The St Ives Gold Mine has recently installed state of the art refuge chamber facilities in the two fledgling underground operations of Argo Underground and the Leviathan Complex.

Refuge chambers are used in underground mines to provide safe refuge for miners in an emergency – most commonly an underground fire. When the underground atmosphere becomes unsuitable for breathing as a result of elevated levels of fire related gases, the refuge chambers come into play as an essential piece of underground mining equipment.

The refuge chambers have three independent sources of oxygen for breathing purposes as well as carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide scrubbing units. An air conditioner is also installed to maintain temperatures at comfortable levels.

Refuge chambers have evolved over the years from very basic models to those which St Ives Gold Mine has recently selected. An exhaustive evaluation exercise was undertaken prior to the acquisition of the units to assess their functional effectiveness.

Underground fires on the St Ives Gold Mine underground operations are thankfully a rare occurrence due to stringent operating standards, however it is reassuring to know that life can be independently preserved inside these refuge chambers for 36 hours despite the outside atmosphere being toxic.

St Ives Gold Mine’s sister operation, Agnew Gold Mine has been closely involved in the development of these chambers with supplier MineARC Systems. MineARC Systems’ Sales and Production Manager, Geoff Whittaker, first commenced working on the refuge chamber development project with Agnew Gold Mine in 1995. Five years of product development has resulted in the model which is now used as a standard for St Ives Gold Mine.