Fire Simulation and Emergency Planning for the Chuquicamata Mine Underground Project
Roberto Alvarez, BBE Canada
Chuquicamata Underground Mine is one of the main projects for the Chilean Government Copper Company (CODELCO). Currently, around 2000 workers operate in the mine daily. Dozens of ore trucks and heavy machines drives through all main routes and access in the mine. As a mine under construction not all the infrastructure necessary to operate safely in the mine has been completed. Risk of a truck fire is always a challenge to keep under control. This study has been made as feasible emergency planning, in this case, of a mine under construction, were limited resources are available. Several fire scenarios have been made to support all the emergency plan strategy and a detailed step by step procedure indicates what the most relevant aspect of fire emergency is and what needs to be considered.
