Feb 2 2011
Roca Mines Inc. (TSX-V: ROK) announces that a review meeting was held on January 31, 2011 with British Columbia's Chief Inspector of Mines and staff/consultants from the mines inspection branch to discuss development and operating plans for the MAX Molybdenum Mine.
The meeting reviewed geotechnical information related to the sill pillar failure that occurred in late September 2010. Discussions focused on mine rehabilitation work completed in December 2010 and the Company's plans to restart operations. It was agreed that the Company's proposal to locate a new sill pillar and to continue with production mining below that pillar were appropriate and were approved-in-principal, subject to certain conditions being met.
Those conditions include the development of a geotechnical program to survey the existing stope and to map the main ramp and manway. Assessment and modeling of the workings will result in an instrumentation and geotechnical monitoring plan for the upper portion of the mine. Similarly, a geotechnical program to assess the proposed sill pillar in the lower levels of the mine will result in a monitoring plan that is intended to continue through operations and will be adjusted depending on the observations made.
Information collected from the failure event and planned geotechnical programs will influence designs for stope spans, pillar dimensions and related mine design parameters. The geotechnical programs will commence during the week of February 7, 2011. An update on the timing of the mobilization of various drilling and mining contractors and mine crews to recommence production will be provided as soon as possible.
Source: Roca Mines Inc.