RESCHKE, A.E., The Development of Colloidal Mixer Based CRF Systems (presented at MINEFILL 98, Brisbane, Australia, 1998)Rev.Aug.

2000
The Development of Colloidal Mixer Based CRF Systems

A.E. RESCHKE, M.Sc., P.Eng.

Thiessen Team, 20131 Logan Ave., Langley, B.C., V3A 4L5


The high-shear colloidal mixer, pioneered over 60 years ago, is internationally recognized as the most
efficient method of mixing cement based grouts. Only recently, however, has this technology been applied to
the production of cemented rockfill (CRF) for use in underground mines in North America.
Traditionally, paddle type mixers have been used to produce the cement based slurries required for the
preparation of cemented rockfills. While considerable success has been achieved with these mixers,
tremendous advantages are attained with the colloidal mixer. The combined effect of the highly efficient
mixing action and the ability to mix low water/solids ratios allows for reductions in the cement content for a
given strength requirement. Cement can also be replaced by cheaper fillers such as flyash or PFA resulting in
significant cost savings.
Although large scale dedicated CRF plants are typical, there is a growing need for mobile plants capable of
operating anywhere underground. The compact size and rapid batching speed of the high-shear colloidal
mixers has allowed them to be incorporated into skid mounted systems capable of producing and discharging
cement based slurries onto rockfill aggregate for the production of CRF. In many cases run-of-mine
development waste can be taken directly to a portable plant located near the dumping face and used as CRF
aggregate thereby eliminating the cost of waste removal.
INTRODUCTION

Typically one of two possible methods for preparing
cemented rockfill (CRF) is employed by hardrock mines.
The first method uses concrete batching technology
whereby all the mix ingredients i.e. the binder, water and
aggregate are all added together into a batching mixer
such as a rotary drum, pan, compulsory or ribbon mixer.
The second and more common method is to prepare the
cement based binder in a slurry form, usually with a
paddle mixer, and subsequently spray this binder onto
the fill aggregate. While this method has been used for
many years little attention has been paid to the actual
preparation of the cement based slurries for the fill.
Paddle mixers do yield adequate results, as evidenced by
the number of mines using this technology, however a
more efficient type of slurry mixer is available - the
colloidal mixer.
Keller Colcrete successfully pioneered the development
of the high-shear colloidal mixer in 1937 and for over 60
years it has been internationally recognised as the most
efficient method of mixing cement based grouts. These
mixers are used by the British Nuclear Industry for the
preparation of special grouts used for the encapsulation
of medium and low level radioactive wastes. The U.S.
Army Corp of Engineers also specifies the use of
colloidal mixers in water cut-off grouting applications
for hydro dams.
Colloidally mixed grouts are readily used in the
construction industry for work involving ground
anchors, slurry and diaphragm walls, soilcrete jet
grouting, soil nailing, duct grouting and slab jacking.
Offshore marine platforms utilise the mixers in fabric
formwork, pipeline protection and support, underbase
grouting of platforms, pile annulus grouting and
underwater grouting. In tunnelling, these mixers are used
for ground treatment, compensation grouting and for the
preparation of bentonite lubrication for pipejacking and
TBM tunnelling operations.
It has been only within the last three years however that
these high-shear colloidal mixers have been adapted for
use in the preparation of cemented rockfill within the
North American mining industry.

PRINCIPLES OF HIGH-SHEAR COLLOIDAL
MIXING
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RESCHKE, A.E., The Development of Colloidal Mixer Based CRF Systems (presented at MINEFILL 98, Brisbane, Australia, 1998)Rev.Aug.2000
Colloidal Mixer Design
Colcrete high-shear colloidal mixers are exclusively used
by Thiessen Team in their CRF slurry batching plant
designs. This particular mixer will be discussed below.
Readers are referred to Houlsby (1990) for a more
detailed design comparison of Colcrete and other
commercially available colloidal and paddle type mixers.
Colloidal Mill
The key element of the colloidal mixer, depicted in
figure 1, is the colloidal mill. The mill is comprised of a
high speed rotor (or discar) operating at 2000 rpm
coupled with a close fitting chamber housing. The discar
is free to float horizontally on its mounting shaft with the
internal fluid pressures centralizing it in the housing. The
clearance between the discar and the walls of the
housing is approximately 3 mm. It is here that a violent
turbulence and high shearing action is created which is
capable of breaking down clusters of dry cement
particles (agglomerates). This ensures that a maximum
interdispersion of fluids and solids occurs.
The colloidal mill acts both as a mixer and a centrifugal
pump. In a CRF plant the colloidal mixer can thus
directly discharge a mixed slurry either into a holding
hopper or directly onto the rockfill aggregate in a haul
truck or LHD. The colloidal mill is capable of generating
a maximum discharge pressure of 200 kPa and a flow
rate of up to 850 l/min. It is possible to increase the mills
efficiency as a pump (thus giving it a higher pressure
capacity) but this would reduce its efficiency as a mixer.
This lower pump efficiency translates into more work
being done on the material being mixed. In other words
more energy is being input into the mix ingredients
resulting in better mixing.
Depending on the required batch size of the mixer, from
one to four colloidal mills will be used. Each mill
requires either a 22 kW electric motor or appropriately
rated diesel or air motor equivalent.
Mixing Tank
The mixing tank, besides being a convenient receptacle
in which to dump the ingredients, also acts as a
centrifugal separator. The centrifugal action of the
circulating material spins the heavy, unmixed, thicker
grout towards the outside of the tank whereas the lighter
portions of the mix, i.e. water and partly mixed grout,
move inwards towards the throat of the tank where the
vortex feeds into the mixer housing. Once through the
high-shear mixer the material is then discharged
tangentially into the outer part of the vortex amongst the
relatively thicker grout where it migrates inwards to the
vortex throat under the influence of the strong
centrifugal separation process. Multiple passes through
the rotor produce thicker and thicker grout until the
entire mix becomes uniform and the centrifugal action
can no longer separate differing densities. At this point
the surface of the vortex has a smooth, uniform
appearance.
The vortex action created inside the tank also helps to
rapidly assimilate any admixtures into the mixer when
first added. Depending on the size of the mixer the entire
mixing process can take as little as 15 seconds.
Feed Box
The feed box to the rotor housing is of ample proportion
to ensure large lumps of unmixed cement at the start of
the mixing cycle are able to pass through to the rotor.
These lumps can be quite sticky on the first pass before
being broken up. They are adequately handled by the
Colcrete mixers as the rotor is hard up against the drum.


Figure 1: Components of a high-shear colloidal mixer
Control Valves
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RESCHKE, A.E., The Development of Colloidal Mixer Based CRF Systems (presented at MINEFILL 98, Brisbane, Australia, 1998)Rev.Aug.2000
The output from the colloidal mill is split into two paths.
Either the slurry is redirected tangentially back into the
drum, to help create the vortex action, or it is discharged.
Simple pneumatic or manual pinch valves are used to
control this flow.
All of these properties can be attained with the use of
high-shear, high-speed colloidal mixers. Kravetz (1959)
explains that the high-speed shearing action combined
with the centrifugal action of colloidal mixers thoroughly
breaks up cement clumps and separates air bubbles, both
of which slow the wetting process of cement grains. As a
result, each grain is rapidly and thoroughly wetted and
put into suspension. The mixing action also continually
breaks away the hydrates that form on the surface of
wetted cement grains exposing new areas to water. The
hydrate elements that form are of colloidal size and as
the amount of these elements increases the mixture
becomes more colloidal in character.
Colloidal Suspensions
While the term colloidal is often applied to high-shear
mixers and the slurries they produce, strictly speaking,
the term is incorrectly applied. Semi-colloidal or
near-colloidal are more accurate descriptions. A
colloid is defined as a solid, liquid, or gaseous substance
made up of very small, insoluble, nondiffusible particles
(as large molecules or masses of smaller molecules) that
remain in suspension in a surrounding solid, liquid, or
gaseous medium of different matter. An example of this
is smoke. The solids are certainly too fine to be seen, too
fine to be removed by filter paper and will remain in
suspension indefinitely.
Mayer (1959) measured the effect of high-shear colloidal
mixing on cement grain size, particularly grains under 20
m in size. The percentage of grains 5 m in size was
shown to be twice as large after high-speed mixing than
with ordinary mixers, which accounts for the fact that the
suspensions obtained are much more stable.
Practical Benefits of Colloidally Mixed Products With respect to cement based slurries on the other hand,
it is possible to filter out the solids (though perhaps not
all if the cement is microfine) and individual grains can
readily be seen. Particles will settle out leading to grout
bleed. Cement slurries are thus not true colloidal
suspensions.
The practical benefits of colloidally mixed grouts and/or
slurries include:
The grout or slurry mix is nearly immiscible in
water. This allows the mix to resist washout or
contamination with groundwater. The effect of the colloidal mixer, however, is to
aggressively shear and break down individual cement
grains and to make cement hydrates form of colloidal
size such that the slurry exhibits colloidal properties, i.e.
the slurry forms a stable suspension.
The mix is stable and fluid enough to allow it to be
pumped considerable distances.
The slurry permeates uniformly into voids.
Segregation of sand, if incorporated in the mix, is
virtually eliminated.
Properties of High Quality Grouts and Slurries
A high quality grout or slurry is regarded as having the
following properties (Houlsby, 1990).
The grout or slurry has less settlement, i.e. bleed of
the cement when stationary.
Every particle of cement in the mix is thoroughly
wetted (by the high speed shearing action of the mixer).
Individual grains are separate from each other without
flocs or clumps.
To illustrate the benefits of colloidally mixed grouts a
series of comparative tests were conducted using grout
prepared from type 10 ordinary Portland cement (OPC)
and water. A Colcrete SD4 colloidal mixer and a
Thiessen Team TC3100 paddle mixer were used to
prepare slurry samples ranging from a 0.5 to 1.4:1
water:cement ratio. The samples were mixed for one
minute in the colloidal mixer whereas they were mixed
for 15 minutes in the paddle mixer. Cylinders 7.6 cm in
diameter by 15.2 cm high were used for sample
preparation.
Each cement grain is surrounded by a film of water
which chemically activates each particle, giving the full
hydration necessary for strength and durability.
The cement is thoroughly mixed with any other
constituents of the mix or admixtures.
The grout or slurry is uniform throughout.
Figure 2 shows the results of grout bleed measurements
taken from the cured samples after 28 days. The
differences between the mixers is pronounced. The
The mix exhibits some colloidal characteristics due
to the maximum gel formation of the cement.
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RESCHKE, A.E., The Development of Colloidal Mixer Based CRF Systems (presented at MINEFILL 98, Brisbane, Australia, 1998)Rev.Aug.2000
colloidally mixed samples formed stable suspensions and
consequently very little settling of cement grains
occurred. Grout bleed was minimal at less than four per
cent in the thinnest grout. The paddle mixed samples
however had grout bleeds approaching 40 per cent in the
1.4:1 water:cement ratio mix. The cement grains simply
settled out before significant hydration could occur.
Clearly the low-energy paddle mixer was not able to
adequately break down individual cement grains.
The improved performance of the colloidally mixed
product has tremendous cost saving implications. For
example, to produce a 25 MPa grout strength a
colloidally mixed product requires a cured density of
some 1650 kg/m
3
whereas a paddle mixer prepared
product requires a higher density approaching 1810
kg/m
3
(from figure 4). Based on theoretical densities this
translates to a 13 per cent reduction in cement content
for the product prepared in a high-shear colloidal mixer.
By the same token a 5 MPa grout requires 36 per cent
less cement if prepared in a colloidal mixer. Clearly there
is the potential to save significantly on the most costly
component of CRF - the cement.
This is also evident in figure 3 which visually compares
the 0.5:1 water:cement ratio samples. The colloidally
mixed sample exhibits a uniform colour and texture and
appears completely homogeneous whereas the paddle
mixed sample shows a definite grainy texture with
individual cement clumps visible. Colour variations were
evident in all the paddle mixed samples.
Admixtures and Colloidal Mixers
The ability of colloidal mixers to accept admixtures and
sands are also important benefits. Sands, i.e. fines can be
incorporated directly into the mixer up to a maximum
sand:cement ratio of 4:1 by weight. A minimum
water:cement ratio of 1.12:1 is recommended in order to
maintain a fluid sand/cement/water mix at this high sand
content. Conversely, if no sand is added, water:cement
ratios as low as 0.33:1 can be handled by the mixer. This
also makes the colloidal mixer ideally suited for the
preparation of grout used in cablebolting where the
optimal water:cement ratio should be in the range of 0.35
to 0.4:1 (Hutchison and Diederichs, 1996).
The samples were also tested according to ASTM D-
2938-86 procedures to determine their unconfined
compressive strengths. From the results, shown in figure
4, two conclusions can be drawn. First, the data points
for the colloidally mixed samples exhibit less scatter than
the data points for the paddle mixer prepared samples.
This indicates that the colloidal mixer is capable of
producing a more consistent, more uniform product.
Secondly, the strength of the colloidally mixed samples
shows an average 10 MPa strength improvement for a
given density. The ability of the colloidal mixer to break
down and wet all the cement agglomerates yields an
improved 28 day compressive strength.


Figure 3: Texture of 0.5:1 water:cement ratio grouts


Figure 2: Comparison of cement grout bleed for
samples prepared with colloidal and paddle mixers

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RESCHKE, A.E., The Development of Colloidal Mixer Based CRF Systems (presented at MINEFILL 98, Brisbane, Australia, 1998)Rev.Aug.2000

Figure 4: Comparison of 28 day strength for cement
grout samples prepared with colloidal and paddle
mixers
Cement content
Water:cement ratio of the slurry
Nature and quality of admixtures such as flyash
Degree of mixing between the cement slurry and fill
aggregate
Composition and quality of aggregate
Aggregate size distribution and percentage of fines
Segregation of material during placement
Attrition of aggregate during transport and
placement
Aggregate temperature (i.e. freezing conditions)
There are a great number of factors contributing to the
strength of a cemented rockfill. However, because of the
obvious importance of the cement itself, the colloidal
mixer with all its advantages offers a great opportunity
for long term cement (and cost) savings in any CRF
operation.
If sands are to be directly incorporated into the mixer
then the sand should be clean, sharp and natural with a
maximum particle size of 5 mm. The sand should be well
graded with a good distribution across the grading curve.
If material up to 10 mm size is incorporated then some
settling of the sand will occur.
CURRENT COLLOIDAL MIXER BASED CRF
PLANTS
The use of high-shear colloidal mixers for CRF slurry
plants within the North American mining industry was
pioneered by Thiessen Team, who have designed and
built five plants for underground hard-rock mines in the
past three years. These systems and their respective
mines are highlighted.
Flyash, PFA and even silica fume can all be incorporated
into the mixer along with the cement. For maximum
advantage these materials should have a particle size less
than or equal to the cement particle size. Flyash should
show no more than 8 per cent loss on ignition.
Admixtures, lime and even bentonite can all be mixed
with the colloidal mixer.
Lamefoot Mine, Republic, Washington (U.S.A.)
Located in northeastern Washington state, the Kettle
River Operations of Echo Bay Minerals was brought on-
line in 1990. A centralized mill has been processing ores
mined from a series of small deposits located in the area.
Underground mining is currently under way on the fifth
and highest grade deposit, Lamefoot.
Factors Contributing to CRF Performance
It has been shown that for a given strength requirement a
savings in cement usage can be realised by using a high-
shear colloidal mixer. The colloidal mixer gets the
maximum benefit out of every cement grain thus higher
strengths are achieved. For CRF, all things being equal, a
higher quality slurry can thus be expected to produce a
stronger rockfill. This needs to be verified on a site
specific basis, however, as no two mines produce
cemented rockfill in precisely the same manner.
Lamefoot is a 1350 tpd longhole open stoping operation.
Due to the reasonably high gold grades, a cemented
rockfill was selected early on in the mine design process
to maximize extraction without losing reserves in
irrecoverable pillars.
The Lamefoot mine was the first operation in North
America to utilise a colloidal mixer as the heart of its
CRF slurry batching plant. Constructed in 1995, the
batching plant is located underground near the main
portal. The primary cement storage silo is situated just
outside of this portal and uses a blower to charge a small
Besides the quality of the slurry, a number of other
factors also contribute to the final in situ strength of
placed CRF. These factors include (Yu and Counter,
1983, Yu, 1989, Reschke, 1993, Farsangi, Hayward and
Hassani, 1996):
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RESCHKE, A.E., The Development of Colloidal Mixer Based CRF Systems (presented at MINEFILL 98, Brisbane, Australia, 1998)Rev.Aug.2000
16.3 tonne surge silo underground which in turn feeds
the slurry plant. Both the cement and water are weigh
batched in separate hoppers that feed into a Colcrete
SD1000 (1000 liter) colloidal mixer.
The entire system is PLC (programmable logic
controller) based which is designed to operate the plant
unattended. A 0.8:1 water:cement ratio batch of slurry is
prepared in the plant using 680 kg cement and 545 kg
water. This is initiated remotely with a pull-bob system
by the haul truck operator upon approach to the plant.
Total batching time takes 5 to 7 minutes.
The haul trucks have a capacity of 21.2 tonnes but
typically hold 11.8 tonnes of rockfill aggregate. The
prepared grout slurry is dispatched through a spray bar
directly onto the aggregate in the truck box. The
discharge is initiated by a second pull-bob located at the
spraybar assembly. Discharge takes less than 1 minute
after which the PLC initiates a cleaning cycle, flushing a
small quantity of water through the mixer and discharge
lines.
Run-of-mine waste is used as aggregate with a maximum
size typically below 45 cm. While daily fill production
has reached as high as 1100 tpd, the average daily fill
rate is considerably lower. A monthly fill rate of 10 000
tonnes is typical.
Because the cemented rockfill is end dumped over the
stope face, some segregation occurs as the aggregate
falls. This has been seen in subsequent exposures.
Nonetheless, excellent performance has been achieved.
Backfill strength is monitored regularly through
underground sampling. Cylinders 15 cm diameter are
prepared from the dumped rockfill (excluding aggregate
greater than 7.5 cm). Compressive strengths of 4.8 MPa
are typical (Thompson, 1997). This high in situ fill
strength is evidenced in fill exposures as great as 25 m
high by 40 m along strike which stand intact with
minimal dilution. Part of the success is attributed to the
quality of the slurry prepared by the colloidal mixer.
Myra Falls Mine, Campbell River, B.C.
(Canada)
Westmin Resources Myra Falls mine is located at the
geographical center of Vancouver Island. The mine has
been in production since 1966 and during that period has
produced approximately 17 million tonnes of
polymetallic massive sulphide ore at an average grade of
2 gm/t gold, 58 gm/t silver, 1.9 per cent copper, and 5.2
per cent zinc (Pearson, 1977). Current mineable reserves
are roughly 9.1 million tonnes at a scheduled production
rate of 3650 tpd.
Historically, the mining methods used were primarily
room and post-pillar along with traditional cut-and-fill.
Since 1991 however, a move was made towards bulk
mining methods in order to reduce costs. While
cemented hydraulic fill is used extensively, the mine is
currently in the process of developing a new high-
density fill system.
Within the past two years development has focused on
newly delineated ore zones located some distance away
from the existing underground infrastructure. Here
mining methods called for longhole open stoping with a
consolidated fill in primary stopes. Scheduling
requirements dictated the need to be producing ore from
secondary stopes relatively early on in the mine plan
however no backfill was available. Unfortunately delays
were experienced in the implementation of the new fill
system. To meet the short term requirements a small
scale portable CRF slurry system was brought in.
This slurry batching plant is designed around a Colcrete
SD24 (680 liter) colloidal mixer and is mounted on skids
to be fully portable underground. As the mine is
accessible by shaft only the major components can
simply be unbolted into cageable sizes. Fully constructed
the plant is under 4.2 m high.
A 6.5 tonne holding hopper contains the cement for the
plant. This hopper is in turn filled by 0.9 tonne bulk bags
of cement through a bag unloading bin and feed
conveyor. The PLC monitors the cement content of the
holding hopper by way of a radio frequency probe. The
hopper is aerated to promote cement flow.
The key to the success of this design is the placement of
the entire colloidal mixer platform atop load cells. The
colloidal mixer hopper thus functions as a mixer and as a
scale to accurately weigh the cement and water. This
layout optimises the size of the system and increases the
batching speed as the cement is constantly being mixed
as it is augered into the mixer.
The PLC controls all facets of the plant operation
including the batch recipes for either truck size or LHD
size quantities of slurry. The slurry is discharged through
a spray bar assembly. On completion the mixing tank
partially fills with water and the colloidal mill is run to
purge itself, the mixing hopper and all delivery lines. In
this regard the system is able to operate with minimal
human intervention and remain clean. By skipping the
purge cycle the system is capable of discharging a full
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RESCHKE, A.E., The Development of Colloidal Mixer Based CRF Systems (presented at MINEFILL 98, Brisbane, Australia, 1998)Rev.Aug.2000
batch of slurry every two minutes in what is termed the
bumper-to-bumper mode.
Due to the severe attrition associated with 250 m dump
heights, the surface quarried aggregate is screened to a
size range of 12.5 to 200 mm. After dumping, tests have
shown this yields a placed aggregate with approximately
45 per cent passing 10 mm (Dismuke and Diment, 1996)
.
A five per cent CRF utilising run-of-mine development
waste was produced and used in the extraction of one
pillar block. Soon after the successful recovery of this
pillar the plant was retired. The infrastructure was finally
developed for the mines conventional cemented
hydraulic fill and despite the positive financial return on
the CRF venture, hydraulic fill was deemed to be more
cost effective in the long term.
With vertical exposures required of up to 100 m, a
minimum compressive strength of 2.5 MPa was deemed
necessary for the cured rockfill. In order to achieve this
strength in situ, a controlled lab strength of 5 MPa was
targeted. Ultimately, a CRF product capable of
developing 4.9 MPa in the lab was developed using:
Polaris Mine, N.W.T. (Canada)
5 per cent type 30 high early strength cement (by
weight of aggregate)
Comincos Polaris mine is an underground lead-zinc
operation that has the distinction of being the worlds
most northerly base metal mine. It is situated on Little
Cornwallis Island in the Canadian High Arctic at a
latitude of 75 23N.
2.5 per cent calcium chloride (by weight of cement)
0.7:1 water:cement ratio
The use of calcium chloride as an accelerator is limited,
in most civil engineering applications, to two per cent by
weight of cement. Higher dosages give decreased
concrete strengths at later stages due to the break down
of calcium chloride over time. However, at the colder
temperatures found at the mine site, the break down
occurs considerably slower and is negligible in terms of
the required life span of the fill.
The primary mining method used is sub-level longhole
open stoping with backfill. Stopes and pillars are 15 m
and 18 m wide respectively and are laid out along the
strike of the orebody. Overall sizes range from 100 to
150 m in length and from 60 to 110 m in height. Stopes
are mined full length in 30 m lifts while the pillars are
mined full length in 25 m stages. Raisebore holes 1.8 m
in diameter are drilled from surface to the stopes and are
used for ventilation, slotting and backfilling.
Aggregate heating is also critical to the success of the
CRF fill as winter temperatures can result in the
aggregate being as cold as -30 C. To meet the fill
requirement of 3000 tpd, a 3 MW hot water aggregate
heating circuit was designed, capable of warming the
aggregate at a rate of 125 tph to a final temperature of
+15 C.
The existing fill system utilizes a 50/50 mix of quarried
surface rock (dumped through raisebore holes) and
underground waste rock. The fill is mixed with 11 per
cent water by weight and pushed into the stopes where,
after 1.5 to 2 years, a frozen 3 MPa fill is attained.
During the summer months, a wetter, more flowable
backfill mixture is dumped from surface into the tops of
previously filled stopes to ensure a tight fill to the
hangingwall. This backfill takes considerably longer to
freeze because of the latent heat of fusion associated
with the higher moisture content.
To produce the required slurry, a 2000 liter capacity
colloidal mixer was developed by Thiessen Team in
conjunction with Keller Colcrete. The largest ever
produced, this mixer incorporates four colloidal mills to
provide rapid, efficient mixing of the water, cement and
calcium chloride.
In 1995 mine personnel decided to examine the possible
use of CRF to supplement the frozen rockfill system.
Future pillar extraction plans called for a backfill that
would offer superior stiffness properties (for improved
ground control) and be capable of developing high early
strengths (for increased cycle times) as compared to the
existing frozen fill. Although the use of CRF in mining
is relatively common, Polaris faced the added challenge
of making a reliable cemented product in permafrost
conditions where surface temperatures range from a low
of -55 C in the winter to a high of +10 C in the two
month ice free summer.
As the entire CRF plant is located on surface, the
complete circuit is enclosed and fully heated. Heated
aggregate is stored in a surge bin which conveys the rock
to a fully enclosed and heated load out structure. The
original design called for the aggregate to be dumped
through a ladder mixing chute (a chute with angled
baffle plates on the walls) with the slurry being sprayed
on the aggregate as it enters the chute. It was believed
this mixer would improve the mixing of the slurry and
the aggregate. In practice however, freezing problems
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RESCHKE, A.E., The Development of Colloidal Mixer Based CRF Systems (presented at MINEFILL 98, Brisbane, Australia, 1998)Rev.Aug.2000
were encountered in the chute and now the slurry is
dumped directly onto the aggregate in the truck box.
The CRF haul trucks have a dump box which is heated
with engine exhaust. From the load out, the truck
proceeds to the raisebore hole and dumps the CRF into
the stope.
The system became fully operational in March 1996 and
has been successfully used to eliminate post-pillars in
one zone of the mine. Seven pillar stages have been
filled to date with some 265 000 tonnes of fill. Five full
face exposures of the CRF have been made, the largest
being 90 m high by 18 m wide. Results have been very
favorable with fill dilution well below five per cent.
Part of the success has been attributed to the placement
of the raisebore holes. Since the CRF is dumped from
surface the compacted zone of fill (directly under the
raisebore hole) typically has the highest strength. This is
positioned immediately adjacent to the next mining face.
Due to the success to date, future plans call for a ten per
cent reduction in the cement content of the CRF to 4 per
cent in an attempt to reduce costs. This reduction is
based strictly on favorable in situ observations of the
placed CRF.
Meikle Mine, Carlin, Nevada (U.S.A.)
The Meikle mine is located in the northeastern part of
Nevada in the famous gold-rich Carlin Trend. Owned
and operated by Barrick Gold, the orebody was first
discovered in 1989 and was brought into full production
late in 1996 at a scheduled mining rate of 1900
tonnes/day. There are 10 years of reserves at a gold
grade in excess of 24.3 gm/tonne. Although the orebody
is relatively shallow, only 300 to 600 m below surface,
the ambient rock temperature averages 60 C thus
necessitating the installation of a 10 MW refrigerative
plant (White and Kral, 1994).
Although some cut-and-fill mining may be required
where geometry dictates, the predominant mining
method is sublevel longhole open stoping with
consolidated backfill. Cemented rockfill was selected as
the optimal method of backfilling.
The primary backfill plant on site consists of a 7.6 m
3

Besser ribbon mixer. Aggregate is produced from pit
waste that is shipped directly to a crushing and sizing
plant. A single product is produced consisting of less
than 5 cm size particles with 40 per cent passing 9.5 mm.
The aggregate is transferred dry to the underground
backfill plant through three 305 mm I.D. vertical transfer
pipes located in the ventilation shaft. A CRF strength of
4.1 MPa is targeted for primary stoping where the fill
will not be undercut. A 6.9 MPa strength is required for
underhand cut-and-fill mining areas.
A small scale CRF slurry system was acquired as a back-
up to the primary system to ensure production
requirements would be met. A Colcrete SD1000
colloidal mixer based system was selected. The mixer is
located adjacent to the main CRF plant diverting the
cement feed from the Besser mixer into a small aerated
surge bin. The colloidal mixer is mounted on load cells
to weigh the water and cement. The cement is mixed as it
is augered into the colloidal mixer hopper thus reducing
batch times. A pulse jet dust collection system de-dusts
the plant and feeds the reclaimed cement back into the
feed auger to the mixer.
The CRF slurry system went on-line in January 1997.
Typical cement contents are 6.3 per cent by weight of
fill. Spray bars are located on two separate levels within
the mine. A batch of slurry is initiated remotely with call
buttons and varies from 455 kg to 545 kg of water per
725 kg cement depending on the level. The slurry is
sprayed onto approximately 11.5 tonne loads of run-of-
mine waste rock in 14.5 tonne haul trucks. While typical
daily production rates are lower, this back-up system has
been called on to produce in excess of 1600 tonnes of fill
in a single day.
Following the discharge of a batch of slurry the plant
weighs the water to be used in the next batch and utilises
this water to purge the discharge lines, scour the mixer
and flush the spraybar. The discharge return lines
actually pressure-wash the interior of the mixer through
an axial spray nozzle. This allows the plant to operate
virtually maintenance free.
Sullivan Mine, Kimberley, B.C. (Canada)
Comincos Sullivan mine is located in the southeast
corner of British Columbia and is one of the largest and
longest operating underground lead-zinc mines in the
world. In excess of 135 million tonnes of ore averaging
6.5 per cent lead, 5.6 per cent zinc and 76.5 gm/t silver,
has been produced since the discovery of the orebody in
1892.
Page 8
RESCHKE, A.E., The Development of Colloidal Mixer Based CRF Systems (presented at MINEFILL 98, Brisbane, Australia, 1998)Rev.Aug.2000
The orebody is roughly circular in plan measuring 2000
m in diameter with an average dip of 30 and an ore
thickness ranging from less than 1 m to over 100 m.
Room-and-pillar mining methods were used in the past
with pillar recovery beginning in the mid 1940s. Mass
pillar recovery techniques are currently employed along
a caving or retreat front across the entire width of the
orebody. The caving/retreat process is required to enable
complete extraction of the pillars while maintaining an
orderly and controlled cave of the hangingwall. The
retreat is now 1200 m long and extends to 400 m below
surface. The mines current production rate is 7100 tpd of
which 85 per cent comes from this pillar recovery.
The remaining ore comes from a zone independent of the
main mining area. This low dipping fringe area is
currently being mined by mechanized room-and-pillar
methods. Reserves were initially estimated at 1.8 million
tonnes grading an average 9 gm/tonne silver, 4.3 per cent
lead and 13.1 per cent zinc (Rodenstein and van
Ooteghem, 1993). Because of the high grade within this
area, an economic study concluded that the
implementation of a CRF system could be justified to
mine out one particular pillar area.
Due to the remote location of the mining area, a skid
mounted CRF plant virtually identical to the Myra Falls
Operation portable plant was selected (figure 5). This
system was slightly more elaborate, incorporating a
larger 1000 liter colloidal mixer as well as a bulk bag
unloader and pulse jet dust collection system (not shown
in figure 5). The bulk bag unloader is comprised of a
holding frame, dump bin and screw conveyor which fills
the 6.5 tonne cement hopper of the plant. The PLC
controls bag flexors on the holding frame to fully
discharge the cement from the bottom dump nozzle of
the bulk bag. The dust collection system scavenges
cement dust from the bulk bag unloader, the cement

Figure 5: The Thiessen Tornado 1000 - A PLC controlled grout slurry plant with 6.5
tonne cement hopper and 1000 liter colloidal mixer
Page 9
RESCHKE, A.E., The Development of Colloidal Mixer Based CRF Systems (presented at MINEFILL 98, Brisbane, Australia, 1998)Rev.Aug.2000
The following projects have been added since Tony
Reschke originally submitted his paper at MINEFILL
98 in Brisbane, Australia.
storage hopper and the mixing tank of the colloidal
mixer. Reclaimed dusts are returned to the hopper feed
auger. Other than placing bulk bags in the holding frame
the entire slurry system operates unattended. The system
is currently being commissioned and thus no
performance data is yet available.
1. El Penon, Chile
Team designed, manufactured, and commissioned this
automated backfill plant. It is located in the driest
location on earth, the Atacama dessert in northern Chile.
The mining strategy is to drive beneath the pillar area
and develop drawpoints for the pillar extraction. Some
80 000 tonnes of CRF will be required for hangingwall
support around the zone. The projected recovery is 85
per cent of the pillar area yielding approximately
125 000 tonnes of high grade ore. Run-of-mine
development waste will be used for aggregate.

This plant combines cementitious slurry with coluvium
(aggregate), known as chusca. A Thiessen Tornado
slurry system is utilized to prepare slurry in multiple
batches and store it in a holding tank. Aggregate is
stockpiled above a tunnel conveyor and is then conveyed
to a pugmill via a conveyor scale.
A 0.78:1 water:cement ratio slurry will be batched in the
colloidal mixer using 160 kg water and 205 kg cement.
This will be discharged into a LHD bucket carrying
some 3.6 tonnes of waste. With a 5.6 per cent cement
content in the fill it is expected that a high quality stiff
product will be produced providing the necessary
hangingwall support for pillar extraction.

The process is a hybrid system, using automated slurry
batching combined with a continuous process at the
pugmill where the aggregate and slurry are mixed before
discharging to the backfill holding hopper and haul-
truck. The system is mostly self-cleaning, using the
Tornados colloidal mixer and slurry pump to purge all
lines, the pugmill and gob hopper.
CONCLUSIONS

While paddle mixers have traditionally been used to
produce the cement based slurries required for cemented
rockfills it has been demonstrated that a high-shear
colloidal mixer is capable of producing a superior quality
product. The combined effect of the highly efficient
mixing action and the ability to mix low water/solids
ratios allows for reductions in cement content for a given
strength requirement and thus cost savings. Several
mining operations have or are currently using colloidal
mixers and all have reported excellent performance from
the placed cemented rockfill even when using run-of-
mine waste as aggregate.
This project was particularly challenging due to the
complexity of coordinating the continuous processes to
sized truckloads up to 20 tonnes. Two variable frequency
drives (VFDs), a conveyor scale, and a variable
speed/reversing peristaltic pump were utilized within the
system to ensure consistent, high quality backfill.

The unique feature of this plant is the self cleaning
purge cycle inherent within every batch. The system self-
cleans in this manner and may continue this way for
shifts of any duration. At the end of a shift, a wash
formula, (water only), be run for a final cleaning.

Colloidal mixers have been incorporated into both
surface and underground permanent installations. The
compactness and high batching speed of these mixers
has also allowed them to be developed into self-
contained, portable, skid mounted systems capable of
producing high quality slurries for the production of
CRF. There is a demonstrated need for these portable
plants as mines examine the economics of pillar
recoveries and realise that positive returns on investment
are possible with these relatively low cost portable
plants.

2. Ken Snyder Mine, Midas, Nevada
This Thiessen Tornado batches and mixes water and
cement into a slurry for spraying onto mine waste or
aggregate, resulting in a cemented rockfill. After the
desired formulas have been selected, all that is required
to start the batch is the push of a button, either at the
control system or remote call station. Either a Truck or
Scoop formula may be called. When the discharge light
flashes, a second button, or remote button, initiates
discharge and the truck or scoop tram may leave when
loaded.
*REVISION AUGUST 2000*
by Thiessen Team company
Page 10
RESCHKE, A.E., The Development of Colloidal Mixer Based CRF Systems (presented at MINEFILL 98, Brisbane, Australia, 1998)Rev.Aug.2000
Page 11

Bulk cement is supplied by the bulk bag unloading
system into the bulk bag auger and cement bin, stopping
when full. Weighup and mixing are automatic. Because
water has been pre-weighed, from the previous purge
cycle and the cement mixes while weighing, only a few
seconds are required to complete the mix cycle. The mix
may be discharged when the discharge light flashes at
the console. The plant then re-weighs the water to be
used in the next batch, utilizing this water to purge the
lines, scour the mixer and flush the spraybar. The
discharge return lines actually pressure-wash the
interior of the mixer through an axial spray nozzle.
The unique feature of this plant is the self cleaning
purge cycle inherent within every batch. The system self-
cleans in this manner and may continue this way for
shifts of any duration. At the end of a shift, a wash
formula, (water only), be run for a final cleaning
by B. Wheeler August, 2000
***** End of revision *****

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author wishes to thank the management and
engineering staff of Echo Bay Minerals Lamefoot Mine,
Westmin Resources Myra Falls Mine, Cominco Ltd.
Polaris Mine, Barrick Goldstrike Mines Inc. Meikle
Mine and Cominco Ltd. Sullivan Mine for their support
in preparing this document and permission to publish the
technical data on their respective operations.
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