Experimental development and testing programs were, for the
most part, conducted at the Homestake Canada Inc. Nickel
Plate Mine site located just 30 miles southwest of
Penticton, British Columbia. Nickel Plate Mine was an
excellent testing ground due to the geological
characteristics of the rock, which supports 63 degree pit
walls to a depth of 1000 feet. Testing was conducted with competitor
hammers, in the same rock conditions, in order to create a
database of results.
The Nickel Plate property rock type is a metamorphic,
layered sequence of granet-pyroxene skarns of variable
composition. Mineral constituents, crystal structure and
grain size are as follows:
|
5% |
Fine to amorphous Quartz |
|
60% |
Massive/dense Proxens |
|
25% |
Very fine grained Garnet |
|
5% |
Carbonet |
|
5% |
Tremolite |
The non-weathered, slightly foliated rock has a dominant
grain size of <1mm and ranges from <1-10mm. The rock is very
dense and tough (breaking strength 60,000 - 90,000 PSI) and
hardness varies from 100% garnet layers to 100% pyroxene (Vicke
hardness 950).
Nickel Plate Mine also provided broken rock from production
blasting, timbers and railway tracks from underground
workings and stopes. These problems, combined with the
extremely hard and abrasive nature of the geology, made
Nickel Plate Mine an excellent testing site.
