Mining a Profit: A Nevada Mine Uses Advanced Technology to Control Costs and Improve Safety

摘要

Along the east side of Nevada's Big Smoky Valley, the Round Mountain Gold Mine sits near the town of Hadley, roughly 6,000 ft (1,830 m) above sea level. The climate is extremely dry, and the little precipitation that does fall comes mainly as snow in the bitterly cold winters. In the summer, temperatures top 105°F (40℃). The enormous mine--its permit boundary covers more than 14,500 acres (5,870 hectares)--operates year round, which means its employees and equipment are exposed to the challenging weather conditions. In 2011, the mine produced 375,000 oz (10,630 kg) of gold and employed more than 800 people in its mining, processing and support operations. Working under the supervision of Chief Surveyor Richard Musselman, Round Mountain's team of surveyors and support engineers handles the surveying for mining operations, planning and construction. Round Mountain's surveyors provide stakeout and quality control for construction projects such as roads, leach pads and tailings impoundments. The team also performs extensive work for as-built and volumetric surveys and provides general support to mining operations. Open skies and low vegetation enable the vast majority of Round Mountain's surveying work to take place using Trimble RTKGNSS. The mine's Trimble NetR9 GNSS reference station is the positioning basis for Round Mountain's surveying, monitoring and mine operations. The survey crews are equipped with Trimble R8 GNSS receivers and Trimble TSC3 controllers running Trimble Access software.