“You can’t operate without ventilation; it’s the lungs of the mine.”
That’s how Chelsey Ringstead, Lead Planning Engineer at New Gold’s New Afton Mine, explains the importance of underground ventilation. In underground mining, ventilation systems provide a critical flow of fresh air to employees working underground while managing emissions, temperature, humidity, and other factors.
New Afton’s C-Zone block cave, a growing production area, is in an exciting phase of development. The team is building the infrastructure needed for long-term production by developing new flowpaths and increasing airflow. While some ventilation connections are still being completed, the system is designed to keep fresh air moving efficiently to active work areas, ensuring safe and productive conditions as construction progresses and production ramps up.
“We’re still building the ideal system,” explained Chelsey, adding that longer flow paths mean air can warm up or collect dust along the way. The goal is to deliver air to each working area in the most direct path possible.
That’s why so much of the work happening right now is focused on improving air quality underground. New Afton pushes 1.2 million cubic feet per minute (CFM) of air underground, with roughly 550,000 CFM directed toward C-Zone. The team is continually working to ensure fresh air gets in as directly as possible by opening new passages, adjusting airflow, improving seals on ventilation bulkheads and doors, using water sprays to control dust, and changing traffic routes so fewer vehicles are in the fresh air supply.
Those changes are already making a difference. Airflow to C-Zone has increased in recent months, and as more infrastructure comes online, the system will continue to strengthen. Chelsey also highlighted the benefits of Ventilation-on-Demand (VOD), an innovative system that allows dispatchers on the surface to adjust fans, doors, and airflow in real time, ensuring it reaches the right people at the right time, and helping clear contaminated air efficiently. VOD also results in significant energy savings by allowing equipment to be turned off when not required. At its core, all of this work comes back to the same purpose: ensuring everyone underground has the clean, safe air they need to do their job well and go home healthy at the end of the day.
The post Airflow in Action: Advancing Ventilation for C-Zone first appeared on New Afton Mine.