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Climax Molybdenum Company Henderson Operations. Biogeohydrological Environment and Physical Aspects of the Henderson Mine Site. Surface Geologic Features. Shannon, Nelson, & Golden (2004). Surface Geology of District. Shannon, Nelson, & Golden (2004). Geologic Section of District.
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Climax Molybdenum Company Henderson Operations Biogeohydrological Environment and Physical Aspects of the Henderson Mine Site
Surface Geologic Features Shannon, Nelson, & Golden (2004)
Surface Geology of District Shannon, Nelson, & Golden (2004)
Geologic Section of District Shannon, Nelson, & Golden (2004)
Geology • Classic Climax-type porphyry molybdenum deposit • Host rock is granite/aplite porphyry • 474,000 feet of core drilling • Limited accessory mineralization
Harrison Mt Red Mt Origional Topography Harrison Mountain Red Mountain - Mine Central Campus, Elev. 6750 ft, (4200 mwe) Internal Shaft EarthLab/ Geoscience Area Midway Campus, Elev. 5825 ft, (5100 mwe) Lower Campus, Elev. 4900 ft. (6000 mwe) Access Ramp DUSEL Schematic with Geology
Existing Core Drilling • 606 holes totaling 474,000 ft (90 miles) have been core drilled at the Henderson site. • Assuming a cost for core drilling of $50/ft, the value of this drilling would be $23,700,000. • Henderson management intends to make the existing portion of these cores available for study by the scientific community as part of the DUSEL. • This transfer will provide an unprecedented level of information to support the development of the DUSEL geoscience program.
Shaft Collar Elev 10,400 ft 7500 Level Crusher LA Ramp 7065 Level Shaft Bottom Elev 7,500 ft PC1 Conveyor 9HW Drift 2500 ft Drill Hole Completed Sept 11,2004 PC2 Conveyor to Mill Site Access Ramps Central Campus Elev. 6,750 ft (4200 mwe) UNO Initial Core Drilling Harrison Mountain A 2500 ft core hole has been drilled from the 9HW drift through the Central Campus area. Initial geologic logging shows the rock mass to be very competent Urad Porphyry (RQD >85)
Drill Hole Piercing Proposed Lab Site (1) • The hole is 2,500 feet in length • The hole had an inclination of -26 degrees with the top at the 7,500 feet and the bottom at 6,300 feet. • The hole was drilled at HQ-3 (2.4 inches in dia.) for 1,397 feet and NQ-3 (1.8 inches in dia.) for 1,102 feet. • Hole deviation was less than 200 feet • Geological logging is complete
Drill Hole Piercing Proposed Lab Site (2) • The rock is a rhyolite or aplite porphry • The rock is very hard with a high percentage of quartz. • The rock is expected to have a high compressive strength (this will be tested) • The RQD is quite high, 70 – 100. • There is little evidence of mineralization
Drill Hole Piercing Proposed Lab Site (3) • There were only a few small fractured zones, not near the Laboratory area, and no major fault zones • There is very little water, only about 1.5 gpm. • Due to the hardness and strength, there is some potential for rockbursting when mining. This potential is no greater than what has been experienced at Henderson in the past.
Hydrogeologic Environment (1) • Intrusive rocks with very low primary permeability • Ground water restricted to discrete zones of high flow • Existing porosity & permeability are secondary and result from fracturing. • Porosity and permeability are not related to rock type • Water is being mined • Recharge is insignificant • 741 gallons of water / cubic ft of excavation on 8035 /L
Hydrogeologic Environment (2) • Henderson 2000 project experience: • Inflows 10’s of gpms rather than 100’s or 1000’s of gpms • Max inflows of 30-40 gpm from any specific structure • Water handled by excavation of periodic sumps during mining of ramps downward • Water generally warm to hot on lower levels, ~120 degrees F • Vasquez Fault - major source of high water inflows and pressures encountered during 100+ miles of drifting
Biogeologic Environment • Biogeologic conditions have not been studied • Geologic environment contains: • Warm to Hot water • Sulfide Mineralization • Similar environments in mine waste dumps are known to host sulfide-consuming bacteria
Summary of Henderson Site • Privately owned 11.7 km2 area with access to several km depth • Existing Infrastructure and access • Large diameter shaft • Existing ventilation system • Rock handling system • Redundant electrical power – 114KV transmission lines • Communication – Fiber-optics • Close to Denver and International Airport • No permitting will be required for excavations or drilling programs • Extensive core drilling exists, geology of site well known • Area under Harrison Mt is competent Urad Porphory and is likely to be well suited for large excavations required for physics experiments. • Area under Red Mt provides access to a highly variable geologic environment hosting a 360 million ton molybdenum deposit. • Red Mt area provides site for geoscience experiments in hydrogeology, fluid flow, etc… • Site provides access to large volumes of uncontaminated rock for biogeology research and experiments.
Climax Molybdenum Company Henderson Operations The End