow in 3 to 5
years, depending upon market conditions.
48.1.3 Mine Production
Mine production at Henderson, as previously described, has been
extremely variable over the past 24 years. Figure 48.2 shows the
history of both annual tonnages and employment levels. One of
the opportunities of m ass caving has been the ability to cut back
operations in years of low demand and take advantage of "cave
inventories." Conversely, one of the challenges has been that a
large amount of capital is sunk prior to production, making it
imperative that development rates be in accord with current
marke t conditions.
48.1.4 Safety History
The mission to improve safety performance at Henderson
continuously has paralleled the mining industry as shown in
Figure 48.3. The caving operation has lent itself well to many of
the technological improvements that have become available as
Henderson has operated. The utilization of rock bolt jumbos in
the late 1980s formed the basis for a significant improvement in
safety performance. The use of hand-held jacklegs accounted for
10 reportable injuries the last year they were used. The most
recent change-from rail haulage to truck and conveyor haulage-
should provide a similar shift downward and allow the operation
to keep pace with open-pit mining on an incident rate basis.
The most significant change through the years has been the
quality of the employees at Henderson. The use of modern
technology has made the job more demanding intellectually,
while significantly reducing pe rsonal exposure to environmental
hazards. The combination of these two features has made the
mining operation more conducive to long-term employment, a nd
the sophistication of the current employees rivals that of
employees in any other industry.
48.2 GEOLOGY
The Henderson deposit is composed of two partially overlapping
ore bodies that lie 1,080 m beneath the summit of Red Mounta in .
The ore bodies a re entirely within a Tertiary rhyolite porphyry
intrusive complex that has intruded Precambrian granite. The
deposit is e lliptical in plan, with overall dimensions of 670 by
910 m. In section, it is arcuate with an average thickness of
185 m. The top of the deposit is at an elevation of 2,610 m, while
the lower limits range from 2,340 m on the west to 2,100 m on
398

MINE SITE
CO~HIN[NT Al
Ot\110(
DENVER
80 5 ~-
W(')T (.a.51
REO M TN

... • • I I

"'i.Nl 1V.1-·J•, SH Art

('l<)i .., US[ J
rUTJR£ H •
( AV[ A~(A

Qv[RL At-1[•
r RVl'U(IION CCNV~ '10;- J (::>~ 1)
(6 " l.;m} F-QQOUC. T•O' CO"l\( rOP 2 (P':2) P C 1 'PC:'
(lf I ~ ..,.,) TR A-.r 5r(::: S !A.':QN

.tiOtRGROU!lQ C iiUS~-+E"'
p;;;oo~,_rr,o•. :-orw[1 0R (PC1) & Y£CLA. 1.1 C Al t (~·-

'6 l.:m}

FIGURE 48.1. General cross section of Henderson Mine and Mill

10 .--------------------------------- 2000 30
9
' . --- Tonnes
1800
',1 ··· ·Staffing 25 Henderson
8 ,' / ~ • Temporary Mine Closure 1600
Other Metal & Non-me "

y \
·
..·~j \f\
Ci) 7 1400 Q)
-:;; 20

e
t:
.2 6
s
1200 m
1000
t:

=
l1l
-
a:
c:
Q)

u 15
'tl
-,
IJI
Q)
Cii E
~ 4
r= ) \ ',,
800 l1l

~
'
'

,:I
3 . ..... . ., 600
,
..... ....-----
2 ..
'
·~

400

I 200
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
Ol~r+-r~-+,_~-r+-r+,_~-+~r+-r+-~4 0
co 0 C\J "<t <D co 0 C\J "<t
1'- co co co co co Ol (j) (j)
(j) Ol (j) (j) Ol (j) Ol (j) (j)

FIGURE 48.2 Employment and tonnage history of Henderson Mine FIGURE 48.3 Reportable incident rate trend for Henderson
all underground metal and nonmetal mines in the United States
(incidents per 200,000 hr worked)
t~e Past. The bottom of the eastern lobe of the ore body is
1,590 m. The mine ra lization is re latively continuous in the ore
bodies and consists of mul ybde:nire and quarrz in random, mine's concentrates are sold as I ubricant material. Th
inte rsectin g, closely spaced veinlets. internal friction of the molybdenite leads to easy shea-
tensile failure along mineralized veins. Ore grade at Hcoo.em'-==·
48.3 GEOTECHNICAL INFORMATION is, therefore, a good indication of both rock competency
cavabili ty. Ore sections are a critical e le ment to rhe
48.3.1 Rock and Ore Strength planning effort whe n geomecha nical issues a re considered
The general nature of t he o re body a nd the surround ing host rock Other rock strength d esignators of usc are rock
is that of very com pe tent gra nite with compressive strengths designation (RQD) a~d rock mass rating (RMR). He
ranging from 100 to 275 MPa . Areas that have very little RQD ranges fro m 0 •100, averaging 49, and its R.\fR
molybdenite do behave appropriate ly for medium-stre ngth from 27 to approximate ly 60.
granite. Figure 48.4 illustrates a typ ical ore zo ne section showing
48.3.2 Geomechanical Modeling of the Ore Body
the relationship of mineraliza tion to mine workings and the need
to have plans for excavations in both high ly min e ra lized zones Geomecha nica l modeling of the gross excavations ~;oc:r2:~:
and barren zo nes. with the caving operation at Henderson has been a usefu
However, the compressive strength designation may be for forecasting problem areas and for strategic plann
misleading in the context of mass cavability. The ve ry nature of cali bra ting the model to historical caving events, in siru
molybde nite ore is that of a dry lubri cant. In fa ct, 10% of the m e a ~ uremcnts , a nd measured rock s trengths. these
 ' e
<'
3S1 - ,._i
~ -- -;
IVASQUEZ STOCK
_ j'
I
0 0
~ :;l
z z
IHOST ROCK TYPE IMINE OPENINGS
48.4 Typical section of rock types, ore zones, and mine openings
- .::ad a high degree of reliability. Often the geometry
il:!::soc·aated with mass caving is the large:>t factor affecting rock
and that feature of modeling is the least debatable,
S:::I!S:ses,
~ono1~~...re
leading to quick consensus as to the resolution of a
p::x:t1~an.Both three-dimensional and two-dimensional models
- oeen used effectively.
~ .:.; MINING METHOD
General Mine Layout
:out of the mine today consists of five major levels .
.!8.5 shows a typical isometric section incorporating all
evels. The top level is the "undercut" level located at an
a ·o n of 2,364 m; this is where both the drawbells and the
e are developed. The next level is the "production" level,
ed a t an elevation of 2,347 m. The drawpoints that
·~'e access for the bad-haul-dump (LHD) machines are
red on this level. Immediately beneath the production level
'elltilation level at 2,333 m. Both intake and exhaust air
e ro\':ided by this level. In addition, the ventilation level
· ·es access for joining ore passes. The old train haulage
a t 2,286 m provides a second access for joining the
.....,.~......ically bored 2.4-m in diameter ore passes that feed the
haulage" level below. These ore passes are currently
· about 100 m apart, with wider spacings being evaluated
.:·~re layouts. At an elevation of 2,153 m , the truck
e level has center loading chutes that allow · truck
ra:ors to self-load and dump at the gyratory crusher.
The undercut level presently consists of 3.7- by 3.7-m drifts
__ - m centers; future undercut spacings will be 30.5 m. Figure
shows the typical drill pattern used to develop both the
399
7500
,.; . .,., ,.,
·< L
{
I 1000
loRE Z~NES
undercut and the drawbells below. These drill rings are on 2-m
centers, utilizing 76-mm in diameter drill holes. This method of
development has been in use for over 20 years. It should be noted
that no other boundary cut-off levels are used, based upon caving
experience on the upper level, where boundary weakening was
unnecessary.
Also shown on Figure 48.6 is the "V-cut" drill pattern used to
develop an open slot for the ove rhead ring pattern to be blasted
into. This pattern is drilled from the production level 16.8 m
be neath the undercut level. Figure 48.7 is a plan view of the
drawpoint pattern currently in use. Henderson's drawpoints have
evolved to the straight-through design shown here, with future
spacings to be 30.6 by 20m. Entry angles of 56° are the sharpest
that can be effectively used with the current 7 m 3 LHDs. The
drawpoint itself is lined with concrete and utilizes a steel wear
plate to protect the opening from erosion over the life of the
opening (approximately 63,000 tonnes). The roadways and
floors of the drawpoints are lined with 0.3-m-thick concrete. This
provides a good surface for cleanup, which in turn reduces tire
and articulation wear.
Ventilation ro the production level is supplied by a
multihorizon level 15 to 20 m below. Both intake and exhaust air
are transported on two horizons to provide a general north-to-
south fresh air- to-exhaust airflow. Each production ore pass is
connected to exhaust air and has an associated intake raise from
the intake drifts. This entire level is connected to a 8.5-m intake
shaft and to 7- and 10-m exhaust shafts by way of several 5- by
5-m ventilation drifts. Approximately 3.7 million cubic meters per
hour of air is moved through the mine.
The truck level consists of 6- by 6· m truck haulage drifts that
provide access to center loading chutes, as shown in Figure 48.8.
400 Panel Ccr.

i
""'- E

~
I

\·. ,.
'~:-0;, ~LE'£_~~~-,~;;;~.:'~~J)-·r~~!<Jf:j[J
"\ ~ •lrj;/!i'l-'•'<
'-i. -~-'1:'.... ·-
'rl'--
-: ·..:..1\~{-
;

)f' -~US TLMl MFRCEPT ACCESS

~~- ORE PASS lSOO lMJ. /720lml

:1 -
,,·:!'

TO VENl"IU 110H SHAFTS

BROW f>TEEL~
2.0.57.nu.30 48m DBAWPGINI S!'ACllill

FIGURE 48.7 Plan view of latest drawpoint layout for Hende

production level

ORE PASS

FIGURE 48.5 Isometric view of mining levels

CENTt:R lOADING CHUTE

.- -· .'1
~
,_. 1,, _
. , I

CQMP,t.C TEO ROAD BASE O N

GEOTEXTILE C0V£REO DRAIN ~YER

KA.ULAGE Ol=ltrt CENTER LOADING CHUTE

FIGURE 48.8 Typical truck loading chute and haulage drift

,'... . ·'
' ' \
' I '

170C!I'I'It!'

FIGURE 48.6 Section view of typical bell drill pattern and drawpoint

The roadways are constructed of a drainage layer and a

compacted roadbase material, which is protected by a layer of
geotextile on top of the drainage mate riaL This provides a surface
that is easily mainta ined by a grader.
Figure 48.9 is a photo of one of the 72 .6-tonne side-
d umping trucks unloading at the gyratory crusher.
48.4.2 Mine Development Sequence
The developme nt of such a large series of interdependent mining into gyratory crusher
leve ls requires a great deal of planning and coordina t ion.
 ine 401

BROKEN WASTE

BROKEN WAS

D~WPOINT MINING V..CUT DRILLING ORAWPOINT RO.A.OWAY DRAW CON1 ROL

(1 YR LEAD} 11 YRLEAO) CONCRETE (1 YR LEAO) {ORE/WASTE CONT~CT)
( t YRLEAD\

CHUTIO
(1 YRLEAD)

RE 48.10 Typical mining sequence for a caving panel at Henderson Mine

- cted in Figure 48.10 is the sequence of development for a TABLE 48.1 Molybdenum ore recovery as compared to estimated
~zed panel at Henderson. To date, panels have been eight diluted ore reserve, million tonnes (pounds)
2 production drifts in width. The leads shown are typical for
Diluted ore Actual Percentage
- operation at full capacity and may vary as production rates are
reserve estimate recovered ore recovered
~uced . It is very important to have the entire 2-yr sequence on
Cave area Tonnes Pounds Tonnes Pounds Tonnes Pounds
same schedule, as many of the steps are of a series nature. For
~pie, it is difficult to mine drawpoints adjacent to the 8100 90 480 87 470 97 98
nn-.·bells that are being blasted because of the associated blast 7700 to date 45 213 48 219 106 103
da.nage caused by the large shots. Finally, the multilevel nature
= the ore pass system requires that mining on all levels be
synchronized with one another. Otherwise there is no place to exhaustion of the column of ore. In addition to grade analysis, a
• re to, or from, if one level is behind the other.
visual estimate of dilution is made weekly by the mine geologist.
.;8.4.3 Ore Grade Control These data are utilized in the weekly production meeting .
The earliest evidence of ore dilution has been with only 20%
Ore grade control has been one of the highest priorities at
of the column removed. The primi'lry response to the early
li-Ienderson throughout its history. A geologic reserve model, dilution is to ensure slow and even withdrawal of material from
"ch is interfaced with the specific drawpoints and the the area . The ow~ rall ore inventory model assumes a loss of 7.5%
eoretical column of in-place ore that lies overhead, provides the of the ore and replaces it with a lower-grade dilutant material. To
ic grade control. A computer model simulates ore being
date, it has been possible to operate at or slightly above this
rirhd rawn from this column based upon projected operating performance level. Table 48.1 shows the overall performance for
parameters. Life-of-:nine simulations are possible using various the mine ro date.
~oduction rates.
In practice, the same model is used to assign numbers of 48.4 .4 Ore Transportation System
ckets or tonnes to be withdrawn each operating shift. The
Because of the overall layout of the Henderson Mine and mill , ore
operator tracks the actual tonnes totaled by a weightometer on
transportation has played a large role in the performance of the
ne LHD and the location where the tonnage was extracted. If, for
mine. As noted in the introduction, the 25-km rail haulage system
some reason, tonnage is higher or lower than assigned, this has recently been replaced with a conveyor system. As shown in
Qfference is tracked, and the operator is given an ahead or
Figure 48.1, this system consists of three flights of conveyors. The
behind tally by drawpoint. The overall goal is to reconcile this longest is over 15 km long and has a single drive station with four
difference each month. A weekly production meeting facilitates
2 000-kW drives. The belt is 1.2 m wide to accommodate a
ills process.
~aximum lump size of 0.5 m. The surface be lt incorporates nine
Ore samples are taken daily, and through the use of X-ray vertical curves and seven horizontal curves, with the tightest
nalysis in an underground assay lab, the grade is tracked. ~his horizontal curve having a radius of 1.5 km.
formatio n is used to track both dilution and the fmal
402
TABLE 48.2 Performance statistics for LHDs and haulage t r ucks
Capacity, Reet Productivity, Availability, Cost per
Type tonne size tonnej hr % tonne, USS
LHD 9.5 7 318 80 $0.32
Truck 72 4 708 90 $0.16
It is important to note that the only sizing of ore ahead of
the 1.4-m gyratory crusher is a single-beam grizzly with a spacing
of 0.'1 m. The optimum efficiencies for LHDs and trucks have
been achieved with this grizzly spacing. No rock breakers are
involved. Most of the secondary breakage required is done
through the use of 1-kg, conically shaped explosive charges. This
is accomplished with an emulsion-type explo5ive and a
household funnel to provide the conical shape.
48.5 PRODUCTION STATISTICS
The Henderson Mine was originally designed around 4 m3 LHDs
and has evolved to 7 m3 LHDs. This transition has been made
possible by improved operator skill and more efficient equipment
design. The net effect has been an improvement from 136 to 317
tonne/ hr. The related fleet size has gone from 30 to only seven
for the same production rate. Table 48.2 shows the general
performance of this fleet along with total cost per tonne to
operate, maintain, and own these LHDs.
The performance of the relatively new 72.6-tonne haul truck
fleet is also shown on Table 48.2. With an average haul distance
of 300 m each way, three of these trucks match the production
capabilities of six LHDs. High-quality road maintenance is an
essential component to the maintenance cost of this fleet. As
previously mentioned, the road design allows for grading and
continuous maintenance. The total cost of $0.18/tonne should be
reduced as higher tonnages are handled. To date, the fleet has
been constrained by start-up issues with the conveyor system and
the ore passes.
48.6 SAFETY AND HEALTH
A large variety of improvements in safety and health has been
achieved in recent years. Dedicated employees who have been
involved in determining the optimum solution have made all of
t hese improvements sustainable. The following are some of the
highlights:
• Longhole drills that utilize rod handling and a drill
tractor with a cab for remote operation and sound
suppression
• Use of cabs on LHDs, concrete trucks, haulage trucks, and
utility equipment
• Concrete form jumbos that minimize hand forming of
concrete for the production drawpoints
• Rock bolt jumbos and screen-handling equipment for
ground support
• Bulk material handling systems for ANFO, trash, and
supplies
• Use of wet shotcrete and accelerators to improve ground
support (which allows lor the thicker application of shot-
crete as well)
• Use of a leaky-feeder radio system throughout the mine,
which has dramatically improved communication and
response to emergencies
• Widespread use of multiplexing <:nd solid-state controls
for traffic control, ventilation, conveyor system, ore pass
monitoring, and pumping systems
Development
Support 27%
29%
'"-.............. //
Maintenance -------- -
30%
FIGURE 48.1 1 Breakdown of mining costs by fur.ction
Supplies
29%
'
\
Power
8%
Labor Outside ServiCeS
55% 6%
Other
2%
FIGURE 48.12 Break down of m ining costs by c at egory
The most recent safety statistics for the mine haves
incident rate of less than 4.0 (incidents per 200,000 hr
and a lost-time accident rate of less than 1. All of the
improvements, along with a behavior-based safety pro~
been essential to lowering the incident rate continuo
current goal of the mine is to achieve zero reportable inci<:!
48.7 OPERATING COSTS
Figures 48.11 and 48 .12 are pie charts showing the _
breakdown of mining costs for the operation. These cosrs
include any milling, crushing, or comeying, or gener.!';
administrative costs. It must be noted that these costs are
year with a large amount of mine development acm · _
previously mentioned, development costs are a large dri\-oer
overall mining costs. The support function is composed of~
plant activities, not rock support. The categorical cha.:-"-
reflects the high portion of labor costs associa·ed
development mining. The proportions of these costs ~
from year to year as the mining activity changes and ., . ·:Ie::-e:;:~
should be used only as a general reference.
48.8 RECENT CAPITAL EXPENDITURES
Replacement of the rail haulage system with a
conveyor system is the most significant capital expene.·
recent years. This investment totaled approximately $ 150
with 20% of the cost relating to mine developmen
remainder directly associated with the crush-and-con -'e'} ~
As shown in Figure 48.1, the conveyor syste m is 25
because of the unique location of the mill site.
 403

ologJcal advances have made this change 243 8 m HIGH L:.:_

lrt_.:_CO:..:l:.:_U~
_,_ _ _ _ _ _ __

·!lereas it may have been nearly impossible in

- e mine was built. The most significant of these

- siinulation models for long conveyor systems

382.72.5 T.)NN( / BE Ll
..........-.......::-frequency drive controls
~=i.Sf~- experience with cur;ed conveyor applications
~~~op;n"c data transmission and solid-state control
c:aasp<>nation reliability and cost have been
::::;r=;;a:::t:::i::Y.~.:nproved with this new system. Additionally, the
121.9m HIGH COLIJ MN
o mai ntain and operate a conveyor system are
( TYPIC AL 7700)
_ ;;r.-ailable in today's labor pool. Overall, this system
ucive to continuous safety and production

RE PLANS AND CONCLUSION

~ Henderson's caving panels, to date, has been 129 .76 4 TON NE / BELL
zone dimensions. On the lowest level, there is an
o increase this height dramatically and leverage the
~~-..r-,cy of the mine development. Figure 48.13 shows
;;;:o~:::l;-11 for this increase in ore column height. The
-:::::=::::::;;;::5n:;, of height and the current drawpoint spacing will [ 167~
old increase in the tonnage per drawbell.
El;;;:e.srleix:e on the upper levels has shown that a quality
.; th concrete floors and a steel wear brow, is
'.;lhstanding the abutment stresses associated with
~g. In addition, a high-quality installation is the 2U8m ORIIT SPACING 30 48rn DRIFT SPACING
..c:::::x:.Z.oo;;: ro optimum equipment efficiencies and maintenance 1ti.1Stn ORAWPOINT SPACtiG 20 S7m ORAWPOI.-.rr SPACING

~nese installations will be able to endure tripling the

a00 duration of their use; this is a substantial
:::::;c==-:Y. for Henderson. Full utilization of every dollar
.:=~e;::xd -- :::!ine development is critical to future success.
- usion, the Henderson Mine has been able to keep
- - the changes technology has offered the mining
.::::::::::;;:::-.:_ Zrnployee involvement a nd skill have been key
o these improvements. The longevity of the mining
made it necessary to squeeze the largest equipment
·~;:o the existing openings. Future pressures on
===::5.z:zri-ion of investment capital will further the need to
+.c=:::Ze existing openings. Redesigns are few and far between ,
uous improvement of efficiency and safety are the key
~~-~
----G. and K.W. Keskimaki. 1998. The Henderson coarse ore
a:JE7i"f"_ri•. ng system. SME Annt.:al Meeting. Orlando, FL.
'li.:s.t::::::::;;Jtb_. • fl.". 1996. Productivity gains at the Henderson Mine.
Expo 96. Las Veg8s, NV.
FIGURE 48.13 Comparison of current draw columns to draw columns
planned for next production level
Keskimaki, K.W., and E.B. Jensen. 1992. Advances in equipment tech-
nology at the Henderson Mine. MASSMIN 92. Johannesburg,
SAJMM: pp. 345-350.
Keskimaki, K.W., and R. Wagner. 1994. Secondary blasting at Henderson.
SM E Annual Meeting. Albuquerque, NM.
Nelson, B.V., and D.C. Harney. 1995. Remote control and monitoring at
the Henderson Mine. SME Annual Meeting. Denver, CO.
Rech, W.O., E.B. Jensen, G. Hauk, and D.R. Stewart. 1992. The appli ca-
tion of geostatistical software to the management of panel caving
operations. MASSMIN 92. Johannesburg, SAIMM, pp. 275-281 .
Rech, W.O., and L. Lorig. 1992. Predictive numerical stress analysis of
panel cavin g at the Hende rson Mine. MASSMIN 92. Johannesburg,
SAIMM, pp. 55-62.
Rech, W.O., and O.K. Watson. 1994. Cave initiation and growth m onitoring
at the Henderson fv'line. SME Annual Meetir.g, Albuquerque, NM .