A New Mining Method:

Double Post Mining

Written By:

Industrias Penoles; Ing. Octavio Alvidrez

Ing. Javier Berumen
DPM Mining Inc; Charles Gryba, P.Eng
EDC Mining Ltd; Ivan Arriagada, P.Eng
Michael Arriagada, P.Eng
   

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Abstract
As part of Penoles’ strategic vision a decision was made to search the globe for
alternative mining methods which would vastly improve production and safety at their
mines. A dinner meeting at the PDAC in Toronto in March 2010 between Ivan
Arriagada, then with Wardrop (Tetra Tek), and Armando Sanchez of Penoles led to a
discussion of Double Post Mining (hereafter referred to as “DPM”). This led to a DPM
presentation for senior members of Penoles mining team followed by a positive cost and
technical study, which ultimately led to the current phase of DPM test mining at the
Madero Mine in Zacatecas, Mexico.

DPM is a patented mining method that generates room and pillar productivity in
midsized underground orebodies. Mine planning starts by generating a 7.5m x 7.5m x
6m high block model, with mining progressing from the top down in 6m lifts. The initial
lift (the “Top Slice”) is standard drift and fill mining, but prior to CRF backfilling concrete
posts are inserted into the ground and concrete floors are poured. On completion of top
slicing one ends up with a continuous reinforced concrete floor, which then becomes the
roof of the next lower lift, supported by a 7.5m grid of posts.
A combination of inserted and filler posts allows for a continuous system to set up as
part of the mining/backfill cycle; mining and backfilling proceed in parallel. With DPM,  
100% of the orebody is mined. Subsequent mining is similar to working in a car
parkade with a concrete roof and posts. DPM substantially reduces the amount of
scaling, rock bolting, cable bolting, shotcreting, long hole drilling, slot raising etc, thus
safety statistics will improve. Economic factors such as 50% less capital development,
earlier production, better dilution control, 100% ore recovery, higher labor and
equipment productivity plus improved safety more than offset the cost of posts, concrete
and rebar.
Golder FLAC 3D modeling indicates that 15m wide panels (stopes) can be set up;
primary panels are mined and backfilled to form pillars so the secondary panels can be
mined and backfilled. All aspects of mining and backfilling over the life cycle of the DPM
area can be monitored with load cells in real time, thus ensuring safety and the
possibility for future optimization as the method is being mine-proven at the Madero
mine.
This paper will explain the DPM mining method, the Golder modeling of the concept, the
instrumentation to be used in the mine and the advantages of the DPM process. This
will be followed by a description of the research and development process Penoles
followed that led to the decision to mine prove the DPM mining system at the 7000 tpd
Madero base metal mine.

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Introduction: DPM Mining Method
DPM mining is based on mining 6m lifts of 800 to 1200 ton blocks of ore generated by a
Gemcom or Datamine 3D geological block modal. Each DPM room is mined by 2 drift
rounds or a combination of drift rounds and slashes that dimensionally match the
geological block model; the model becomes the stoping plan for the orebodies with
100% ore recovery.
DPM mines the orebody from the top down. The initial lift utilizes standard drift and fill
mining except a grid of 7.5m concrete posts and a continuous concrete floor is installed
prior to backfilling with cemented rock fill (CRF). Lower lifts are similar to room and
pillar mining but carried out under a concrete roof temporarily supported by a grid of
concrete posts. As with any new technology there are a few new terms that have been
developed to explain the system e.g. DPM top slicing, DPM rooms, double posting, pre
breaking around posts and filler posts.
Figure 1: Typical DPM Rooms and Terminology

                                                 

DPM is a very flexible mining method that can use drill blast muck techniques for hard
ore and roadheaders for softer ores. Mining can be done in any direction under the
concrete floor and it can extend out past the concrete to follow the ore – this new area
then becomes a top slice. Every DPM room within the orebody will have exactly the
same standard design. The outer perimeter rooms have the addition of wall pins and
rebar hangers to support the perimeter of the concrete floor slab.

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Figure 2: DPM Post Layout – Plan View Figure 3: DPM Post Layout – Section View

34100 E
Elev.1950

1938 L

1932 L

1926 L Elev.1925
1920 L

1914 L

Elev.1900

Elev.1875

Elev.1850

The backfill cycle is very standardized; install the posts, prepare and pour the concrete
floors, then fill with CRF. Posting starts with drilling a grid of post holes surveyed to
match the corner location of each ore block. A precast concrete post is than installed
into each hole, followed by drilling pre-shearing holes around the post.
Preparation for installing the concrete floor starts with spreading a layer broken followed
by a layer of plastic; the ore acts as a cushion to prevent blast damage to the concrete
roof while the layer of plastic keeps wet concrete from leaking into the cushion material.
At this time filler posts are installed in the DPM lifts – they are bolted to the bottom
flange of the post from the previous lift forming the double posting system.
Rebar and welded concrete mesh can now be installed, followed by special concrete
forms that are backfilled with sand. Removing the sand after the adjacent room is mined
allows the rebar to be over lapped, thus forming a continuous concrete floor. Standard
3000psi concrete is pumped to complete the reinforced slab. Once the concrete floor
sets the CRF is tight filled using a push blade on an LHD plus a Paus Slinger truck for
the nooks and crannies.
The DPM mining and backfill cycles use only standard mine proven equipment,
concrete and CRF. Subsequent DPM mining is then carried out under the pre-posted
composite roof beam comprised of reinforced concrete plus tightly-packed CRF. Ivan
Arriagada and his current company – EDC Mining Ltd. – has been involved in
developing DPM from the beginning and has now been retained to provide the detail
engineering required to bring DPM to completion. However, before production could
begin, there remained two large question marks: what is the loading on the concrete
posts; and does post loading increase with each additional mining lift?
Golder Modeling
Joe Carvello, PhD of Golder Toronto was retained to model the test mining area using
FLAC 3D. Based on previous 2D modeling 0.4m diameter concrete posts and a 7.5m x
7.5m x 6m room size was fixed. An 8 room wide x 12 room long by 5 lift high (or
400,000t) area was selected to allow for maximum load development within the backfill;
excavation is via primary and secondary panels 2 rooms (15m) wide accessed from a

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central entry drift. The concrete floor was modeled only as a tension member as the
concrete floor plus cemented rock fill act as a composite beam.
Figure 4: Golder Modeling Plan

         

A total of 10 computer runs were performed using various stiffness’ for the backfill,
posts and floors; each run taking about 120 to 150 hours to completely mine the 480
blocks. Snapshots of data results were captured every 15 minutes for analysis.
Figure 5: Golder FLAC 3D Model Results

Some of the results were:

1. Normal 6% cemented rock fill generated post loading mainly between 100t and
250t and the loads stabilized after 4 lifts. Posts were designed for 400t thus post
loading is about 50% of the design strength of the posts in compression.

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 Figure 6: Golder FLAC 3D Post Loading Results

                                           
2. To mobilize the backfill strength of typical 6% CRF the posts had to be
compressible; weaker fills have to move further to arch loads to the walls thus
causing more post compression. DPM has designed 400t capacity compression
springs that can be adjusted to match the required movement.
3. The concrete floors act only as a tensile member to confine the CRF and the
loads arched as predicated. Backfill arching is seen on 2 scales – initially it
remains within the DPM rooms; as additional lifts are mined it expands to cover
the lift.
4. Surprisingly with weaker fills the tensile loads on the posts in the backfill reduced
to 300t. The concrete posts in effect become large friction rockbolts in the
composite CRF beam. To take advantage of this anchoring phenomenon the
posts were redesigned with flanges to attain a continuous 150t tensile strength
for individual posts and 300t for double posting.

Wardrop was then retained to provide an initial civil design for the posts and floors. As
actual mine data is collected the Golder model will be updated to verify results and to
find improvements in the DPM system.
Instrumentation
Through the years many attempts have been made to fully instrument a mine to provide
useful, real-time feedback with regards to loads, stresses, etc. DPM provides the
framework for this type of instrumentation coverage. Dr. Andrew Hyett of Yield Point is
on board to design the instrumentation package in conjunction with DPM Mining Inc,
EDC Mining Ltd and Golder.
The main item to be instrumented is the concrete post loading as one goes through the
mining and backfill cycle. However this alone will not provide a snapshot of what is
happening within the backfill and concrete floors – for example is the fill separating from

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the stope back while the backfill arches? This type of technical questioning soon lead to
list of the various items that had to be monitored with unique instrumentation to provide
the necessary answers.
Figure 7: Instrumentation Layout

• • • •
•
• • •
• • •

A summary of the instrumentation installed in a quadrant of the test mine area or 9 sets
of posts is as follows:
1. Instrumented cable bolts installed in the back above 9 post locations to measure
the movement of the hanging wall or the convergence of the HW into the backfill
thus loading the backfill. Similarly cables could be installed in the perimeter walls
to see if the walls converge into the backfill
2. Similar instrumented cables anchored at the back, extending through the CRF
and bolted to the top of the 9 posts supporting the top concrete floor will measure
the elevation of the concrete floor vs. the back to see if there is any separation of
fill from the back.
3. Instrumented cables will measure a range of tensile loads in key areas of floor
slab loading to monitor the tension in the rebar. Cables can also be installed
around the perimeter of the floor slab to see what stresses are encountered near
the edge of the floor. Similarly by draping cables over a 2 inch diameter wall pin
with the ends anchored in the floor slab the loading along the walls can be
measured.
4. The concrete post compression movement and post loading will be measured by
the reduction in height of the compression members below the posts. The
concrete posts have been designed with a conduit pipe to allow instrumentation
wires to run though the post and through conduit imbedded in the concrete floor
slabs. Post compression pads bolt to the post bottom flange and are reusable.
5. The tensile loading of the post can be measured in several ways, instrumented
cable bolts cast in the concrete parallel to the rebar or a standard mine
extensometer could be installed into a conduit in the post and anchored to the
top and bottom steel flanges.
6. Instrumented 3/4inch dia. flange bolts will be used between the instrumented
posts to monitor tensile loads from one post to the next.

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 7. The Golder 3D modal shows the backfill loads arching to the walls. Custom
instrument packs are being developed to monitor the loads within the backfill to
ensure the arching is developing as predicted, to check if the backfill is
separating from the floor or back, and to monitor in real-time what is happening
as the backfill is being compressed (packed) into place.
8. Tilt meters will be located in various areas of the concrete floor to see how the
floor is bending near the concrete posts or how the floor edges bend as one goes
through the mining or backfill cycle.
All of the instrumentation that leaves the Yield Point factory is calibrated with it’s own on
board computer and battery power supply. Each instrument has its own custom data
file thus downloading data from a number of instruments automatically feeds into the
proper data file. Results can be transmitted to Golder at regular intervals as each lift is
mined to update the 3D model.
DPM Changes Mine Planning
DPM mining provides a new mining method that has the potential to totally revolutionize
underground mine planning of midsized orebodies. The key breakthrough comes from
the small stope size - 7.5m x 7.5m x 6m - that has a reinforced concrete roof held up by
4 large concrete posts. The individual blocks in the initial geological block model now
becomes the stoping plan!
DPM was developed 25 years ago but until recently computer modeling wasn’t powerful
enough to recalculate the redistribution of loads every time a drift round was removed in
an individual DPM room. The Golder FLAC 3D modeling answered many of the what if
questions: what is the loading on the posts? Does the loading increase with each lower
lift? How strong does the backfill have to be? How thick do the concrete floors have to
be? With these questions now answered, DPM and all the advantages associated with it
can now move forward.
DPM Mining Inc. is approaching the initial mine in a very methodical way to eliminate
risk in the process as much as possible. We are in the early stages but the benefits to
the mine owner are immediately apparent – these are listed below:
1. DPM mine planning - The mine plan for DPM mining is the geological block
model; all that is required is access to the top 6m high mining lift and a second
access for ventilation and egress. Mining and backfilling of 100% of the 6m lift
proceeds in parallel. A safe planning rule of thumb is that an orebody can
support a 1000tpd mining rate per 100 ore blocks – with the number of blocks
known the mining rate can be estimated and then the mine infrastructure
designed to suite. Parallel mining and backfilling plus 100% of the ore lift in
production gives a much higher mining rate per million tons of orebody compared
to other mining methods such as blasthole or cut and fill stoping.

2. Following the Ore - the normal mine planning process of designing and
scheduling stopes and pillars is an iteration process; planning various scenarios
takes time and a change in orebody size or shape or a change in metal prices

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 requires a complete redesign. The versatility of DPM means that mining can halt
at any point under the concrete floor if the orebody ends or the grade diminishes.
Similarly mining can continue past the concrete to follow the ore, in effect
becoming a new top slice. This means that a change in the shape of the ore body
or grade will not affect production or require a redesign. Also, if ore values
increase, a road header can drive through the backfill to reach now profitable ore
at the far end of the ore body.

3. Elimination of Work – DPM eliminates most ground control functions such as

rock bolting, cable bolting and shotcreting (except for the top slicing). Other
mining functions like cut lose raises, long hole drilling and the equipment to carry
out the functions are reduced. DPM also eliminates a lot of higher cost mining
functions – primary, secondary and sill pillar recoveries, fill fences or bulkheads
etc. Most mines spend 30% of their labor and material on ground control.
Ground control work also reduces development advance rates by 30 to 50% -
more development footage or headings, more delays. By eliminating
development work, both productivity and safety statistics improve by that
percentage.

4. Ore Recovery - The initial geological block model with conventional mining
methods is usually chopped by 20% or so by the mining engineers as the size of
stopes and pillars don’t necessarily follow the orebody. Room and pillar or post
pillar mining methods leave an additional 20 to 30% of the orebody behind. DPM
recovers 100% of the ore identified by the geological block. DPM mining can also
remove internal dilution as well, thus the mining grade can be higher than the
original block model average geological grade. Room grades are confirmed by
mapping, face sampling and post hole chip sampling. The orebody can be mined
selectively with minimum of internal and wall dilution. Economic mine life of
Madero could be extended 4 or more years, plus DPM ore grade may
substantially increase mill revenue. Other Penoles mines may have a similar
increase in mine life or revenue per ton milled.

5. Capital Development Cost – DPM mines the orebody from the top down; pre
production waste development is limited to providing access to the top 6m lift or
multiple locations depending on the size or shape of the orebody. Two other
factors come into play – less development leads to quicker ore production plus a
higher mining rate is achieved earlier. Operating revenue reduces the capital cost
dollar for dollar thus the ROI of the project is substantially increased.

6. Mechanized Mining – DPM provides room to maneuver large road headers and
the concrete roof eliminates falls of ground. Ground that is soft enough to cut with
a roadheader usually limits the safe size of openings; the DPM concrete roofs
and posts eliminate most ground imperfections. If there is a combination of weak
and hard ore the hard sections can be drilled and blasted.

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 7. Cemented Tailings Fill - Future development of DPM will examine other
opportunities for improvement, such as using paste fill to replace CRF. Using
paste fill the posts may have to compress 250mm and post spacing may have to
be reduced to 6m x 6m. Once the Golder 3D model is calibrated by mining with
stiff fill, weaker fills can be modeled.

8. Safety – Reducing accidents is a complex operation; the largest source of

accidents is development work, scaling, rock bolting and other ground control
functions. Falls of ground, falls of backfill or unexpected pillar or back failures,
working on broken ore, runs of fill, driving raises etc are all source of injuries. In
base metal mines large stope blasts often cause dust explosions. DPM creates a
shop like work environment that can be monitored, uses large equipment with
high productivity and reduces the number of miners underground. New hazards
such as tripping on rebar or chemical burns from working with concrete will have
to be identified and managed.
Penoles Approach to Research and Development
Penoles has been underground mining in Mexico for 130 years. With multiple mines in
production, Penoles has continuously purchased all of the modern mining equipment as
it became mine proven, including raise bore machines, roadheaders, electric hydraulic
drills, automated shotcrete and cable bolting machines etc. Modern equipment has
proven to be only a partial mining solution. Productivity and cost savings have
plateaued for all conventional mining methods such as room and pillar, cut and fill and
blast hole stoping.
Rather than just funding R&D Penoles started searching globally for mining systems
that had the potential to make a fundamental change on how they mined. Javier
Berumen, a very experienced Penoles mining engineer, remembered DPM mining from
the CIM 2000 Conference in Toronto. Armando Sanchez approached DPM mining at
the 2009 PDA in Toronto via Ivan Arriagada who was Senior Mining Engineer for
Wardrop – Tetra Tech. A DPM – Wardrop presentation was made to 20 senior Penoles
technical and operating staff in Torreon.
Penoles, Wardrop and DPM mining had a series of meetings to pick the test mine
location and secondly to design a program to independently 3D modal and cost DPM
mining using the Madero Mine cost components. Subsequently several meetings were
held with Golder to design FLAC 3D program parameters. Once the 3D Golder
modeling and Wardrop preliminary civil engineering was complete; Wardrop mining
engineers were able to estimate costs and recommend a test mining project to confirm
the 3D modeling parameters.

Penoles chose the Madero Mine in Zacatecas for the test mine location. Madero is
Manto type low grade 3% zinc, 2% Pb and 1 opt silver mine. The NSR dollar value of
the ore at the time test mining location was chosen was $47 per tonne. The mine has
been in production for 10 years, and mills at 7,000 tpd. The main mining method is room
and pillar mining with 6m wide rooms and a grid of 6m x 6m post pillars; development
waste is used for fill when available.

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The initial test mine location covered a 7 room by 12 room plan area with separate ramp
access to each of 5, 6m high mining lifts or about 470 rooms. Updating the ore reserves
plus extending the test mine along strike has tripled the number of rooms to 1500. The
DPM test mine and the Golder 3D model have similar plan dimensions thus allowing
rapid updating of the FLAC 3D model.
Mini Test Mine
From both a safety and cost viewpoint it is critical to have hard engineering data before
top slicing a 1500 room block of ore. One major advantage of DPM is that it is scalable.
Based on the Golder 3D modeling the maximum backfill loading is on the 1st lift and
based on the post pattern the maximum area loading a single post is 4 rooms. All
aspects of mini test mine can be instrumented thus obtaining real data for a final set of
civil calculations. The test mine also allows for field proving all operational and safety
aspects of both the mining and backfill cycles.
The initial post can be a small diameter steel post with a top flange that is the same
diameter as the production posts. The concrete floor in the 4 rooms would have an
initial 1m x 1m pattern of 25mm rebar with a couple of layers of concrete mesh. The
edges of the concrete slab will be suspended from 2 inch diameter pins with hangers
made from 25mm rebar. The floor rebar, edge rebar, post compression pad and backfill
can all be instrumented to see what happens as more and more concrete floor is
exposed. Results from the calibration of this small scale test mine can be used to
eliminate risk from the large scale 5 lift mine.
Wardrop Cost Study
Once the Golder modeling was complete, the main parameters fixed and a preliminary
civil design completed, the mining and backfill productivities were estimated. DPM
mining is one of the easiest mining methods to cost because each DPM room is exactly
the same. Madero actual costs for labor and material were used for the Wardrop cost
estimates. Typical components for estimating the cost of top slicing and the cost of
mining a DPM room are summarized in the tables below:

Table 1: DPM ROOM PARAMETERS

Room Width 7.5m

Room Length 7.5m
Room Height 6.0m
2
Area 56.3 m
3
Volume 337.5m
3
Ore Specific Gravity 3.00t/m
Tonnes per Room 1012.5t

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Post to Room Ratio (Top Slice + 4 DPM Levels) 1.11
Table 2: COST SUMMARY PER DPM ROOM
Task Description Top Slice DPM
Top Slice Drift 5 m x 6 m H. x 3.75 m round (3 rounds) $9,051
DPM Drift 6 m x 6 m H. x 3.75 m round (2 rounds x 2 slashes) $5,553
Drill Post Holes 0.60 m diameter x 5.5 m length $645 $645
Insert Post 0.50 m diameter x 6.5 m length $690 $690
Drill & Blast Helper Holes 8 @ 30 mm diameter x 6m $369 $369
Stood Post 0.50 m diameter x 5.5 m length $567
Ventilation Manway and Services $87 $87
3
Concrete Floors 0.25 m, 19m (materials and labor) $3,483
3
Concrete Floors 0.25 m, 19m (materials and labor) $3,483
Tight Fill Room 6.0% cement, 700 tons fill $1,751 $1,751
Total Cost per Room $16,076 $13,145
Cost per Ton $15.88 $12.98
Weighted Cost per Ton (Top Slice + 4 DPM Levels) $13.43
 

TABLE 3: AVERAGE MINING CYCLE

Man Shifts Man Shifts

PRODUCTION CYCLE /Room
ShiftyRoom
Drill- Blast –Muck 2 rds per DPM room 3.00 6.00
BACKFILL CYCLE {POSTING = UNIT WORK X POST ROOM RATIO)
Drill post holes 1 man 3 holes per shift 0.33 0.37
Insert Posts 3 men 3 posts per shift 1.00 1.1 I
Drill & Blast Helper Holes 1 man 3 posts per shift 0.33 0.37
Stand posts 3 men 3 posts per shift 1.00 1.11
Vent Manway and Services Every 16 rooms plus extensions 0.50 1.00
Pour concrete floor Rebar screen, level concrete etc. 3.00 1.50
3.00
Tight fill room 1.50 1.50
10.67 12.96
1.00
Tonnes/mans 78.13
  hift:

In summary, DPM mining and backfill costs will be approximately the same as Penoles
current mining cost per tonne. The main economic factor is that the DPM ore recovery
increases 30%. A second major advantage is that while top slicing the post location can
be test drilled to a 30m depth by deepening a helper hole. This allows rerunning the
block model to identifying sub ore grade blocks that can be mined, used as backfill or
left in situ; whichever is more cost effective.

The price of cement and rebar are two of the major cost components. Once CRF test
work is done a 4 room by 2 lift DPM test stopes will be set up and test mined to confirm
the steel design, the Golder 3D assumptions, safely check critical components and

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operational procedures by actual test mining on a small scale. DPM room costs can
then be re calculated using accurate field data for cement and steel.

The capital cost of the specialized equipment required for DPM mining and backfilling is
about $4,000,000. With current metal prices the profit margin of mining and milling; an
extra 150,000t of ore more than pays for the extra DPM test mining costs. Applying the
30% extra recovery to the current Madero proven and probable reserves indicates mine
life would be extended by 4 years at the current 7000tpd milling rate. The decision was
made to go ahead with the DPM test mine.

DPM Summary

DPM offers many benefits when compared to standard methods used today. These
advantages to DPM are highlighted in the following list:

• Improved Safety – Majority of work is performed under a pre-posted, continuous

concrete floor which eliminates most ground control issues. Combined with
minimizing development work and real-time feedback, these result in a much
safer work environment.
• 100% Ore Recovery
• Easier Mine Planning – The block model becomes the mine plan.
• Block Model Updating – as post holes/drift rounds are drilled, the ore can be
analyzed and block model updated to ensure accuracy.
• Reduction in Dilution – DPM allows for “chasing” the ore so the mine can halt if
ore grade drops, which leads to;
• Increased Ore Recovery – if a higher grade is found the mine can continue to
“follow the ore” in whichever direction is required.
• Minimal Development Work – Since DPM works from the top down, the ore is
reached much quicker. Also, the use of internal ramps can further reduce
development.
• Improved Productivity – Wide spans (made possible by the concrete ceiling)
and multiple faces allow the drill/blast/muck, posting and backfilling cycles to be
carried out in parallel which leads to improved productivity.
• Control of Big Muck – DPM produces only drift muck.
• Real-Time Feedback – with DPM the mine can be fully instrumented; posts,
floors and backfill all contain sensors providing real-time loading/stresses to the
mine engineer ensuring a safe work environment.

While the two main benefits to DPM mining are 100% ore recovery and much improved
safety, the combination of all the above factors results in quicker start-up/production,
improved productivity, improved quality, and reduced costs, all while maintaining a safe
work environment.

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