KIDD OPERATIONS (GLENCORE CANADA)
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING CO-OP

During my internship, I had the opportunity to work at Kidd Operations (Glencore Canada), the world's deepest base-metal mine below sea level. I designed several mechanical and structural components for on-site use by miners. Two of these are pictured above.

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One of the components I designed include a sliding door (pictured in the middle). Large air pressure enters the mine, which can be uncomfortably cold during the winter. To prevent this, a sliding door was required. To design this, I investigated its service area, and gathered important requirements such as the size of equipment that needed to pass through, as well as existing piping that cannot be moved. After finding necessary parts from vendors, I used AutoCAD to detail how to fabricate the design through welding steel plates and extrusions. On the professional drawings I produced, I also indicated how to assemble and install the design at the existing concrete wall. This process was very iterative, as several stricter requirements based on the existing wall conflicted with my objective to create a compact and ergonomic design. However, I was able to design a sliding door that covers all these aspects, and is currently in service on-site.

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Another component I designed include a drill gate barrier (pictured on the right). I designed these to be easily installed (light enough for workers or a forklift to move to installation point). Similarly, I used AutoCAD to instruct how the barriers were to be fabricated and installed underground. During the design process, I learned about using different engineering codes. For example, there's a code for what constitutes a barrier (how difficult it is to remove the barrier with hands vs tools), as well as what hole size in mesh fencing is acceptable (how far a hand or arm can allowably reach through). I was surprised to learn that there were such specific engineering codes for these aspects. From this experience, I am a lot more active in searching for possible engineering codes to follow.

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Some other projects I designed include:

• Rope Reel Lifting Beam

• NVS Fan Repair Temporary Platform

• Crusher Eccentric Assembly Cradle

• Crusher Eccentric Bushing Removal Tool

• Rehab Station Staging

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These all required me to produce professional engineering drawings for fabrication and installation. For some of these projects, I used SOLIDWORKS and Finite Element Analysis in order to determine the design's feasibility.

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