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Kidd Mine Facts

Kidd Mine Facts
Kidd Mine is an underground mine located in Timmins, Ontario, Canada. It is the deepest of the world's base metal mines, reaching 9,889 feet below sea level. The deposit of copper, zinc, and silver at Kidd Mine was discovered by Ken Darke of Texas Gulf Sulphur Corp. in 1963. The site of the future mine was originally called Kidd-51 when it was drilled by Darke, a geologist from Timmins. While exploration of the site was going on the company was sued for insider trading. In 1966 the mine opened as a pit mine but as time went on it became an underground mine instead. The deposit at Kidd Mine is believed to be one of the largest of its kind in the world - containing a massive amount of volcanogenic sulfide ore. It contains one of the world's largest base metal deposits as well.
Interesting Kidd Mine Facts:
Kidd Mine is also referred to as Kidd Creek Mine.
The bottom of Kidd Mine is so deep it is considered to be the closest point of access to the earth's center.
Kidd Mine is owned today by Glencore Inc. Kidd Operations operates the mine. Kidd Operations is subsidiary of Glencore Inc.
Prior to being owned by Glencore Inc., the mine was owned by other companies including Texas Gulf Sulphur, Falconbridge Ltd, and Xstrata Copper.
Once ore is mined from Kidd Mine it is transported to Kidd metallurgical Site, 27km away, where it was processed into a concentrate.
Kidd Mine is able to produce 70,000 tons of zinc each year and 40,000 tons of copper.
Kidd Mine is located in the Abitibi greenstone belt - a mostly volcanic rock greenstone belt that extends across Ontario and Quebec and is estimated to be 2,800 million years old.
Approximately 850 people work at Kidd Mine and other operations as employees or as contractors.
In 1982 the number of people working for Kidd Mine was over 3,000. Kidd Mine is Timmins' largest employer.
The shafts in Kidd Mine are referred to as No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3. The final shafts to be built will be referred as the 'D' shafts.
Eight of the top ten of the world's deepest mines are located in South Africa. Only Kidd Mine and Creighton are not and they are both found in Ontario.
Kidd Mine has the world's longest surface to bottom ramp.
Because Kidd Mine reaches below 3km it is necessary to use innovative technology to allow for proper operation. Ventilation is provided by some of the largest vent fans in the world.
Kidd Mine uses scoop trams which help to decrease worker danger and increase productivity.
By deepening Kidd Mine, Glencore Inc. has been able to extend the life of the mine at least until 2021.It was set to extend production only until 2017 but by deepening the mine it can continue to extract for several more years.
Issues of mining at Kidd Mine that can have negative impact on the environment include greenhouse gas emissions, water use and waste management, and damage to the environment that can result in harming species at risk.


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