Business Mining a Mile Down: 175 Degrees, 600 Gallons of Water a Minute

wsj.com ^ | 6/7/2017 | Steven Norton

[rktman]

SUPERIOR, Ariz.—One of the world’s largest untapped copper deposits sits 7,000 feet below the Earth’s surface. It is a lode that operator Rio Tinto RIO +1.70% PLC wouldn’t have touched—until now.

Not that long ago, an abundance of high-grade copper could be mined out of shallower open pits. But as those deposits are depleted and high-grade copper becomes tougher to find, firms such as Rio have been compelled to mine deeper underground.

Advances in mining technology are making that possible—just as developments in oil and gas drilling heralded the fracking revolution. Now, using everything from sensors and data analytics to autonomous vehicles and climate-control systems, Rio aims to pull ore from more than a mile below ground, where temperatures can reach nearly 175 degrees Fahrenheit.

[rktman]

Kudos to those that can do this. We toured an old salt mine in Switzerland once which required a ride on a narrow guage rail system to get in far enough. Being inside the mountain really got to me after a little while. Now if they can just make it past the EIS...........

[i_robot73]

“...dug too greedily and too deep. You know what they awoke in the darkness of Khazad-dûm... shadow and flame.”

Too obscure? /s

[Tailback]

Smaug?

[Vic S]

Dr Thomas Gold wrote a book “The Deep Hot Biosphere” where he described a method whereby the earth’s mantle creates water and petroleum (Nat Gas and Coal as well). Looks like the water part of his theory is correct. His theory is based on Russian work in this field. It disproves that oil is a fossil fuel.

[notdownwidems]

The Balrog

[LonePalm]

It's a Ballhog.

/Bored of the Rings

"Ceterum censeo Islam esse delendam."

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[Tailback]

Right after I posted I thought “Self, it might have been the thing Gandalf fought with on the bridge” but I couldn’t remember the name and was guessing regardless.

Thanks for reminding me. It’s been 30 years since I read those books.

[Blood of Tyrants]

LOTR.

[smokingfrog]

How do they know it’s down there?

[kaktuskid]

These are the old Magma mines (appropriately named)

[LoneStarGI]

I did something similar when we lived in Germany while my father was assigned to Ramstein AFB. Can’t remember if it was in Switzerland, but we toured a salt mine and had to wear these black outfits that had padded pants because in addition to the small gauge rail car system you also could literally slide down these rails from level to level.

[xone]

Gandalf speaking of the dwarves while escorting Frodo.

[DUMBGRUNT]

That will be a most interesting cooling system.
Six thousand vertical equals about 2,500 psi, for water/ brine.
Freon in an enclosed space, you can drown.
Propane? Ammonia? Not good???

CO2! Probably available at a good price!

Brine and HX every few hundred feet?

If you know the answer, pls let me know.

[normbal]

Pretty sure it’s from a story by Bruce Sterling (Mirrorshades?) where the Chinese have built an underground city - more like a small state - miles below the surface, like a sky scraper with a ten square mile base.

Not a bad idea. Leave the surface to the tree huggers, inbreed to your heart’s content.

[rktman]

I don’t know the answer but the whole project will be a challenge no doubt.

[Sequoyah101]

Try this link to a Bloomberg story that you don’t have to subscribe to like you usually do with WSJ.

https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-arizona-copper-mine/

[DoughtyOne]

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[matthew fuller]

Readable link for non-suscribers (thru Rio Tinto)-
https://www.wsj.com/articles/mining-a-mile-down-175-degrees-600-gallons-of-water-a-minute-1496889078?mod=e2tw

[Skybird]

Shazaaaam...has anyone told the global warming hoaxer cartel that the planet is actually HOT below the subsurface.

Might be that heat will try to migrate to cooler places (like the surface) or be expelled through volcanoes, geysers, hot springs and other phenomena???

[rktman]

Well, I do recall manbearpig saying that the center of the erf was millions of degrees right under out feet. DOH!