Flow stopper: Niche plug leads to Timmins business expansion.

AuthorCowan, Liz
PositionMINING

Designing and developing a niche product for the diamond drilling market has Gord McLaren on the move. Due to the success of the McLaren Plug, he's had to find more space for an office and work area, hired an employee, and is hoping to add one more staff member.

"I started McLaren Mining Equipment a few years ago, mostly to do products for the diamond drilling market," he said.

McLaren worked in the diamond drill industry for several years before deciding to branch out on his own in a home office. As a professional engineer, he had built up several contacts in the industry

One of those contacts asked if he could develop a product for him, for a very specific need.

"I was a bit busy and couldn't quite squeeze it in. He came back and told me if I do it, I would own it. I just had to develop it, prototype it and test it," he said.

His product was developed for a uranium mine in northern Saskatchewan that had experienced a flood. The ore has to be frozen before mining since the uranium is in sandstone, very fractured and full of water. Traditional mining methods can't be utilized.

When the mine is built, tunnels are made underneath the ore body to allow drill pipes to poke holes in it and freeze the rock, by utilizing a chemical brine. It's a longterm process and can take several years to freeze.

At the mine that was flooded, to save time and get the job back on track, drilling was taking place from the surface to freeze the ore body until the mine was repaired.

"My product is very niche, and not something you will sell to every mining company," McLaren said.

"When drilling down, the pipe is left in the ground. My product goes down and seals off the end of the hole of the pipe. But, it allows them to pour concrete or grout through the pipe and then seal it off and do a pressure test, all on one trip, which is down and up."

Prior to his plug, there was no engineered product. A chunk of steel could be used, which acted like a physical stopper, and then additional products would be put down the hole, using multiple trips, before it was pressure tested.

"They tested it and hoped it held," said Chris May, who looks after the day-to-day operations of the company "They just used off-the-shelf stuff and in order to finish a hole, maybe make three to nine trips and insert a seal followed by a stopper each time. There was no real guarantee there would be a...

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